Simona de Silvestro – The Simona Racing Story
Simona is nicknamed “The Swiss Miss” and hails from Thun, Switzerland. She spent her early career honing racing skills in Europe before coming to the United States as a rising open-wheel star.
2010 on the IZOD INDYCAR Series
For her debut at the Indianapolis 500, Simona was named Chase Rookie of the Year with a 14th-place finish. She also garnered the Tony Renna “Rising Star” award at season’s end. Simona led laps in her first INDYCAR Series start in 2010 at the Streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil. She recorded two top-10 finishes with a best of eighth at Mid-Ohio and her season-best starting position was seventh at Edmonton.
2007-2009 in the Atlantic Championship
De Silvestro earned two top-10 results and scored championship points in 2007 in nine of 12 races. In 2008, she earned eight top-10 finishes, including her very first win at Long Beach for Newman-Wachs Racing. In 2009, Simona would go on to win 4 races in dominant fashion, earn 4 pole positions and an extraordinary 9 podium finishes. She was the first woman in series history to have earned the most wins, pole positions and led the most laps all in a single season.
2006 in the U.S.
She made history by becoming the first woman to ever earn a podium result at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, scoring two third-place finishes at the U.S. Grand Prix. Simona completed her first season in the Formula BMW USA championship collecting a victory at Lime Rock, six podiums and eleven top-10 finishes en route to a fourth-place finish in the overall point standings.
2002 to 2005 European Highlights
Simona raced to a second-place finish in the Trofeo Industria Parma; second place in the Bridgestone-Cup Switzerland; fifth in Winter Cup Lonato; third in Primavera Lonato; and seventh in the Swiss Championship. She raced in the French Formula A Championship and finished 15th overall; and finished 21st in the Formula Renault 2000 Championship in Italy.
