INTERVIEW John Bannon IMAGES Nissan Motorsport
upercars isn’t easy for rookies, let alone
one new to touring-car racing and Australia.
Nissan Motorsport rookie Simona de Silves-
tro has had a lot to learn in her first full-time
season in Supercars, as she tells V8X Supercar
Magazine’s John Bannon.How do you feel you’re fitting in at Nissan
Motorsport?
Yeah, I feel like I fit in pretty good. There has definitely
been a lot of progress and now I think we are pretty
close, but we’re still missing a little bit. It’s always the
last few tenths that are the hardest to find, but that’s
why we are working really hard on the car to find that.You had your family here for the endurance
events. How has that been?
It’s actually the first time this year that they have come,
so it’s nice. When you move from Switzerland to Aus-
tralia it is a bit lonely sometimes, but the team has been
really good to me. And, yeah, for sure having your par-
ents around is always nice.Some commentators have said that you’re one of
the best full-time internationals to come out to
race in Australia, not only in terms of your reputa-
tion but what you’ve produced on the track. What
do you think of that suggestion?
It’s pretty good but at the same time I’m not really happy
with my performance. Okay, it is good to see the series is
tough because other people have tried before and strug-
gled as much as I did or even more. That gives you a little
bit of confidence.
As a driver you just want to get quicker, so it doesn’t
really matter what people have done before you as you
just want to focus on yourself and move forward.What are you doing well and what do you need to
work on?
I think the biggest thing is just really getting it all
together. Every time we go to the track next year, except
Bathurst, we’re not going to start behind the eight ball,
so that’s going to be really good.
We can start working on the car straight away
instead of spending the first session figuring out where
everything is going. So that’s quite important but,
results-wise, it could have been a little bit better for sure.Results have slipped away a little bit when com-
pared with the first half of the season. Do you
know why?
I think as a team we’re all struggling a little bit if we look at
the other cars as well. Some races we’ve been really strong
and other races not really. I think as a team we’ve just
struggled a little bit more this year to have a consistent
car and if Rick Kelly and Michael Caruso are not in the
top 10 then you know there is a lot of work to do because
they are people that usually run up front.
So, for me, that makes it a little more challenging
because if I don’t get the lap really perfect you are starting
like 21st or 22nd. It just adds a little bit more pressure too
because you have to get it all together to get an okay result.Where does the biggest improvement need to
come from, qualifying or the races?This time last year Swiss superstar
Simona de Silvestro completed her
second wildcard appearance at the
Bathurst 1000 and was preparing
for her full-time stint in Supercars.
One year on, we touch base with the
29-year-old to discuss her progress.BELOW: Simona de Silvestro
has spent 2017 finding her
feet in Supercars.
I e WITH SIMONA DE SILVESTRO