Paretta planning expanded 2023 schedule for De Silvestro

08/09/2022 20:47

Beth Paretta isn’t ready to declare how many NTT IndyCar Series races Simona De Silvestro will do next year in the No. 16 Paretta Autosport Chevy, but she’s getting close to an answer. “I’m really happy that we’ve been able to do what we set out to do,” Paretta told RACER. “We said we’d do three races, and we then added a fourth this weekend in Laguna Seca, and as I look at 2023, we’d like to do more than four races. That would be progress. “I know everybody wants to say they’ll do a full season, and that’s our goal eventually. Is that next year? I don’t know if it is or if it’s not. But if it’s more than four races, then that’s positive progress we’d be happy with and we’re trying to be realistic about the rate that we grow, as well.” The No. 16 entry fielded for Paretta by Ed Carpenter Racing has featured new sponsors at every event, including this weekend’s stop in Monterey. Thanks to the heightened commercial interest shown in her group of women racers, Paretta is confident about all that lies ahead. “Right now, my efforts are talking to our new partners about what next year looks like for them,” she said. “Because almost all of our partners have indicated so far that they’re excited for next year and are excited to carry on. So I’m in the process of seeing what each of those looks like. “And I’m talking to Ed because we’d be happy to stay with ECR. Chevy has a lot of faith in them, and I’d like to continue working with them because I think Ed’s team creates a healthy environment. I feel like the on-track success, it’ll come, and I really like the way that we all work together. There’s a mutual respect that’s going on with what we’re trying to achieve with our program, and it’s a good foundation.” Along with trying to expand Paretta Autosport’s footprint across the 2023 IndyCar calendar, the team continues to develop its roster of women who work on De Silvestro’s No. 16 Chevy. “We’re still in the growth phase,” Paretta said. “So as we move forward, we want to look at adding to our bench of skilled women. We added a new junior mechanic this year. We had someone go from intern to employee from last year to this year, and we added another junior engineer. A lot of things are working out the way I’ve wanted all along.”