Tatiana recently featured AUTO+ Women in Motor Sport – you can read the original article here – Auto+ Women in Motorsport
Colombian Tatiana Calderon and Italian Michela Cerruti lined up on the grid in Monza last weekend for the opening round of the FIA’s new Formula 3 European Championship. Nineteen-year-old Calderon has secured a seat with the Double R Racing team and the Colombian, who comes to the series after taking ninth place in the 2012 European F3 Open, admits that the series is the most competitive she has faced so far in her career. Perhaps naturally, Calderon got into motor sport through her support of a famous compatriot. “I followed Juan Pablo Montoya when I was kid. For Colombia that was so huge to have him in F1. Motor sport grew a lot with him,” she added. “I started racing with my sister. I raced in the USA, then in Europe. I was the first female to win the Stars of Karting championship in the USA. Then I came to Europe to do the Euro challenge in Rotax. “A girl needs to work harder physically,” she said of single-seater racing. “A Formula 3 car is pretty physical, so to be able to concentrate on all the other stuff, such as getting the car balance right, you have to be really well prepared. I’m getting there. I’m working hard.” It’s a story familiar to Cerruti, who is racing with Romeo Ferraris this season. The 26-year-old comes to the new championship from the 2012 Italian GT Championship in which she finished 10th, with three podiums, and the ATS Formel 3 Cup where she finished 15th overall. “The big step for me was to race in the Superstars Series in 2010,” she admitted. “The first year was hard, but I won a race in my second year. It was incredible to race against drivers like Andrea Bertolini, Thomas Biagi, Johnny Herbert and Gianni Morbidelli. “Romeo Ferraris, my team in Superstars Series, decided to go to F3, with me,” she added. “It’s great to have their trust. We have to work, but we could do something. The first tests were difficult. It’s a new team, so we are facing the usual things a new team with a new car faces. The team is new to F3 but has huge experience in GT.” Cerruti agreed with Calderon that F3 cars are a physical challenge. “A Formula 3 car is much more physical than a GT, so you have to work harder,” she said. “I had to train twice as hard as the others, as I need to develop more muscle as I start from zero.” Cerruti confessed that having another female competitor in the series is a bonus. “It’s fun to have another girl on the grid,” she reveals. “Tatiana is much more experienced than me in single seaters. She is fast and is one of the most promising girls, so it will be great to fight with her.” The two women took part in three races over the Monza weekend, with Calderon faring best overall. The Colombian finished race one in 19th place from a field of 30 and in the two wet races that followed finished 23rd and 22nd respectively. Cerruti, meanwhile, was 21st in the dry opening race but failed to finish race two. The Italian race finished race three in 21st position.