September 4, 2011 - Baltimore, MD - Simona De Silvestro put on quite a show for the IZOD IndyCar fans, her sponsors and the city of Baltimore during Sunday's inaugural running of the Baltimore Grand Prix.
After a week away from the car - due to travel complications with the United States Customs & Border Patrol - De Silvestro was eager to get back into the cockpit and prove that she wants to finish the season strong.
During Saturday's qualifying session, the Swiss driver was able to advance to the second round and put the car in P12 on the starting grid. Due to several incidents that occurred in morning warmup on Sunday, her starting position moved up to P10.
After a fairly calm start to the 75-lap race, an early pit stop for two other drivers put De Silvestro in P8. She quickly passed Mike Conway to advance to P7.
Around the mid-way point of the race, De Silvestro was able to avoid contact during a massive pile-up in the hairpin. She charged forward, advancing positions, leading a lap at one point before the team, and the other top four cars, had to pit for fuel.
Unfortunately, fuel strategy was the name of the game. Because of the mid-race pileup and excessively long yellow-flag laps, the mid-pack teams were able to conserve just enough fuel to finish the race. De Silvestro, despite a perfectly-executed race, finished in P12.
"Honestly, I'm a bit disappointed in where we finished," said De Silvestro, "but the Nuclear Clean Air Energy car was really good. We were able to make positions every time we tried, like on the restarts. We were going forward and I really enjoyed myself. The track is a lot of fun - it's really busy, especially on red tires. It's such a physical track, but I like it. Plus, the support from my sponsors this weekend was amazing. I hope they had as much fun as I did!"
De Silvestro and her team first visited the city of Baltimore in February, where they announced a three-year partnership with Entergy Nuclear to promote the Nuclear Clean Air Energy campaign. Since then, AREVA, the global leader in nuclear energy, has also come on board as an associate sponsor. De Silvestro was happy to be able to entertain her sponsors on what she's referred to as what feels like her "home track."
In two weeks, the IZOD IndyCar Series heads to the other side of the world to compete in Motegi, Japan. The (race name) will take place on Sunday, September 18 at (time) local time. The race will be aired live on Versus TV in the United States on Saturday, September 17 at (time) p.m. EDT. Motegi marks the 15th race on the IZOD IndyCar schedule, leaving only Kentucky before the World Championship in Las Vegas on Sunday, October 16.
About HVM Racing
HVM Racing was founded by Keith Wiggins and is based in Indianapolis, Indiana. HVM enters 2011 as its tenth year of competition since forming in 2001 and has earned six victories, two pole positions, and an additional 16 podiums. They earned "Indianapolis Rookie of the Year" honors with driver Simona De Silvestro at the 2010 event and since joining the IZOD INDYCAR Series in 2008, the team has earned nine top-10 finishes. HVM finished fourth and third, respectively, in the Champ Car World Series in 2006 and 2007, and earned drivers Mario Dominguez and Robert Doornbos Rookie of the Year honors in 2002 and 2007, respectively. Follow HVM Racing at www.hvmracing.com, on twitter at www.twitter.com/HVMracing, and on facebook at www.facebook.com/HVMRacing.
About Entergy
Entergy is the second largest owner and operator of U.S. nuclear energy plants. They operate or provide management services to 12 reactors at 10 sites. Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity and delivers electricity to 2.7 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of more than $11 billion and more than 15,000 employees. Follow at www.NuclearCleanAirEnergy.com and www.entergy-nuclear.com; on Twitter at www.twitter.com/EntergyNuclear and www.twitter/NuclearCleanAir, and on facebook at www.facebook.com/Nuclear Clean Air Energy.
About Areva
AREVA provides its customers with solutions for low-carbon power generation in North America and all over the world. As the leader in nuclear energy and a significant, growing player in the renewable energies sector, AREVA combines U.S. and Canadian leadership, access to worldwide expertise and a proven track record of performance. Sustainable development is a core component of AREVA's strategy. Its more the 5,000 U.S. and Canadian employees work every day to make AREVA a responsible industrial player helping to supply ever cleaner, safer and more economical energy to the greatest number of people. AREVA Inc. is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland. Visit us online at http://us.areva.com or follow us on twitter at www.twitter.com/AREVAinc.
For more information, contact:
Monica Hilton, Public Relations
HVM Racing, LLC
Phone: (608) 669-3211
Email: mhilton@hvminc.net
Web: www.HVMRacing.com