Simona de Silvestro
| Simona de Silvestro | |
|---|---|
 Simona de Silvestro in May 2010. |
|
| Nationality |  Swiss |
| Born | September 1, 1988 Thun, Switzerland |
| 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series | |
| Debut season | 2010 |
| Current team | HVM Racing |
| Car no. | 78 |
| Starts | 35 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Poles | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 1 |
| Best finish | 19th in 2010 |
| Previous series | |
| 2007–2009 2006 2005 |
Atlantic Championship Formula BMW USA Formula Renault 2.0 Italia |
| Awards | |
| 2010 IndyCar Series | Tony Renna Rising Star Award |
Simona de Silvestro (born September 1, 1988) is a Swiss race car driver from Thun, Switzerland. She is currently competing for HVM Racing in the IZOD IndyCar Series. One nickname which has been applied to her is "The Iron Maiden".[1]
Contents |
[edit] Racing career
She raced for Newman Wachs Racing's Nuclear Clean Air Energy/Entergy team in the Atlantic Championship in 2008 and for Team Stargate Worlds in 2009. She won the Atlantic race at the 2008 Long Beach Grand Prix, making her the second woman to win in that series and providing NWR with its first win.[2] She won four times during the 2009 season and led in points for most of the season. She ultimately finished third in the standings after retiring on the first lap during the season finale at Laguna Seca.
de Silvestro participated in an IRL IndyCar Series test on December 8 and 9, 2009 at Sebring International Raceway, a joint effort between HVM Racing and Team Stargate Worlds.[3] de Silvestro competed full–time in the IRL IndyCar Series for HVM Racing for the 2010 season. On May 22, 2010, she qualified in the 22nd position for the 2010 Indianapolis 500. She finished the race in 14th position, and earned Rookie of the Year honors. She suffered a burned right hand after a fiery crash at the Firestone 550 at Texas Motor Speedway on June 5, 2010. HVM Racing strongly criticized IZOD IndyCar Series safety officials for their response to that accident.[4]
[edit] 2011
The 2011 season began with promising fourth and ninth place finishes at St. Petersburg and Barber, however the next race at Long Beach was not as succecful: she started 18th and finished 20th. Her next race at the São Paulo Indy 300 involved in an accident between her and Helio Castroneves that put her nine laps down after the race was postponed to the next morning due to severe rain conditions. She also received criticism from broadcasters during the race as she raced hard against the leaders even when she was several laps down, rather than letting them pass. She started 13th and finished 20th, nine laps down, but recorded the fastest lap of the race.
She received second degree burns on her right hand and superficial burns on her left hand in a crash during practice for the 2011 Indianapolis 500 on May 19th.[5] The crash, which sent her car sailing into the catch fence before flipping and landing on its left tires, was caused by mechanical failure in the left rear of her No. 78 Dallara/Honda. On May 21st, using her backup car, she qualified 24th for the race with a four-lap average of 224.392 mph.
After a crash at the Milwaukee Mile during qualifying, de Silvestro was cleared to drive in the race. but withdrew from the race after experiencing dizziness and impaired vision. At the next race in Iowa, she was not cleared to compete due to continuing dizziness.[6]
[edit] Motorsports career results
[edit] Career Summary
| Year | Series | Team | Car No. | Races | Wins | Poles | FLaps | Points | Position |
| 2005 | Formula Renault 2.0 Italy |  Cram Competition |
17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 20th | |
| 2006 | Formula BMW USA | EuroInternational |
14 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 113 | 4th | |
| 2007 | Champ Car Atlantic |  Walker Racing |
5 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 69 | 19th |
| 2008 | Atlantic Championship | Newman Wachs Racing |
34 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 167 | 8th |
| 2009 | Atlantic Championship | Team Stargate Worlds |
78 | 12 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 176 | 3rd |
| 2010 | IZOD IndyCar Series | HVM Racing |
78 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 242 | 19th |
| 2011 | IZOD IndyCar Series | HVM Racing |
78 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 225 | 20th |
[edit] American open–wheel racing results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
[edit] Atlantic Championship/Champ Car Atlantic
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Walker Racing | LVG 17 |
LBH 28 |
HOU 15 |
POR1 16 |
POR2 16 |
CLE 11 |
MTT 7 |
TOR 18 |
EDM1 13 |
EDM2 22 |
SJO 10 |
ROA 22 |
19th | 69 |
| 2008 | Newman Wachs Racing | LBH 1 |
LS 10 |
MTT 9 |
EDM1 8 |
EDM2 19 |
ROA1 9 |
ROA2 18 |
TRR 4 |
NJ 11 |
UTA 5 |
ATL 4 |
8th | 167 | |
| 2009 | Team Stargate Worlds | SEB 5 |
UTA 1 |
NJ1 2 |
NJ2 1 |
LIM 1 |
ACC1 3 |
ACC2 2 |
MDO 2 |
TRR 1 |
MOS 10 |
ATL 2 |
LS 10 |
3rd | 176 |
| Years | Teams | Races | Poles | Wins | Podiums (Non-win)** |
Top 10s (Non-podium)*** |
Championships |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 3 | 35 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 0 |
- ** Podium (Non-win) indicates 2nd or 3rd place finishes.
- *** Top 10s (Non-podium) indicates 4th through 10th place finishes.
[edit] IndyCar Series
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | HVM Racing | SAO 16 |
STP 16 |
ALA 21 |
LBH 17 |
KAN 21 |
INDY 14 |
TXS 24 |
IOW 21 |
WGL 24 |
TOR 9 |
EDM 22 |
MDO 8 |
SNM 13 |
CHI 23 |
KTY 25 |
MOT 23 |
HMS 23 |
19th | 242 | |
| 2011 | HVM Racing | STP 4 |
ALA 9 |
LBH 20 |
SAO 20 |
INDY 31 |
TXS1 26 |
TXS2 27 |
MIL 25 |
IOW DNS |
TOR 10 |
EDM 24 |
MDO 12 |
NHM 16 |
SNM |
BAL 12 |
MOT 14 |
KTY 25 |
LVS1 C |
20th | 225 |
- 1 The Las Vegas Indy 300 was abandoned after Dan Wheldon died from injuries sustained in a 15-car crash on lap 11.
| Years | Teams | Races | Poles | Wins | Podiums (Non-win)** |
Top 10s (Non-podium)*** |
Indianapolis 500 Wins |
Championships |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 1 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
- ** Podium (Non-win) indicates 2nd or 3rd place finishes.
- *** Top 10s (Non-podium) indicates 4th through 10th place finishes.
[edit] Indianapolis 500
| Year | Chassis | Engine | Start | Finish | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Dallara | Honda | 22 | 14 | HVM Racing |
| 2011 | Dallara | Honda | 24 | 31 | HVM Racing |
[edit] References
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Simona de Silvestro |
- ^ Pruett, Marshall (2011-06-21). "INDYCAR: Milwaukee Rewind". speedtv.com. http://www.speedtv.com/article_print_view/1079933. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
- ^ ATLANTIC: de Silvestro Becomes Second Winning Woman, speedtv.com, April 20, 2008
- ^ "HVM Racing Testing De Silvestro at Sebring". HVM Racing Press Release (HVM Racing). 2009-12-07. http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs030/1102823503731/archive/1102871899862.html. Retrieved 2009-12-07.[dead link]
- ^ HVM criticises safety crew over fire
- ^ "De Silvestro in massive Indy crash". racer.com. 2011-05-19. http://www.racer.com/de-silvestro-in-massive-indy-crash/article/203208/. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
- ^ De Silvestro, Simona (2011-06-30). "Auto Racing - In The Cockpit: Simona De Silvestro, Iowa". auto-racing.speedtv.com. http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/in-the-cockpit-simona-de-silvestro-iowa/. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Simona de Silvestro career statistics at Driver Database
- IndyCar Driver Page
- IndyCar 11 in '11 video A
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Alex Tagliani |
Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year 2010 |
Succeeded by J. R. Hildebrand |
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