Team Stargate World and HVM announce partnership

In a collaborative effort with HVM Racing, Team Stargate Worlds will enter the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series with driver Simona De Silvestro. Known as Team Stargate Worlds/HVM Racing, the team will carry primary sponsorship from Stargate Resistance and associate sponsorship from Bernard Richards Manufacture (BRM), FireSky, Cheyenne Mountain Games, and Cardinal Technologies. De Silvestro and the # 78 entry will also lead the Do Not Text “N" Drive campaign which is designed to increase public awareness about the dangers of texting while driving.

Both groups partnered up and spent the offseason testing De Silvestro in both an Indy car and an Indy Lights car and by all measurements the tests were successful and more importantly, a glimpse of the promising possibilities. De Silvestro, who enters her 6th year in North American open-wheel racing stunned the open-wheel world in 2009 by winning 4 races in dominant fashion, earning 4 pole positions, and gathering an extraordinary 9 podium finishes in the 2009 Atlantic Championship season. She would go on to finish third in the series. Her success was not only impressive but it was also record breaking. De Silvestro was the first woman is series history to have earned the most wins, pole positions, and led the most laps in a single season. “Racing in the IndyCar series, alongside the class of competition that I will be racing with is a true honor. I am very grateful for this opportunity and for the type of team that I will have alongside me. I am equally grateful for the support that I have from my sponsors, family, friends and fans. I am very eager for my debut in the 2010 IZOD IndyCar season," states the young 21 year old from Thun, Switzerland.

For Team Stargate Worlds, who also enters its 6th year of competition in North American open-wheel competition, this marks an substantial expansion of its operations. Led by team principals Shane Seneviratne and Imran Safiulla, the California based team looks forward to its new partnership with HVM Racing. “This is yet another significant step in Simona's career. We have had a very fortunate few years that have led us here and I could not imagine being able to form this new relationship with a better person than Keith. I am greatly appreciative of every single person and every company that has helped make this possible and look forward to a successful 2010," states Safiulla.

For HVM Racing having De Silvestro as its driver is exciting and full of possibilities. “From the first day of the first test, we knew she could drive," said Keith Wiggins, HVM Racing team principal and owner. “The longer we worked with her, the more she impressed us. I think she has a great future in this series. She made a lot of history in the Atlantic Championship and we expect her to make some waves in IndyCar now that she’s here."

The team will now turn its attention on its first race of the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series season opener, the Saõ Paulo Indy 300, taking place in the streets of Saõ Paulo, Brazil on March 13 and 14.