[h=2]SUPERCARS: De Silvestro gets works Nissan deal[/h] Wednesday, 16 November 2016


RACER staff








Former IndyCar and Formula E racer Simona De Silvestro is set to be a regular in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship for the next three years, having signed to race with that series' factory Nissan team for the 2017 through '19 seasons. The Swiss, who competed in the recent Bathurst race with Nissan, will make her debut as a full-timer in the factory Altima at next year's Clipsal 500 season opener in Adelaide.


The 28-year old de Silvestro will be the first full-time female racer on the series grid in four decades, after signing with team owners Rick and Todd Kelly to drive alongside Michael Caruso.
"I'm really excited to be joining the team, and I can't wait for next season," De Silvestro said. "In joining Nissan Motorsport, I think the biggest thing is being a factory driver. It's great to have the trust from Nissan Motorsport to give me the chance to drive for them.


"I really enjoyed driving for them at Bathurst, I really enjoyed the car, so there were a lot of things I really liked. And the team as well, it's a great team, you see there's a lot of potential in the team. So working with them hopefully will bring a lot of success."
De Silvestro acknowledged she has a lot to learn about the Australia-based series.
"My expectations for next year? I think it's going to be a pretty big challenge for me," she admitted. "Most of my career has been in open-wheel. The Nissan Altima was feeling pretty great at Bathurst, so I'm sure at the other tracks I'm going to be able to adapt a lot quicker. Learning the tracks and working with the team will be a big challenge but (I'm) looking forward to it."
2005 Bathurst winner Kelly worked closely with de Silvestro on the Harvey Normal Supergirls wild card entry (pictured), and looks forward to having her join the squad on a permanent basis.
"This is a big day for Nissan Motorsport," said Kelly. "Simona's performance at Bathurst this year was outstanding. You could see in the data the amount of potential in Simona. So next year will be very exciting. To have built a race team that can attract a driver of Simona's international experience is a testament to the hard work of everyone here at Nissan Motorsport.
"I have been racing in Supercars since I was 17 years old and I've only really worked with cars from this category, so it's great to now have someone who has experienced motorsport from all around the world. It's exciting to be able to compare how we do things here to what Simona has experienced elsewhere."
Richard Emery, Nissan Australia's Managing Director and CEO, also expressed enthusiasm at having de Silvestro aboard, suggesting that her gender will be a boost to the manufacturer's marketing efforts.
"Simona's results and experience are impressive and she has already shown strong speed in our Nissan Altima at Bathurst," he said. "2017 is now shaping to be our best so far and Simona's arrival will add a new focus and energy.
"Nissan has a long history in motorsport, one of the few competitive sports where men and women compete head to head on equal terms. It's important that Nissan and the wider automotive sector promote our industry and our vehicles as well as motorsport beyond traditional male audiences. We want to encourage more women to choose our industry as a career and sporting pathway. And by having Simona on our team we hope to achieve not only greater speed and results on the track."
De Silvestro replaces 2013 Dunlop Series Champion Dale Wood at Nissan. Team owner Kelly thanked Wood for his commitment to the team after shifting from Brad Jones Racing for 2016.
"It has been a pleasure having Dale as part of our team this season," said team Kelly. "Dale has been a great contributor to our progress throughout the season and has been an ever-present positive personality within the team.
"Todd and I, as well as the entire team are very thankful for his efforts and we wish him all the best for the future."

 

INTERVIEW: Why de Silvestro chose Supercars

Tuesday, 13 September 2016


Mark Glendenning / Images by IMS Photo, LAT
Being a professional race driver requires a degree of open-mindedness. Aside from the well-connected or fortunate few, it's a life frequently punctuated by instability. Watertight opportunities can fall apart at a moment's notice; every expired contract can spin into an unexpected career shift.


Nevertheless, there are surprises. In the past three years, Simona de Silvestro has gone from IndyCar, to a flirtation with F1, to Formula E, to an appearance at the Bathurst 1000, to a three-year, full-time deal in Australia's Supercar championship, starting from 2017. Even by today's standards, it's a weird career trajectory.

"I definitely would agree with that," she tells RACER.com. "When I was racing in IndyCar, Supercars certainly wasn't on my mind. But last year's Bathurst was the first time I got to drive the car, and I really enjoyed myself; I enjoyed the style of racing. And it was a new challenge for me, because I'd never driven in closed cars, and as a driver you're always wanting to evolve and learn."
That ability to adapt to unfamiliar cars and styles of racing isn't a bad skill to have when you're struggling to find a place to drop anchor. Her four-year spell as an IndyCar full-timer ended in the pursuit of the glimmer of a chance to become a Formula 1 driver with Sauber. Sponsorship problems forced that window closed after just two tests in a two-year-old car, and left her looking for something else to do: a question that was answered with an unsatisfying year in Formula E with Andretti, and a one-off Indy 500 comeback in 2015. In that context, it's easy to see why knowing what she'll be doing for the next three years might be appealing to someone in de Silvestro's situation.
"I'd say that since 2013 it has been frustrating," she admits. "There was the dream of Formula 1 that didn't quite happen. And then to be honest, it was quite a struggle to find a way back. I tried to get back into IndyCar, but a lot there depends on sponsorship, and I didn't succeed in finding the money to get myself a full-time ride. Then I got the chance to drive in Formula E, which was quite different. It's an interesting category, but I think I struggled to get used to the car and how to drive it.
"Then this opportunity came up. In my career there have definitely been a lot of ups and downs, but I think where I'm at right now ... it's really special to get such an opportunity to go into a series and know that I can race there for three years, and really work on that and develop that."
De Silvestro's decision to pursue F1 in 2014 might stand as one of racing's great 'what-ifs' on both sides of the Atlantic. Many in F1 have spoken of the value that a quick female driver would bring to the world championship, and when one finally came along, she couldn't find the budget needed to get over the line. And the move also came at a time when her IndyCar career was finally starting to gain some momentum: she finished 2013 with a five-race streak of top 10s, which was a first in a career that had largely been spent battling with unfancied equipment.
"That's the really frustrating part," she says. "My KV season was pretty good; I think it could have been a little better because some races didn't quite go our way. I'd have loved to have been in one of the top cars so I could see what might have happened. But sometimes that chance comes quickly, and sometimes it doesn't. It is what it is.
"Leaving IndyCar was quite a hard decision to make. I'd always had this dream of F1, and this chance came up, and in IndyCar at that time all of the big teams were already full. The people [that had an opening] wanted quite a lot of sponsorship. So I don't know. It's hard to say whether I would have found a GOOD place [for 2014], and I really wanted to be in a team where I could be competitive. That window didn't quite happen at the end of 2013, unfortunately.
"I would have liked to come back to IndyCar. I am really passionate about it, and it's a car that really suits me. I think I could have done really well there, so it's definitely something that still feels unfinished. But it's not in the stars right now. That's the one point in my career where I really feel things could have been a little bit better.
"But you never know. Now, the Supercar opportunity ... I think it's going to make me better. I want to be in a series where I can be successful. At the end of the day you want to be competitive, you want to be with the right team, and I believe that's going to happen in Supercars. That's really special."

 

[h=2]De Silvestro counting on more Supercar seat time to boost form[/h] Monday, 06 February 2017


RACER staff / Images by LAT

Simona De Silvestro is hopeful more precious time behind the wheel of her new Nissan Altima will boost prospects for her first full season in the Australia-based Supercars series.
The former IndyCar and Formula E driver completed her rookie test day last week and will take part in a series tire test at Sydney Motorsport Park Feb. 21 – an invaluable opportunity for the Swiss native before the season starts in Adelaide next month.
"Unfortunately, there's not many test days, so for me every time I get in the car is important," de Silvestro, who made her Nissan debut at last October's Bathurst 1000 (pictured), told the series website. "It's always good to get back in the car after a while because the last time I drove was at Bathurst. So it was really good to be back and get working on some things... my driving style and all that. It felt pretty good and the day went pretty well.
"There's a lot of things I have to change in my driving style a little bit and that was my main focus, trying it out without the pressure of any lap time or anything.
"I was the only car out there, so I could really take my time and try a few different things through the corner and I think that was the key thing about it. The guys have been running these cars for a while, and I've only had a few days in these type of cars. There's so much to learn and to adapt from what I do.
"I grew up in open-wheelers and throughout the years I grew my driving style and started to understand what I needed in a racecar to be fast. Now it feels a little bit like I'm starting from scratch. First I have to find the way I drive this car. Only then can I start working on the details, the small things."