Simona de Silvestro

Simona de Silvestro (born September 1, 1988) is from Thun, Switzerland. She currently drives for HVM Racing in the Indycar Series.

Career
She won four times in the Atlantic Championship during the 2009 season and led in points for most of the season. but ended up finishing third in the standings. de Silvestro participated in an Indycar test in December of 2009 at Sebring for HVM Racing.

In 2010 she competed in her first season in the Indycar Series. She finished 14th in her first Indy 500 which was good enough to win Indy 500 rookie of the year for 2010. She suffered a burned hand in a fiery crash at Indy at Texas Motor Speedway.

In 2011 she started the season off by finishing 4th at St. Pete. and 9th at Barber Motorsports Park. After her strong runs in the first two races she feel off the map finishing no better than 20th in the next 7 races. She received second degree burns on her right hand and superficial burns on her left hand in a crash during practice for the Indy 500. The crash, which sent her car sailing into the catch fence before flipping and landing on its left tires, was caused by mechanical failure in the left rear of her No. 78 Dallara/Honda. On May 21st, using her backup car, she qualified 24th for the race with a four-lap average of 224.392 mph. After a crash at the Milwaukee Mile during qualifying, de Silvestro was cleared to drive in the race. but withdrew from the race after experiencing dizziness and impaired vision. At the next race in Iowa, she was not cleared to compete due to continuing dizziness.

Simona will compete for HVM Racing for the 3rd year in a row driving the #78 in 2012

