De Silvestro back to training after dizzy spells

Simona de Silvestro

Simona De Silvestro resumed her training program Wednesday, which normally wouldn't be worth noting. This time it is.

A week ago, the 22-year-old Swiss driver was held out of the Izod IndyCar Series event at Iowa Speedway because of dizziness stemming from her June 18 crash at the Milwaukee Mile.

De Silvestro was diagnosed with post-concussion symptoms after she admitted to dizzy spells with stressful activity.

"Pretty much everything where your heart rate goes up made me dizzy, even like walking up stairs and things like that," she said Thursday in her first interview since being held out at Iowa. "I got dizzy when I tried to run.

"It was pretty annoying, but it's gone now. That's a good sign."

De Silvestro still must get clearance from IndyCar's medical team — the next race is July 10 on a street circuit in Toronto — but that shouldn't be a problem if she's honest about her condition.

Dr. Michael Olinger, IndyCar's director of medical services, said doctors rely on patients to give them as much information as possible. De Silvestro didn't mention the dizziness until just before the first practice at Iowa.

De Silvestro said she didn't take Olinger's decision well, but she knew it was the right one. Her team, HVM Racing, withdrew.

"It was pretty tough, for sure, but I wasn't feeling well," she said. "I was pretty dizzy, I think, even on Friday. It would have been pretty dangerous (to drive). But if you're a race car driver, you just want to be in the car as much as you can."

De Silvestro acknowledged she was glad she wasn't in a car as six drivers bounced off the turn-two wall in the race. Will Power suffered a mild concussion.

"I was watching (on television) and thought maybe it's a good thing I'm not out there," she said. IndyStar