Katherine Legge is on the verge of becoming an Izod IndyCar Series driver.

The former Atlantics, Champ Car and DTM series driver has sponsorship for a full-time ride next season with a team to be determined later this week. Her deal with the team, when signed, will be two years with an option for a third.

Legge, 31, competed in Champ Car in 2006 for PKV Racing and in 2007 for Dale Coyne Racing. She won three races in Atlantics.(...)
Read the rest of IndyCar: Katherine Legge set to return to U.S. open-wheel racing in 2012

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When Simona de Silvestro replays the last six months in her mind, two images materialize. In the first, she’s blasting through the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., inches away from Tony Kanaan’s rear wing, fierce and tenacious and resolute in the season opener. In the second image, four months later, she’s carefully climbing from her car in Milwaukee after 11 laps, dizzy from a concussion, a stitched laceration on a knee, nerves spent, cold and flu coming on, desperately in need of some time off.

The 2011 season has been that way for de Silvestro, the 23-year-old Swiss driver who went from Indianapolis 500rookie of the year in 2010 to the good-bad puzzle of her second season. She was, at times, extraordinary this season. At other times, her confidence and skills were on hiatus.

“Honestly, I’m going to be really happy when this season is over,” she said. “It’s been a tough, tough year in certain phases. I’ve come back OK, but it’s been a lot of work to get there. I just had to overcome so many crashes. Any athlete has a tough season now and then, but this one is the toughest I’ve ever been in.”

The bad was exceedingly bad. In May, de Silvestro became a YouTube sensation with a startling crash during practice for the Indy500. Her car ripped into the fence, flipped and caught fire. She unbuckled and crawled out, but burned both hands in the process. Weeks later, she crashed during qualifying at the Milwaukee Mile and sustained a concussion that wasn’t diagnosed until after she couldn’t finish the race the following day.

The problems had a common denominator — oval tracks. A European-trained road racer, de Silvestro had little experience on ovals before reaching the Izod IndyCar Series. While impressive on road and street courses — including a fourth-place finish in St. Petersburg, Fla., — she struggled with the aftermath of big crashes on ovals, including a fiery crash at Texas Motor Speedway in 2010 and the Indy incident in May.(...)
Read the rest of Simona de Silvestro: IndyCar’s next Danica Patrick?

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Post tags: hmv, indy car, IZOD, simona de silvestro

Stellar as that Indianapolis 500 run was and scary as that fiery Texas crash appeared, Simona de Silvestro hopes her second IndyCar Series season provides even more excitement.

The Swiss driver definitely has more than her share of anticipation following a promising debut that didn’t surprise her all that much — not even the 14th-place Indy run that claimed rookie of the year honors. Top-10 finishes in races at Toronto and Mid-Ohio merely reinforced her road-course credentials, and have her eager to maintain her upward trajectory in Sunday’s season-opening Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, where de Silvestro was 16th in just her second series start a year ago.

“I think (my goals) have moved because it’s going to be my second year, and I think last year, we showed that we were running quite well on the road courses,” said de Silvestro, who finished 19th in points and earned the Tony Renna Firestone Rising Star award.(...)
Read the rest of IndyCar driver Simona De Silvestro looks for exciting start

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Last night, Sarah Fisher, driver for the IZOD IndyCar Series and owner of the Sarah Fisher Racing Team received the “Risk Taker” leading light award from Women and Hi Tech in Indianapolis. The Leading Light Award ceremony honored women from Indiana with achievements in science, education, and technology.

Fisher was very deserving of the “Risk Taker” award; she took a large leap for women in the field of auto sports when she began her own team- Sarah Fisher Racing in 2008. This season shows her team has done very well. They secured a sponsor, Dollar General, placed 26 out of 41 in the IZOD IndyCar Series and has an incredible fan following! Just check out her Twitter: @SarahFisher67(...)
Read the rest of Sarah Fisher: Risk Taker

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Post tags: Danica Patrick, indy car, jimmy kimmel, motorola, road rage

A new book of tell-all “day diaries”reveals what a day on the job is really like for women with glam careers to underlings with bosses from hell

Indianapolis, IN (February 28, 2008) – Sarah Fisher, IndyCar Series and Indianapolis 500 race car driver, is featured as a “day diarist,” in the acclaimed new book, Water Cooler Diaries: Women across America Share Their Day at Work (Da Capo Lifelong Press, pub. date: March 1, 2008). Fisher’s day diary is showcased along with 35 other entries from both regular and notable contributors, including model and actress Angie Everhart, celebrity chef Sara Moulton, blogger Heather Cocks and SnakeBabe, a.k.a. Maria Gara, billed the world’s sexiest magician.

Sarah’s day diary offers a great first-person perspective into the realities of being a world-class athlete and competitor in what is perceived as a man’s sport, says series creator and editor Joni B. Cole, who selected Fisher’s entry to feature in the book, and interviewed her as part of the project. Sarah is an inspiration, Cole adds. She’s not one to rest on her laurels. She makes opportunities happen through hard work and perseverance, as well as talent. And she’s just plain likeable, Cole offers with a laugh. You can see just from this intimate glimpse into one day in her life why her fans love her, and why women and girls see her as a role model.

Water Cooler Diaries evolved from a national pitch for 500 women across the country and from all walks of life to chronicle a single day in their lives March 27, 2007. The 35 full-length stories, offer glimpses of job highs and lows from every field and income bracket struggling in their own ways. Fisher’s day on the job was captured while completing her first test on a professional road course at Sebring International Raceway where she was testing for the then upcoming Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. In early reviews, Publisher’s Weekly calls the book, both fascinating and eye-opening. Booklist writes, Skimming through this collection is not a good idea. There are sentences that will make readers stop, laugh, tear up, nod, and otherwise savor common and out-of-the-ordinary experiences.

Being a part of this national book project was really neat for me, added Fisher, 27. I wrote in a diary as a kid and keep a notebook of my happenings for ESPN.com during the racing season. But with this project, it felt really personal and I felt comfortable sharing a bit more of what I was feeling. I was at Sebring in a road course car, something I wasn’t familiar with at all. In life, things change and evolve and we constantly have new challenges to concur and I think this book gives a nice snapshot into the many lives of working women. I’ll be interested to read about the other featured diarists and the obstacles that we might have shared.

In March, Water Cooler Diaries will share shelf space in the bookstores with the first two volumes of the series: This Day in the Life, Diaries from Women across America (2006); and This Day: Diaries from American Women (2004). In a starred review, Publishers Weekly wrote about This Day in the Life, There is not one piece in this compilation that is not captivating. People magazine concurred, The ensemble resonates with drama, humor and pathos. This is one unremarkable day you’ll wish could go on forever.

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