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IndyCar
DE SILVESTRO: Expectations
I learned a lot, but I feel like it wasn't my best race. I have to keep managing my expectations, no matter how much I want to succeed right away.
Simona De Silvestro  |  Posted April 21, 2010   Indianapolis, IN
Learning to negotiate the tight hairpin was just one of the adjustments Simona De Silvestro had to make on her first trip to Long Beach as an IndyCar driver. (Marshall Pruett)
After Alabama I came straight to Los Angeles with my parents. We did the tourist stuff, of course, including doing the Hollywood tour to see where the stars live. Haha, I know it’s cheesy, but you have to do it once in your life, right? The next day we did some sightseeing and went down to Newport and Laguna Beach. The weather was great and we had lunch at a marina restaurant. We also went to this Swiss restaurant because I really wanted "buntner"; it’s smoked meat with Swiss cheese. It is really good, so if you are down in Venice Beach, go to the Swiss restaurant.

Then came Thursday and that's when the important and real fun starts. I went to the track, spent some time with the team, and had my first ever media luncheon. It was nice to see all the journalists and put a face with their names. In the evening all of the drivers went to the "IZOD Race To The Party" event in Hollywood. We got a police escort from the track to there and that was really fun. Once we got there the event featured a pit stop competition and that was interesting to see in a different setting. Mark Wahlberg and P. Diddy were there which I'm sure will make all my friends back in Switzerland jealous, haha. The event was great and a lot of people showed up, so thanks to all of you who came! The first practice session on Friday started and I was really happy to be back on a track that I raced and won at (In 2008 in an Atlantic car). I went out there and it was great to be back in the car. I know it was only a couple of days since I had been in the car, but it felt like forever.

After the first few laps around Long Beach in an IndyCar I quickly realized that the walls were coming at me much faster. On top of that, the famous Long Beach hairpin was much more difficult to go through with a bigger car. We had a bit of understeer during the whole session. I went back to the garage and discussed it with my engineer and tried to see what we could do better. Part of my debrief also includes consulting with my coach on how I can do better driving wise. In the meantime a lot of friends and sponsors came for the weekend so it was really nice to see all of them at the track (you know who you all are).

A few of them had never seen a race so I was excited to show them the car and all the good stuff. For the second practice the car got a bit better but still had some understeer and we ended up in the mid-pack at the end of the session. Back to the trailer and I had more homework. We had a great autograph session and a lot of people showed up. It was different, since we did it right in the paddock in front of our respective garages. The day was finally done and off to the hotel I went. I usually spend a lot of time analyzing the day’s activities and trying to think how I can do better for the next day. I even wake up in the middle of the night if I get an idea or the “light bulb” goes off and I think of what we can do with the car or me. The problem is, when that happens, I usually can't go back to sleep. The price of reflection, I suppose.

Saturday, the qualifying day, is always the most nervous day for me. It’s because qualifying is so important in these races. Simply put, if you start in front you have a better chance to end up with a good finishing spot. The short 15 minutes of pure driving are nerve racking. You are out there on your own and you have to put the perfect lap together. So we go out for the 3rd practice, the last one just before qualifying. The car was getting better and we got closer to the front runners, so that was a good sign! We were P11 at the end of that session and while we still had a few improvements to make, we were on the right path. I got some time to take a little nap before qualifying, which I like to do because we are all usually very busy the entire weekend and the stress is high and the nap relaxes me before the session.
De Silvestro describes the sensation of qualifying on a street course as feeling like every corner is a crash in waiting. (Marshall Pruett)

For qualifying orders to be set, we draw some chips on the first day, red or blue, and that determines the groups for the first segment. I drew blue, so that put me in the first group. We went out on track and put a couple of laps together and were looking pretty good. We were in the top 6, so I came in to the pits to put some more fuel in for the last 3 laps. I went out there and everybody was pushing really hard. When you start push really hard in qualifying it feels like you are going to hit every wall on the track. You are on the absolute limit. My last lap was a good one and it lifted me to P5; only 0.3000 from P1. I was ecstatic until Ryan Briscoe and Marco Andretti came across the line and pushed me out of the top 6 by only 0.0200. It was the same margin that knocked me out at Barber. Maybe next time I just have to tuck my head in a bit more on the straightaways and then maybe I might make the fast 12. In the evening I had a nice dinner with my parents and a part of the team. We had a great evening and it was a lot of fun!

Sunday morning I got up pretty early because we had an early warm up session. It always feels different when it’s race day. The warm up went pretty well. We tried a few different things and I liked the balance of the car. Just before the race I went to the drivers meeting, had a quick lunch and after I met with a few sponsors I took another little nap. The pre-race activities were quite nice and I enjoyed the driver’s parade around the track. Thanks to all those who applauded and yelled out my name!

So here we go for the start, which is a pretty unique one because, in Long Beach, we come out of a really slow corner and therefore only the first few rows can be side by side. The start went well and everybody got through turn one. The race was unfolding nicely, as there weren’t any yellow’s and everybody was racing clean. I got to my first pit stop and that went pretty smooth as well. I came out and could have done some fast laps but I got stuck behind other people that came out of the pits right in front of me, which was a real shame because we had good car but couldn't really pass. We got stuck there and that ruined any chance of progressing.

Towards the end we had a yellow and we all regrouped and at the restart I got brake checked going into the hairpin and came out of it with a lot of wheel spin, and the ensuing poor exit resulted in me getting passed in turn one. Looking back on it now I should have done a better job at the restart. I ended up finishing P17 and the only consolation was that I had finished every lap of the race. I learned a lot, but I feel like it wasn't my best race. I have to keep managing my expectations, no matter how much I want to succeed right away.

Thanks you to my whole team who all did a great job and we are going to keep working really hard to get better.

~Simona

In 2010 Simona De Silvestro makes her debut in the IZOD IndyCar Series aboard the # 78 Stargate Resistance entry as part of the Team Stargate Worlds/HVM Racing entry. Prior to that she stunned the North American open-wheel world in 2009. De Silvestro won 4 races In dominant fashion. In addition to her wins she also earned 4 pole positions, and an extraordinary 9 podium finishes in the 2009 Atlantic Championship Season. Her success was not only impressive but it was also record breaking.

De Silvestro, who is often referred as “the Swiss Miss” because of her Swiss upbringing, was the first woman is series history to have earned the most wins, pole positions, and led the most laps all in a single season. At the end of the season De Silvestro also had an extraordinary 9 podium finishes in the season. The results of her effort led to her finishing the season in 3rd place, proving to observers that she is on par to becoming open wheel racing's next shining star.

Learn more about Simona and her team at www.teamstargateworlds.com, www.simonadesilvestro.com, and www.hvmracing.com.

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The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED
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