De Silvestro back for Andretti again in NOLA - MotorSportsTalk

Simona de Silvestro has her third confirmed race with Andretti Autosport, as she’ll be back in the team’s No. 25 Honda for this weekend’s Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana.

In support of the local community, de Silvestro will be carrying Ochsner Health System’s branding on her No. 25 machine, along with the Racing for Kids badge. The racing veteran will join Racing for Kids to visit young patients at Ochsner Hospital for Children on Thursday, leading up to the inaugural Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana.

She qualified well at St. Petersburg in 11th, second of Andretti’s four drivers, in her first IndyCar race in more than a year. However her race was a struggle and she’ll look to improve on that.

“It’s great to get another shot in the car and improve on everything we learned in St. Petersburg,” de Silvestro said in a release. “I’m really looking forward to being able to work with everyone again and hopefully have a better race! I’m really thankful for all that Michael (Andretti) and everyone at Andretti Autosport have been doing to make all of this happen.”

“Simona obviously didn’t have the greatest outcome in St. Pete, but she was always up there fighting to get ahead,” said Michael Andretti, president, chairman and CEO of Andretti Autosport. “She proved herself both on and off the track. The great thing about Simona is that she keeps her head down and continues to push – she fights hard. We’re happy to be able to bring her back for another round before the Indy 500.”

She has also been confirmed to the team’s TE Connectivity-backed No. 29 Honda for the Indy 500.

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An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”