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IndyCar
DE SILVESTRO: The Torch Club
Tony Kanaan has informed me that I have now been inducted into "The Torch Club". This one is certainly the least favorite of any my memberships...
Simona De Silvestro  |  Posted June 09, 2010  
If there were any questions about De Silvestro's ability to handle a pressure situation, they were answered on Saturday night. (LAT)
Texas Motor Speedway is a very different track than the previous two ovals I have raced on, and that was more than apparent when I saw it for the first time. I traveled down with the team and got here on Thursday. I managed to watch last year’s race and the track looked edgy, with a lot of side by side action; could be fun!

In the evening, I had an event in downtown Dallas that one of my sponsors, Bernard Richards Manufacture (BRM), had organized with Neiman Marcus. We presented the Two By Two (AIDS Foundation) organization with one my limited edition watches for their upcoming auction. It was our contribution to them. They are a fantastic group and I was glad to help in a very small way.

There was a fair bit of lifestyle and fashion media, so I had to do some interviews from a different perspective; that was cool. I got to meet some interesting people and everybody was really nice to me.

The next day, when I got to the track, I was amazed at how much banking the track had. It almost looks like you are turning into a wall. My first practice was not bad, but we had a lot of things to try out in just an hour of running. I wish we could have tested here before because it would have really helped us. We were working on a car for the race and it did feel pretty good in traffic.

Qualifying was a different story as we were missing a bit of speed because we worked the whole first session in traffic, so we had to start from the back in the race. I was pretty confident that we could go forward during the race because I was starting to get pretty comfortable with running the high line and running in traffic. I am slowly starting to get a feel for running on the ovals. After qualifying, we had a practice late in the day to try and get used to conditions for the night race. We were fairly happy with that session. I had never driven that late in the evening, and that was a new experience.

The next day I was able to sleep in. It’s so strange to be able to sleep in on a race day; first time for me. I did not know what to do with all this newfound free time, so we went downtown Dallas for some sightseeing. I really like Dallas, it is a beautiful city. So after a couple of hours I went back to the hotel for a quick nap and then it was time to head to the track. I got to the track and had a quick debate about what visor to wear; it’s all new for me and the decision was to go with a clear visor. Here we are at the start of the race, starting in the back, and I didn't quite like it. I told my team that we should make sure that this is the one and only time, ha ha!

The start was pretty good; the car was a bit loose, but we were moving towards the front. Passing people on the inside and outside; oval racing is a blast!!! First pit stop came and I was a bit long in my box, but luckily did not lose that much time, thanks to my team. We were closing up to Tagliani after I had moved up some positions. The car is getting looser, but I was holding on. I had made the car stiff on the rear to tried and curb my understeer but this might not have been the best situation to be in. We knew that I had to nurture the car to the next pit stop so I was just trying to make it. I had a few catches and then came the big one. They say on the ovals there are those racers who have crashed and those racers that are going to crash; I guess it was my time.
The IZOD IndyCar Safety Team is looking to make sure Saturday night's delay never happens again. (LAT)

I hit the bump in turn 2 and the rear got loose and bang I was in the wall. Then it felt like forever for the car to stop and I saw a bit of fire. I pushed the extinguisher button but continued to see the flames. When I finally got to a stop, the fire got bigger and bigger and I knew it was time to get out of the car. The safety crew came up to my car and everything seemed like it was in slow motion. One of the Safety Crew members jumped in and tried to help me get out; it took a while to get out and the fire was burning badly. I really appreciated the efforts of all the Safety Crew members and specifically Mike, who helped get me out and in doing so apparently suffered burns himself (Hope you get well soon Mike). Once out I was taken to the track’s care center.

I was alright, except for the hand; it felt like it was on fire. They took good care of me and put it on ice and put some strange cream on it, and that was very painful. My Dad in the meantime ran all the way from the grandstand and I think he needed more medicine than I did. I love you Dad!

It was all a bit scary and I was lucky to be ok. Everything was burned; my suit, my helmet, and my car were all in bad shape. It’s a shame that my first one had to turn into a fire ball. I'm sad for my team and we now have to work very hard to bounce back from this unfortunate situation.

TK (Tony Kanaan) has informed me that I have now been inducted into "The Torch Club". This one is certainly the least favorite of any my memberships and I hope to never experience this again. Thank you all for your kind thoughts and prayers for my well-being and support of my team. We really appreciate it!

~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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