SIMONA DE SILVESTRO HAPPY WITH PROGRESS AFTER FINAL ROOKIE TEST
Successful final rookie test for Simona De Silvestro – Photo: Supplied
Nissan Motorsport completed their final rookie test for Simona De Silvestro at Winton Raceway yesterday ahead of the next round of the Supercars Championship at Sydney Motorsport Park.
Both the team and Simona deemed the day a success, with progress having been made in both De Silvestro’s driving and the car.
“We checked off a lot of boxes that we’ve had on our list throughout the whole year, so it’s been a really productive test.” said De Silvestro after the test.
“The first few rookie days were definitely focused more on my driving and how I have to adapt to the car. Now I feel that box is checked off. Yesterday was about new things in the car and trying a few things we wanted to do during race weekends, but we weren’t too sure if they were positive. So we got to compare those, which was good for the team.
“It was great to have Rick in the car. He was able to find a few things that were different from my car to his car. It’s always good to find out these things. The car is still new, I’m just getting used to some things, so it’s good to have someone else with a lot of experience that can try them out and give feedback.
“I’m looking forward to going to Sydney because it’s a track that I know. The test day went well last time, and it was early in the season, so now I’m looking forward to going and racing there with all the things I’ve learned throughout the first half of the season.”
Rick Kelly, who was also on hand for the test confirmed, De Silvestro’s progress.
“Earlier in the year, it was about working with Simona on her driving and adapting to the car. Now six months into the year it’s more about driving the car to confirm changes we’ve made and discussing the direction we’re heading.
“You can really see that the progress has shifted from working with a driver that is fresh with the car, to working with a driver to progress the package we’ve got. From that point of view, it’s good. We can overlay data and progress quicker. For me, it was a pleasant day. We’ll get some stuff out of the test as a team, but it’s also good for Simona to get a lot of laps and confirm some things she’s been working on this year.”
We’ll have more of the latest Supercars news in the current issue of Auto Action Magazine, on sale today. In the mean time make sure you follow Auto Action on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for all the latest updates.
