Still suffering ill-effects from her Milwaukee crash last weekend, Swiss driver Simona de Silvestro will sit out Saturday night's IZOD IndyCar Series race at Iowa Speedway, having not been cleared to drive by the IndyCar medical team.
Although de Silvestro did not exhibit physical signs of a concussion or report any post-concussion symptoms to the IndyCar medical team following her crash in qualifying last weekend – and was subsequently cleared to drive in the race – de Silvestro pulled out of the race after just 11 laps of the Milwaukee Mile, saying she was feeling ill.
IndyCar.com reports that the HVM Racing driver will be re-evaluated prior to the Honda Indy Toronto on July 10. In the meantime, Keith Wiggins' team will not replace her in the car for Saturday night's race on the .875-mile oval. As specified by the IZOD IndyCar Series rulebook, the entrant and driver will receive half-points as a non-starting car.
Sophomore driver de Silvestro has been going through a difficult period over the past five weeks, having suffered burns to her hands in a crash at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Although she qualified for the "500" easily, she was forced to retire early from the event. She has two top-10 finishes this season, with a high of fourth in the season-opener at St. Petersburg.