Supercars: Former IndyCar and Supercar driver Simona De Silvestro is back to compete at Bathurst in 2023

Four years after her last Supercars appearance, Swiss star Simona De Silvestro will be back at Mount Panorama via a Bathurst wildcard despite a health scare.

Swiss driver Simona De Silvestro at the Sandown 500 after arriving in Australia for her Bathurst 1000 wildcard campaign. Picture: Supplied

Swiss star Simona De Silvestro has declared herself recovered and “ready to go” for her Bathurst 1000 wildcard assault after a health scare put the brakes on the preparations for her return to Mount Panorama.

Just days after being given medical clearance, the former IndyCar racer arrived in Australia at the weekend and headed straight to Sandown to join Dick Johnson Racing and immerse herself with the team.

De Silvestro had been due to arrive in Australia at the start of the month, but her arrival was delayed after she had to undergo emergency surgery for appendicitis.

The 35-year-old missed two pre-endurance season test days with DJR, but will now get her first taste of the DJR Gen3 Ford Mustang at the end of the month.

Four years after her last appearance in Supercars, De Silvestro will team with Super2 young gun Kai Allen for the DJR squad’s first wildcard at Mount Panorama.

De Silvestro revealed her initial concern when she was struck by pain at a car rally, but said she had recovered well from the surgery.

“It’s been an interesting last few weeks, but I’m here now,” De Silvestro said.

“I just had (medical clearance) on the Thursday actually and then I called Ben (Croke, DJR team principal) and said ‘I think I’m ready to go’ and then flew the next day, so I’m all clear and ready to go.

De Silvestro chats with defending Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen after arriving in Australia for Bathurst. Picture: Supplied

“It was a bit annoying it happened then, but in hindsight it’s better than it happened then than when we got to Bathurst.

“I was doing an old-timer car rally and was in a lot of pain …. in the evening the pain was not going away and you go on Dr Google and then you start reading what it could be and then you realise ‘Yeah, maybe you should go to the doctor’.

“Luckily the doctor sent me straight away to the hospital and pretty much two hours later, I was on the operating table. But it all went well.”

De Silvestro will make her return to the Supercars grid after her last appearance in 2019.

She raced full-time in Supercars for three years from 2017 with Nissan Motorsport/Kelly Racing, finishing 19th in the championship in her final year.

The DJR wildcard will be De Silvestro’s sixth crack at the Great Race, having earlier teamed with Renee Gracie twice in wildcards before her full-time entry into Supercars.

Since departing the series, De Silvestro has wanted to make a return to race at Mount Panorama, but described the DJR opportunity as a “no-brainer”.

“It’s something that’s always been in my mind after finishing the season in 2019,” she said.

“When DJR called I think it made a lot of sense and it fitted for me and for Kai, so it was really a no-brainer and I’m also super lucky to be in a really good car coming back.

“The team putting this program together, it is just the perfect opportunity to come back now.”

Asked if she was interested in making a return to Supercars full-time in the future, the driver known as the ‘Iron Maiden’ said appearances as an endurance co-driver were the best fit for her.

De Silvestro, with Renee Gracie, ahead of her first Bathurst 1000 tilt in 2015. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

“I love this series and it’s a really cool series and having these opportunities to do the co-driver thing at the moment – that’s what makes the most sense for me,” De Silvestro said.

“I’m always a person that never says never, I never imagined seven years ago that I would be racing in Supercars.

“At the end of the day if a good opportunity could come, there’s always the potential. But at the moment I’m really focused on this wildcard and I think it would be cool to just come for the endurance races.”

Although she was yet to get behind the wheel of a Gen3 car, De Silvestro was confident about her and Allen’s prospects at Mount Panorama.

“I’m really excited to get back to Bathurst because I think it’s the best track you get to drive,” De Silvestro said.

“It’s a long race and the team is really strong so I think if we just tick our boxes and keep our head straight down there, I think we can have a really good result at the end of the weekend.

“Kai is a really cool kid and I think he has a really bright future …. he seems quite quick so I think we’ll be OK out there.”