De Silvestro aims to rev up in Supercars

Swiss driver Simona De Silvestro says she is feeling comfortable ahead of her second Supercars campaign and is ready to take the handbrake off.

Supercars import Simona De Silvestro is ready to take off the handbrake in 2018.

The Swiss driver last year became the first female full-time driver in Australian touring cars since Christine Gibson in 1975.

By her own admission 2017 was all about getting comfortable with her Nissan Altima and racing in Australia.

De Silvestro finished without a top-10 result last year on her way to a 24th-place finish in the championship standings.

For a former Formula One test driver, competing in a restricted mode was frustrating and the 29-year-old says 2018 will see a more aggressive approach.

"I love being here in Australia and the racing is a lot of fun but, for sure, you want results," De Simona told AAP.

"That's a bit of pressure just to get it done but it's good pressure.

"Not like last year where you were just 'OK, let's see how it goes', it's definitely more focused on really trying to really get there now."

De Simona says her first aim is matching and beating her Nissan teammates, including former championship winner and team owner Rick Kelly.

"If we're right there with them those are good results," she said.

"The field is so tight when we look at it, a couple of tenths is like five positions most of the time. It makes it really hard to nail that.

"The guys who are in the team have a lot of experience so I think those are really good benchmarks."


Share

2 min read

Published

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world