Female F3 Euro driver sets sights on F1
20 year old Tatiana Calderón from Columbia has set herself the goal of competing in Formula One having entered into professional karting at eight. Now tyre supplier Hankook is supporting her development as part of its role as tyre supplier to the FIA Formula 3 European Championship, in which she is now competing.
Calderón explained: “I played competitive sports such as tennis and football but, motorsport was something I fell in love with straight away, this was to be my focus for the future.” In 2005, she became the first female driver to win her local karting championship, with many other victories following, her best personal victory, being the first female racer to win the US East Coast Championship. “I am very proud of that victory to this day.”
Also, to be in top physical condition, Tatiana is training three to four hours per day with different fitness regimes. Her personal goal is to beat the strong male competition. Tatiana further explained: “Motorsport is one of the very few sports in which women can keep up with the men but for this, I need to be strong both physically and mentally and within male dominated sport, men had more problems with me than I had with them, but after they saw that I can be just as competitive as them, with total commitment I had begun to win their trust.”
The Columbian has been impressed by Hankook competition tyres’ consistency, which is allowing her to push her skills further in F3. “With other tyres, I have made the experience that one can only set fast lap times with them within a certain time frame. That is different with the Hankook slick tyres. They give me a clearer consistent feel and I even set fastest times with them on lap ten or lap eleven, I can fully rely on the tyres which help me push, every lap and we know that we can always improve on the course of a race weekend.”
For her, the 2013 debut in the F3 European Championship is a “learning curve”, with the intention to attack next season and to continue improving in order to fulfil her big dream of becoming “the first lady racer from Colombia to race in Formula 1.”
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