Tatiana Calderón is aiming to end her maiden GP3 Series campaign on a high note, as she prepares for the final round of the 2016 championship trail in Abu Dhabi this weekend.
May, reaches its climax with a pair of races around the dazzling 5.554km Yas Marina track, which has played host to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix since 2009.
It’s a venue Tatiana is no stranger to, as she took part in two post-season GP3 tests at the Hermann Tilke-designed facility in 2014 and 2015 (albeit using the series’ previous generation car) before she made her race debut there in last year’s opening MRF Challenge round, in which she came away with an impressive three podium finishes against stiff opposition.
Now the Colombian ace, who recently spent two days preparing for the season finale at her Arden International team’s Banbury, UK base, arrives in Abu Dhabi in search of more points finishes to add to those already scored earlier in the year at Hockenheim and Monza – results that have already made Tatiana the highest-scoring female driver in GP3 history.
A first appearance of the year for Pirelli’s supersoft tyre compound should play into her hands, allowing her to showcase once again the tyre management prowess she put to such good use in her charge from the back of the grid to finish 10th in Germany.
Tatiana Calderón: “Obviously it’s been a long time with no GP3 action, so I’m really looking forward to getting back to racing this weekend. Abu Dhabi is a track I really like, and I have good memories of racing there in MRF Challenge last year. Of course it’s going to be challenging, especially because we’re using the supersoft tyre compound for the first time, so we don’t know what to expect in terms of ultimate tyre performance and degradation in the race. The circuit has a nice balance, with flowing and high-speed corners in the first two sectors and a demanding and technical final sector, where traction is really important. We’ll be trying hard to get the best out of everything to finish the year on a high.”
ABU DHABI TIMETABLE (all times CET and subject to change)
Friday 25 November 0700 – Practice 1 1210 – Qualifying
Saturday 26 November 0925 – Race 1
Sunday 27 November 1000 – Race 2
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