Simona and Buemi under pressure (with videos)
LOCATION DETERMINATION The 2018 Supercars Championship kicks off this weekend in Australia, with Simona de Silvestro expected to make clear progress in her second season. Likewise from Sébastien Buemi in Formula E, which makes a stop in Mexico. Simona de Silvestro completed her first season as a factory driver on a Nissan Altima V8 in the Virgin Australian Supercars Championship in 2017 [...]
Simona de Silvestro finished her first season as a factory driver in a Nissan Altima V8 in the Virgin Australian Supercars Championship in 2017 in 24th place overall. Two 13th-place finishes were her best results. That put her last among her four Nismo teammates. She wants to do better in the 2018 season, which starts this weekend in Adelaide.
The 29-year-old Swiss showed one of her best performances last year at the final race in Newcastle (17th), which gives hope for significant progress.
Simona de Silvestro: "In Newcastle I really felt my car for the first time in the race. It did what I wanted it to do. Thanks to a new Technical Director, we four Nissan drivers should now work better together. Last year, we sometimes worked in different directions, which made the task more difficult for me, especially since I didn't know most of the tracks yet. That's different now. In addition, I get a new race engineer, from whom we expect a lot."
Scott Sinclair, the General Manager of Nissan Motorsport, also expects a clear improvement from the only woman in the top-class field (comparable to the DTM).
Scott Sinclair: "To be competitive over the whole weekend, you have to find a good rhythm on Friday. With Simona in 2017, that was usually not the case until Sunday. Working with her is fantastic, so it's also up to us to give her everything so she can show what she's made of even more often."
Current: In qualifying for Saturday's race on Adelaide's street circuit, however, Simona was unable to do so: She only achieved 23rd time among 26 competitors. With the race lasting almost two hours over 78 laps, she will have to use the time to at least show her skills with good overtaking maneuvers.
On the sidelines of the event in Adelaide, Simona de Silvestro looked ahead to the Formula E race in Mexico taking place the same day as a racing expert for Mysports Switzerland:
Formula E: Sébastien Buemi must finally win
At the fourth event of the 2017/18 cross-season in Mexico City, the FIA Formula E is already entering its fifth round. The first podium finish in Chile (third) was little consolation for Sébastien Buemi, as the record FIA Formula E winner needs to get back on track to catch up with the top of the standings.
After all, Buemi holds the lap record on the GP circuit, which has been shortened to 2 km and has a unique stadium atmosphere. So if he can put together another perfect weekend, there's nothing to stop him taking his first win of the season.
The race will start on Saturday, March 3, at 4 p.m. local time (= 11 p.m. CET). Mysports will broadcast qualifying live from 18:50 to 19:25 and the race from 22:25 to 00:20 with Swiss commentary.
See some of the best scenes from the first four races of 2017/18 in this video:
