Another year, another fire for De Silvestro

Forgive Simona De Silvestro for being skittish when it comes to fire.

For the third time in five IndyCar Series seasons, the 26-year-old Swiss driver experienced a burning race car Tuesday. This time she escaped injury.

The back half of the Andretti Autosport car erupted in flames as De Silvestro brought it to a stop without further incident in the afternoon practice. The fire was attributed to a leak at the fueling mechanism.

She climbed out shaking her head.

"It seems like fire follows me all the time," she said.

Crashes in 2010 at Texas Motor Speedway and the next year at Indianapolis Motor Speedway saw fiery endings. De Silvestro burned both hands in the latter.

"Maybe this was third time's a charm," she said, forcing a smile outside the team's garage.

De Silvestro's uneasiness about such trouble was apparent when she arrived in Indianapolis last week, and it wasn't from jet lag flying back from Europe. It wasn't an anxious excitement. It's not even all that simple for De Silvestro to explain.

Understand she loves this track, this beast of an oval. She was named Rookie of the Year at the 2010 Indianapolis 500. There are moments here worth committing to memory. There are just as many to forget.

With a new team and another chance at the 500, De Silvestro is looking to rebuild her reputation at IMS as a driver who contends instead of one who hasn't.

"It's always really cool to come back," De Silvestro said before the fire. "As a driver you always look forward to a new challenge. I had a little bit of a tougher time around the speedway."

This is where those other feelings creep in. It was this track where in 2012 De Silvestro was black flagged at the 500 for not maintaining a safe minimum speed. Her car under-performed and the officials told her to get off the oval.

As noted, this was the track in 2011, a year after being named the top rookie at the 500, where a practice run ended with the burns to her hands -- second-degree burns on the right, superficial burns on the left. After De Silvestro's rear suspension snapped, she was left helpless as her car plunged into the wall, ran up the fence and caught fire. She spun down the track engulfed in flames.

After a quick stay in Europe last season to pursue Formula One, De Silvestro is back with IndyCar, signed onto a part-time deal with Andretti Autosport. The deal includes the 500.

Once the No. 29 car is repaired, De Silvestro will go back to pursuing a ride in her fifth 500 and her third IndyCar Series race with Michael Andretti's team. There's reason to believe she'll put the latest fire behind her and show the promise series veterans have seen in her for years. That's why Andretti signed her, and she's rewarded his confidence.

She finished fourth in last month's Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana.

"She's been a seamless addition," fellow Andretti driver Ryan Hunter-Reay, the reigning 500 champion, said of De Silvestro joining the Indianapolis-based team.

Fire aside, everything points to De Silvestro having a good month. This team has resources and experience, and Honda's oval kit seems to be off to a strong start.

De Silvestro said the fire cost her valuable practice time -- the team planned to do a long run Tuesday afternoon -- but she'll try to regain her IMS stride.

"On the oval you can go out there and see what you've got," she said. "You just hang on a little bit."

Etc.





James Davison was confirmed to the No. 19 Honda of Dale Coyne Racing, a team that previously announced Pippa Mann for the No. 30 car and Carlos Huertas for the No. 18. That completes the 500's participation list, although someone must qualify Davison's car this weekend as he will be driving a Nissan in the Pirelli World Challenge event in Ontario. ... Thirty-three of the 500's car-and-driver combinations practiced Tuesday. ... Honda had two engine failures: In the cars of James Jakes and Justin Wilson. Jakes' was a relatively new engine; Wilson's was due to be changed. ... Helio Castroneves not only had Tuesday's fastest overall lap, he had the fastest without benefit of the draft (225.315 mph).

Tuesday's practice results

C-Chevrolet, H-Honda

1, Helio Castroneves, C, 227.514 mph.

2. Simon Pagenaud, C, 227.382

3, Scott Dixon, C, 226.769

4, Justin Wilson, H, 226.688

5. Townsend Bell, C, 226.519

6. Will Power, C, 226.393

7. Tony Kanaan, C, 226.392

8. J.R. Hildebrand, C, 226.376

9. Marco Andretti, H, 226.354

10. Carlos Munoz, H, 226.199

11. Ed Carpenter, C, 225.845

12. Josef Newgarden, C, 225, 625

13, Charlie Kimball, C, 225.467

14. Takuma Sato, H, 225.342

15. Graham Rahal, H, 225.271

16. Gabby Chaves, H, 224.903

17. Sage Karam,. C, 224.838

18. Ryan Hunter-Reay, H, 224.784

19, Sebastien Bourdais, C, 224.534

20. Juan Pablo Montoya, C, 224.440

21. Oriol Servia, H, 224.179

22. Pippa Mann, H, 224.056

23. Conor Daly, 223.922

14. James Hinchcliffe, H, 223.793

25. James Jakes, 223.267

26. Marco Andretti, H, 222.879

27. Stefano Coletti, C, 222.504

28. Jack Hawksworth, H, 222.448

29. Simona De Silvestro, H, 222.164

30. Carlos Huertase, H, 221.675

31. Sebastian Saavedra, C, 221.064

32. Bryan Clauson, C, 218.821

33. James Davison, H, 214.877