Simona getting up to speed
Swiss no stranger to racing but is struggling to get to grips with hot Supercars
Formula E racer Mitch Evans is in Toronto this weekend for the last round of the 2017 Formula E world championships. The Kiwi has had an up- and- down season and has showed good pace when not being hit by other drivers and suffering mechanical issues. He sits 16th with two races to go. One of the greatest and most successful grand prix motorcycle world champions Angel Nieto is in hospital after being involved in a traffic accident in Spain. Nieto scored 90 wins during his career and won 13 world titles across the 50cc, 80cc and 125cc categories. Scott Dixon is racing at Mid- Ohio this weekend. It will be his 220 consecutive race start, the secondlongest streak in IndyCar racing. He has won at least one race each season for the past 12 years and will be odds on for another win at MidOhio having crossed the line first five times already. Dixon leads the championship by three points from Helio Castroneves. The first woman to drive fulltime in the Supercars championship, Simona de Silvestro, is no stranger to racing, having started her open wheel career in 2005 in the Italian Formula Renault championship.
The 28- year- old has since gone on to race in Formula BMWUSA, Champ Car, Atlantic, IndyCar and Formula E before settling on a three- year deal to race a Nissan as part of the Kelly brothers’ Nissan Motorsport outfit.
De Silvestro made a name for herself in the four years she raced in IndyCar, nailing rookie of the year, setting a fastest lap and a having a best finish of second.
During her time in the premier single seater category in the US, de Silvestro was up against one of the all time greats in New Zealander Scott Dixon.
It must be ironic for her having moved halfway around the world to racing in another category, she i s now battling against not one Kiwi, but three who are all in the the top four of the championship.
“It’s amazing that there are three Kiwis here that are also quite fast and I can’t wait to go to New Zealand to try and find out what makes them so fast,” de Silvestro told the Weekend Herald with a chuckle. “It just goes to show you guys do it right and create some pretty good race car drivers.”
The Swiss driver’s pedigree until now has been firmly rooted in open wheelers and the move to big taxis of the Supercars series has come with a few challenges. None are too insurmountable to worry de Silvestro and she is relishing the challenge of getting herself further up the field each race. The good thing for her and a growing legion of fans is that she has time to get to to grips with the close racing and big heavy cars.
“It i s definitely getting better [ adjusting to the car] and I feel we are getting closer to my teammates every round which is good.
“For sure there is a lot of work to do on how I drive these cars. It’s a big change and a lot of hard work, especially against people who have raced these cars a lot. It’s a lot to take in and easy to get frustrated knowing I was fast in other classes.
“This year is all about relearning and it’s a bit tough having to wrap my head around a whole new way of driving. At least I have a bit of time and it’s definitely moving in the right direction.
“It’s a different type of racing to open wheel and there’s a lot of bumping and pushing around. Sure its physical but I’ve always trained hard.
“The biggest thing has been the heat inside the car. With open wheel cars at least your head and shoulders are in the fresh air,” said de Silvestro.
Because de Silvestro has raced in various categories she’s used to flying around tracks with various configurations that are not just ovals. The Nissan pilot has, in fact, raced in Australia and the Supercars in the past, having paired with Renee Gracie to take on Mt Panorama in 2015 and 2016.
“It is good that it’s mostly race tracks we race race on [ not ovals] but it is also good that there a few street courses as well [ IndyCar also has a few]. The adjustment hasn’t been too difficult and I’ve been surprised how many cool places there are we race on like Phillip Island and others,” she said.
The Supercars category is one of hardest and tightest fought championships anywhere in the world. The racing is close and just a second can cover 20 cars in qualifying and