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IndyCar
DE SILVESTRO: Score!
It wasn't a home run, but we scored at Mid-Ohio, nonetheless. Woo hoo!
After getting to the end of a race without being hit or having other issues, Simona De Silvestro showed her full potential, running well inside the top-10 and keeping a long train of cars in her wake. (LAT)
I had been looking forward to the Mid-Ohio race fairly eagerly. This is a track I know and we had the luxury of testing here just last week, so I was feeling good going into the weekend. I finished second at Mid-Ohio in my last Atlantics race and I remember it being a hard fought battle to the end.
For 2010, I was just so excited to get here. On the way I got to stop at the Aviation museum close to Dayton and that was a fantastic experience. I got to see some relic aircrafts and it was fun. We got to the circuit on Thursday evening. A couple of days before I went out and bought a baseball glove to practice my pitching skills as I was supposed to head to Cincinnati after the race to promote the Kentucky race at a Red's game. There was some speculation that I might have to throw a pitch, so I was going to be prepared!
Our first practice session on Friday was not until 4 in the afternoon so I didn't have to rush to the track. I liked the relaxed start. We had a fairly good idea of what we wanted to do with the car, as we had learnt quite a bit during our test here last week. We were going to try a couple of things, but overall we felt fairly confident. We ended up being 13th or so during that run. I had to go do the autograph session immediately after and in addition to that we also had another driver’s meeting, so it was going to be a late evening at the track. I got a quick bite to eat on the way back and it was off to bed.
Next thing I knew, it was Saturday morning and time for qualifying. We found ourselves, in what I thought to be the tougher of the two qualifying groups; Group #2. On second thought, there really is no easy group because of how deep the field is in talent and there are a lot of fast drivers. The morning practice went well too and we kept making improvements. The 27-car field had shrunk the pit lane and that was proving to be a challenge. Everybody knows what a ‘good time’ I've had with the box and it started off no different.
I was coming into the box every way but the right one, and had been yelled at throughout the weekend! I promised the guys I was going to get it right during the race and worked towards it. We felt confident with our pace going into the start of qualifying, but given the nature of our group, we decided to use our red tires to make sure we advanced. I didn't get into the “Fast 12” until my last lap and almost gave my engineer and all the guys a heart attack in the process.
We were P5 in our group and advanced to the next. In the next session, after a three lap run, we were looking fairly strong. I pitted to get my second set of tires. Our time was good enough for P4 at the time and things were looking up. We made a few changes and I headed off. Slight tragedy struck; my clutch was dead and the car came to a halt in pit lane. The pit lane is on an uphill climb and we were in a spot where the revs had to be high to get out. I think we had just over heated the clutch from the few prior trips in and out, and this time, with my tires hot and with plenty of grip, I didn't get any wheel spin at all, and with all that overheating we had done the clutch in.
Seriously, I just couldn't believe it. It’s just one of those racing things that happens. So, we never got a second run, but our time set was still good enough to start 10th. All in all, that wasn't a bad situation.
I left the track fairly happy and ended up discovering a really good Italian restaurant out in the middle of nowhere; Marion, Ohio. It’s a place called Warehouse or something like that, and the food was really good. So, for those of you that will come out to see me race next year, remember this place!
Race day was here and I was ready to go. It was good to see a strong showing from the fans. A lot of people had come out to watch our race. We had a good warm up session and I felt happy with the balance of the car.
We had a fantastic start and I picked up a couple of positions right away. I was into P8 and running quite strong behind Briscoe. We had a strong first stint. The caution was out during our first pit stop and we had a marvelous one. I hit my marks perfectly and my guys did an amazing job in getting me back out and we gained a couple of spots; woo hoo!
The second stint was excellent too and I'm starting to get a hang of fuel saving to. We ran a lap longer than the cars in front of us. Unfortunately, on my in lap for the second stop, I was held up by a "certain" slow car and ended up losing a precious amount of time (might have cost us a spot or two). I was perfect into the box and the crew gave me another amazing stop and we came out in P6, but were on the Firestone blacks and most of the guys were on reds.
After a couple of yellows and the field bunching up, I couldn't hold off Dixon and Matos, who were both fairly quicker than me at the time. Marco put some good pressure on me at the end but I was able to stay focused, hold on, and reached the checkered flag in P8. All things considered, it was a very good result for us as a team and I was extremely pleased with myself. The guys did an amazing job in the pits and I had a very fast race car.
It feels great to leave here with a positive result, with a good score on the board, and I now look forward to Sonoma. Thank you all and see you there!
~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.
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED
For 2010, I was just so excited to get here. On the way I got to stop at the Aviation museum close to Dayton and that was a fantastic experience. I got to see some relic aircrafts and it was fun. We got to the circuit on Thursday evening. A couple of days before I went out and bought a baseball glove to practice my pitching skills as I was supposed to head to Cincinnati after the race to promote the Kentucky race at a Red's game. There was some speculation that I might have to throw a pitch, so I was going to be prepared!
Our first practice session on Friday was not until 4 in the afternoon so I didn't have to rush to the track. I liked the relaxed start. We had a fairly good idea of what we wanted to do with the car, as we had learnt quite a bit during our test here last week. We were going to try a couple of things, but overall we felt fairly confident. We ended up being 13th or so during that run. I had to go do the autograph session immediately after and in addition to that we also had another driver’s meeting, so it was going to be a late evening at the track. I got a quick bite to eat on the way back and it was off to bed.
Next thing I knew, it was Saturday morning and time for qualifying. We found ourselves, in what I thought to be the tougher of the two qualifying groups; Group #2. On second thought, there really is no easy group because of how deep the field is in talent and there are a lot of fast drivers. The morning practice went well too and we kept making improvements. The 27-car field had shrunk the pit lane and that was proving to be a challenge. Everybody knows what a ‘good time’ I've had with the box and it started off no different.
I was coming into the box every way but the right one, and had been yelled at throughout the weekend! I promised the guys I was going to get it right during the race and worked towards it. We felt confident with our pace going into the start of qualifying, but given the nature of our group, we decided to use our red tires to make sure we advanced. I didn't get into the “Fast 12” until my last lap and almost gave my engineer and all the guys a heart attack in the process.
We were P5 in our group and advanced to the next. In the next session, after a three lap run, we were looking fairly strong. I pitted to get my second set of tires. Our time was good enough for P4 at the time and things were looking up. We made a few changes and I headed off. Slight tragedy struck; my clutch was dead and the car came to a halt in pit lane. The pit lane is on an uphill climb and we were in a spot where the revs had to be high to get out. I think we had just over heated the clutch from the few prior trips in and out, and this time, with my tires hot and with plenty of grip, I didn't get any wheel spin at all, and with all that overheating we had done the clutch in.
Seriously, I just couldn't believe it. It’s just one of those racing things that happens. So, we never got a second run, but our time set was still good enough to start 10th. All in all, that wasn't a bad situation.
I left the track fairly happy and ended up discovering a really good Italian restaurant out in the middle of nowhere; Marion, Ohio. It’s a place called Warehouse or something like that, and the food was really good. So, for those of you that will come out to see me race next year, remember this place!
Race day was here and I was ready to go. It was good to see a strong showing from the fans. A lot of people had come out to watch our race. We had a good warm up session and I felt happy with the balance of the car.
We had a fantastic start and I picked up a couple of positions right away. I was into P8 and running quite strong behind Briscoe. We had a strong first stint. The caution was out during our first pit stop and we had a marvelous one. I hit my marks perfectly and my guys did an amazing job in getting me back out and we gained a couple of spots; woo hoo!
The second stint was excellent too and I'm starting to get a hang of fuel saving to. We ran a lap longer than the cars in front of us. Unfortunately, on my in lap for the second stop, I was held up by a "certain" slow car and ended up losing a precious amount of time (might have cost us a spot or two). I was perfect into the box and the crew gave me another amazing stop and we came out in P6, but were on the Firestone blacks and most of the guys were on reds.
After a couple of yellows and the field bunching up, I couldn't hold off Dixon and Matos, who were both fairly quicker than me at the time. Marco put some good pressure on me at the end but I was able to stay focused, hold on, and reached the checkered flag in P8. All things considered, it was a very good result for us as a team and I was extremely pleased with myself. The guys did an amazing job in the pits and I had a very fast race car.
It feels great to leave here with a positive result, with a good score on the board, and I now look forward to Sonoma. Thank you all and see you there!
~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.
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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