De Silvestro keen for 'good shot' at Bathurst

The idea of a Bathurst comeback still burns brightly for Simona de Silvestro, who is trackside at a Supercars event for the first time since 2019.

De Silvestro, who raced full-time in Supercars between 2017 and 2019, is on the ground at this weekend’s betr Darwin Triple Crown.

The Swiss driver has made five Bathurst starts, the last coming in 2019 in her third and final season with Kelly Racing.

Back in April, De Silvestro told the Girls on the Grid podcast that she would “really enjoy” another start at Mount Panorama.

“It would be really cool to come back to Bathurst,” she said on the broadcast in Darwin.

“There’s so many races that I’ve been able to do and to just come back, like the Indy 500.

"I think Bathurst is a bit similar, where you can kind of just go and jump in.”

De Silvestro, a reserve Porsche factory driver in Formula E, maintained she hadn’t come to Australia to sign any deals.

2019: De Silvestro's last Bathurst start

She also has ambitions to return to IndyCar; she made six Indy 500 starts, and last raced in the series on a part-time basis in 2022.

There are three vacancies at PremiAir Racing and CoolDrive Racing, which have yet to confirm their 2023 enduro line-ups.

Shortly after her podcast comments, Walkinshaw Andretti United confirmed it would not run an enduro wildcard this season.

However, Dylan O’Keeffe is tipped to return alongside James Golding, and Joey Mawson may debut alongside Tim Slade should he secure a Superlicence.

That leaves CoolDrive, with Todd Hazelwood likely to be joined by either team co-owner Tim Blanchard or the team’s Super2 driver, Aaron Love.

Regardless, De Silvestro wants make a Bathurst return, and wants to have a “shot” at victory with a leading team.

“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, and be in a good car and maybe have a good shot at it.”

Supercars will return to the track on Saturday for ARMOR ALL Qualifying at 11:30am local tine/12:00pm AEST.