Tatiana Calderón will make her second start of the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series this weekend as she returns to AJ Foyt Racing for the third round of the season at Long Beach.
After a month-long layoff since her action-packed IndyCar debut on the Streets of St. Petersburg, Tatiana will be tackling another of the US-based series city courses at the wheel of her ROKiT No. 11 Dallara-Chevrolet, as she continues her 12-round programme of road and street races with the AJ Foyt Racing team.
Situated just to the south of downtown Los Angeles, Long Beach is one of the longest-running and most prestigious events on the IndyCar schedule, arguably second in stature only to the Indianapolis 500. The 1.968-mile course itself is not too dissimilar to the layout used in the track’s Formula 1 days in the late 1970s and early 1980s, with the curving start/finish straight still located along the iconic Shoreline Drive.
Overtaking opportunities are few and far between, with Turn 1 offering the most obvious chance to make a pass, making qualifying key. Strategy is also important given the propensity for accidents and caution periods around the narrow layout.
After a tough St. Pete debut that also served as valuable learning, Tatiana will be eyeing to build on that experience as she continues to prove herself at very highest level of open-wheel racing in North America.
Tatiana Calderón: “It’s been a long time since St. Pete and I can’t wait to be back in the car after a long month away! It’s going to be my first time in Long Beach and I have also never been to Los Angeles, so there’s lots of on- and off-track discovering to do over the week. The track looks super-fun to drive and it seems most drivers love it, so I can’t wait to see how it feels in reality! I have done a lot of simulator work, watched plenty of onboards in preparation for it with the team, so hopefully this will help us get up to speed quicker in Free Practice. I think I learnt a lot in the first race weekend, I had plenty of time to digest everything from St. Pete and there is plenty of work to be done. I expect another big challenge this weekend but it is one I am definitely relishing.”