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De Silvestro prepares to combat Aussie heat

31 Jan 2017
Nissan’s new recruit wary of scorching temps
2 mins by James Pavey
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Simona de Silvestro says heat training will be a major focus in the build-up to the Supercars season opener following her arrival in Australia last night. 

The 28-year-old has relocated from Switzerland to Melbourne to take up a full-time Supercars seat with Nissan Motorsport.

De Silvestro already has experience in the team’s Altimas thanks to a wildcard appearance at Bathurst last year and will spend more time behind the wheel in the coming weeks.

De Silvestro during last year's assault of the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 with Nissan Motorsport.

With the season opening Clipsal 500 Adelaide considered the toughest physical challenge of the year for the drivers, De Silvestro says she’ll need to quickly adjust to the hot climate. 

Team boss and teammate Rick Kelly famously retired due to heat on his Supercars debut in 2002 and had to be pulled from his car by his crew.

“It’s great to be finally here in Melbourne, I’ve been waiting for this moment for quite a long time,” de Silvestro said at Melbourne Airport. 

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“When I left it was minus five degrees, so I think it’s going to be pretty challenging in the first few weeks.

“The training I’ve done in Switzerland has been pretty intense.

“It wasn’t heat training but I’ve done a lot of altitude training in the mountains… which is really good cardio. I’ve also done a lot of weight training at the gym.

“I’m pretty ready but for the month of February we’ll be pretty focussed on getting the heat training going.” 

De Silvestro slots into the fourth Nissan entry alongside Michael Caruso and brothers Rick and Todd Kelly.

She will have her first run in the #78 Altima on Thursday, undertaking a rookie test at Winton Motor Raceway.

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