Tatiana Calderón’s strong pace in last weekend’s penultimate round of the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup at Indianapolis Motor Speedway went unrewarded as the Gradient Racing team suffered bad luck that put them out of contention.
Making her return to Indianapolis for the so-called ‘Battle on the Bricks’, Tatiana and her co-drivers in the #66 Gradient Acura NSX GT3 Evo22, Stevan McAleer and Sheena Monk, finished the six-hour race 16th in the GT Daytona (GTD) class, 14 laps down.
That was after an electrical problem that struck just 22 laps into the six-hour race amid wet conditions, at which point starting driver Monk had been inside the top 10 in class.
The problem required a visit to the garage lasting around 32 minutes, which ruined any hopes of Gradient scoring a strong result. However, the team was able to fix the issue and send the #66 Acura back out on track and successfully finish the race.
Tatiana took over at the wheel from Monk just over two hours into the race, starting on Monk’s used wet tyres before switching over to fresh slick tyres at her next pit stop as the track dried out. The Colombian driver showed strong pace during this phase of the race, lapping consistently in the 1m25s bracket in the latter part of her double stint.
McAleer took over from Tatiana with just over two hours to go and brought home the Gradient Acura for its second consecutive IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup finish, following on from the previous round at Watkins Glen International back in June.
While the early electrical problem left the team once again unable to capitalise on the potential of its package, the race provided Tatiana with a valuable learning opportunity that she hopes she can make use of next month when she takes on the famous Petit Le Mans endurance race, the fifth and final round on her 2024 race schedule.
Tatiana Calderón: “It was another difficult weekend unfortunately, as we had an electrical issue after 22 laps. I think Sheena did a great job in qualifying and mixed conditions. It was raining quite hard at one point and that’s when we had the issues. We had to repair that and we lost about 14 laps. I was able to drive after Sheena finished her minimum drive time. I started with her used wet tyres and then I drove a few laps on slick tyres, so I got to drive the car in different conditions. It was a good experience to drive a GT car in the wet and learn a bit more about what to expect from the car, which I think will also be useful for Petit Le Mans. That aspect was positive and Stevan did a great job as usual. We will keep pushing for the final race of the season at Road Atlanta, which is a track I haven’t driven at for many years. I’ll be preparing using video footage and the simulator for the last race of the year.”
The five-round IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup season will conclude with the 10-hour Petit Le Mans season finale at Road Atlanta on October 12.
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