Qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 held its reputation for coming down to the wire on “Bump Day” at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The No. 16 Paretta Autosport/Rocket Pro TPO Chevy of Simona De Silvestro was one of five entrants for the 105th annual Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge attempting to grab the final three spots for the grid for the 500-mile May 30th race.
De Silvestro was on “the bubble” in the 33rd position after her four-lap Day Two qualifying run that averaged 228.353. Two of the cars that had slower times opted to make a second qualifying effort, which left Simona waiting patiently in her cockpit while the clock ticked down. Fortunately, neither was able to bump her off the final row for the 33-car grid.
The team’s journey to qualifying for the Indy 500 field started just four months ago when CEO and team owner Beth Paretta announced on January 19th her goal to qualify for this year’s Indy 500 with a female-forward team and message. With a technical alliance with Team Penske and an extension of INDYCAR and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s “Race for Equality & Change” announced last July, the team’s journey has been quick and well documented.
The “Iron Maiden” from Switzerland, De Silvestro has now qualified in every one of the six attempts she’s had at Indianapolis, the first being in 2010, when she was the Rookie of the Year. This is Paretta Autosport’s first attempt as the team came to Indy with a lineup of 70% women in both competition and commercial roles. The majority female team promotes STEM education and seeks to be role models for young women everywhere to work hard and follow their dreams.
For more information: www.parettaautosport.com