De Silvestro wants shot at Bathurst

Simona de Silvestro is still chasing a Bathurst 1000 return as she visits a Supercars event for the first time since 2019.

The Swiss driver has made an appearance as at this weekend’s Darwin Triple Crown where she has told Fox Sports that the desire to race a Gen3 Supercar – and in particular return to Mount Panorama in October – still motivates the former Kelly Racing driver.

“It would be really cool to come back to Bathurst,” the de Silvestro said. “There’s so many races that I’ve been able to do and to just come back [to], like the Indy 500 – I think Bathurst is a bit similar, where you can kind of just go and jump in.”

Despite the media appearance during today’s coverage from Hidden Valley, de Silvestro was adamant that her attendance was not to secure a drive, and that a deal hasn’t been dome. Moreover, she insisted that any drive would have to be in a highly competitive seat.

“There’s always a little bit of talk here and there to make something happen, but so far, it’s hasn’t happened,” she said. “I think it’d be really, really special to come back and do it again, for sure, you know, and be in a good car and maybe have a good shot at it.”

Towards the end of her previous full-time season in 2019, De Silvestro was previously linked to potential drives with Triple Eight Race Engineering as well as Tickford Racing, that latter in her first Bathurst drive with co-driver Renee Gracie in 2015.

Her best Bathurst result was in 2019, where de Silvestro drove to 13th with Alex Rullo in a Kelly Racing Nissan Altima, although was running as high a ninth co-driving with David Russell when a crash ended her 2017 Great Race.

The top seats are all but taken for the 2023 Repco Bathurst 1000, with PremiAir Racing one of the few teams yet to confirm its enduro line-up for the Sandown and Bathurst events – Joey Mawson being highly favoured although by no means chosen, as Speedcafe understands.

For de Silvestro, who is a reserve driver for Porsche in Formula E, the return to the spotlight at Hidden Valley may be a longer play for a 2024 enduro drive to complement her ongoing IndyCar ambitions.