Throughout its 100 years of competition the Indianapolis 500 has come to be defined by the heroism of those competing, often pushing themselves beyond their limits in their quest for racing success. But whilst success for some at the Speedway is symbolised by victory lane and the Borg Warner trophy for others it can simply come from overcoming diversity to make the great race itself, and in 2011 one driver’s battle through the pain barrier would set them on the way to becoming one of Indycar’s most endearing figures

Making her debut in the 2010 Indycar season, Simona De Silvestro was something of an anomaly in the world of motor racing, not only due to her being one of the few women competing in the sport at the time but also because her native Switzerland had outlawed all forms of motor sport following the Le Mans Disaster in 1955. In spite of this however the Thun resident had earned herself a strong reputation in the junior formulas of the sport, finishing fourth in the 2006 Formula BMW championship before a third placed finish in Formula Atlantic in which she picked up four victories.

De Silvestro’s impressive performances soon began to attract the attention of the world of Indycar, and in the winter of 2009 the 21 year old agreed a deal to drive for Keith Wiggins’ HVM team for the 2010 Indycar season. Although the team suffered from under-funding compared to their rivals De Silvestro won praise throughout the paddock with her driving during the season, leading laps during her debut outing for the team in Sao Paolo on her way to finishing second for rookie of the year honours to Alex Lloyd. A strong start to the 2011 season saw De Silvestro pick up her best ever finish at the opening round at St. Petersburg, and going into Indianapolis hopes were high that the Swiss Miss (as she was nicknamed by the press) could prove to be a dark horse for a top ten finish come race day.

After running a largely anonymous practice campaign throughout the Month of May De Silvestro saw her 500 prospects placed firmly in jeopardy thanks to a fiery airborne accident in Thursday’s practice session. The Swiss driver broke the rear suspension of her car going into turn three, causing it to hit the outside wall at over 200 miles an hour. The impact of the crash caused the machine to go airborne, landing upside down before skating across of the race track aflame. Although De Silvestro was able to free herself from the wreckage of her car it left the Swiss racer with second and third degree burns to both of her hands as well as blistering around her fingers, and such were the concerns about her abilities that the team made contingency plans for another driver to participate in Saturday’s qualifying session, whilst also leading De Silvestro to briefly consider giving up racing altogether. The accident also severely damaged the team’s primary car for the event, and with a lack of funds and no chance to repair the damage before Saturday the team were forced into preparing their backup car for the qualifying session, one which had been referred to derogatorily by the team as Pork Chop due to it’s old age and heavy weight.

Despite still being in great pain and having to have her bandages on her wounds replaced at every available opportunity De Silvestro was given medical clearance to participate in Saturday’s qualifying session. Wearing over-sized driving gloves to compensate for her bandages De Silvestro overcame the pain barrier to qualify her eight year old machine at a speed of over 224mph, not only guaranteeing her a spot in the 500 but also doing so as the fastest of the four females her made the field for the race. Although Alex Tagliani had qualified on pole for the 500 itself all eyes after qualifying were turned on De Silvestro, turning the approachable European into a fan favourite and media darling overnight. Her heroics also led to her being known by a new moniker; gone was the ‘Swiss Miss’ (a title Simona had always hated), in came ‘The Iron Maiden’ in its place.

Simona’s exploits in the race couldn’t live up to those from qualifying, as her injuries and age of her machine soon got the better of her and forced her to drop out of the race on lap 44, but her bravery and determination to make the field in spite of all the adversity that she and her team faced won her many admirers from both inside and outside the Indycar community, and should be held as a prime example of the lengths many will go to in trying to part of this legendary race.

In today’s video Simona speaks to Indycar.com following her qualifying heroics:

In tomorrow’s update we stick with qualifying, as one of the speedway’s most elusive milestones is finally broken.