Photo by: Eric Gilbert
Fontana, CA (Saturday, September 15, 2012) - Tonight saw the end of a very difficult season for Simona De Silvestro and the Lotus HVM Racing team. De Silvestro struggled with over-boost issues on the engine of her #78 Nuclear Clean Air Energy car from the start of the race.
We had over-boost issues right away and started to work on it," said Tom Brown the team's technical director. "It's an issue that plagued us all weekend. We had no pulling power and that was not a good situation to be in at this track."
Keith Wiggins, team owner, felt the situation with the engine was not something the team could safely overcome. "The engine had issues with over-boost making it difficult to maintain pace in traffic," he said. "We felt it better to come in and not affect the outcome of the race.
We were pretty sure that we couldn't go the distance so it made no sense for us to put Simona in a situation that could get her or one of the other competitors into trouble."
This has been De Silvestro's most difficult season with tonight's finale indicative of what she and the team have had to struggle with. "It was a frustrating season, but what doesn't kill you makes you stronger," she said. "We worked really hard to get the car ready and hoped that we would be competitive.
I feel bad for the team. They worked crazy hours replacing two engines this weekend and it would have been nice to have been able to finish the season on a high note. We've learned a lot this season and have to take that into what we expect to be a much better year next year."
Shane Seneviratne, team manager, reflected on the season. "It's a disappointing end to a disappointing season, but that's what it is. We just have to look forward to next year. A big thanks to the hard work and dedication of the HVM Racing crew.
They kept on working hard despite all the problems we've had throughout the year. I sincerely want to thank them for all their hard work, Simona for hanging in there, and our sponsors and fans for all their support."
The team will take a few days off before moving their focus toward the 2013 IZOD IndyCar season. Simona and the team would truly like to thank their fans for the outpouring of support this season.
Source: Lotus HVM Racing
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