Pain in hands doesn’t slow down Indy driver De Silvestro
AP
FILE - In this May 21, 2011, file photo, Simona De Silvestro, of Switzerland, wipes her eyes after she qualified on her final attempt on the opening day of qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis. De Silvestro burned her hands in a crash two days earlier. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, file)
Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS
Simona De Silvestro has a simple game plan this weekend — gut it out.
De Silvestro burned both hands last week when her car slammed into a wall in practice, went airborne and flipped several times before coming to a rest upside down and in flames.
Today, she plans to spend the final hour of Indianapolis 500 practice on the track, fine-tuning her backup car. She’s hoping adrenaline helps numb the pain in her burned hands, especially during Sunday’s three-hour race.
“The race will be tough,” she said. “It’s hurting quite a bit now, but it’s important for me to do as many laps as we can. There’s no backup plan that I know of.”
HVM Racing owner Keith Wiggins wouldn’t think of it after qualifying weekend.
After De Silvestro’s No. 78 car skidded down the track last week, Wiggins said the team considered using a replacement driver for qualifying. Two days later, though, the tough 22-year-old Swiss driver produced one of the gutsiest qualifying runs in years at the famed Brickyard.
On her final Pole Day qualifying attempt, De Silvestro put up a four-lap qualifying average of 224.392 mph, good enough to put her safely in the field.
It made her an instant favorite among fans and colleagues.
“I don’t think it’s the hand injury as much as the fact that she got back in the car so quick after a bad accident. It’s amazing,” points leader Will Power said. “She was very brave.”
Now can she complete 500 miles with the most talked about hands in racing?
Because changing drivers would require changing the custom-fitted seat — a move that would take them out of contention — Wiggins said the team has not lined up a backup driver.
“You look at the grid and the number of professional drivers, and there’s just not too many people who can just jump into a car,” Wiggins said.