Tatiana Calderón will finally make her long-awaited debut in Japan’s Super Formula championship during this weekend’s first round of the season at Twin Ring Motegi.
The Colombian racer is set to be one of just three non-Japanese drivers on the grid when the series, which boasts some of the fastest single-seaters anywhere in the world outside of Formula 1, kicks off its 2020 season after a delay of nearly five months.
Having successfully entered Japan earlier this month to be able to serve the mandatory 14-day quarantine period, Tatiana will be reunited with her ThreeBond Drago Corse team for the two-hour official test on Friday, when she will reacquaint herself with her Honda-powered, Dallara-built SF19 car around the demanding 4.8km Motegi track.
That will be followed by two practice sessions on Saturday and a warm-up session on Sunday morning prior to qualifying and the 35-lap race itself. The condensed nature of the weekend means that the race will not feature the usual pitstopto refuel and change tyres.
After such a long wait since she last drove the SF19 back in the first official pre-season test at Fuji Speedway back in March, Tatiana is relishing the chance to return to single-seater racing for the first time since last year’s FIA Formula 2 finale in Abu Dhabi.
Tatiana Calderón: “I’m very happy to be in Japan and I want to thank the ThreeBond Drago Corse team, my sponsors Bandero, Koe, the Colombian Ministry of Sport and everyone in the Colombian and Spanish embassies that made it possible for me to travel. It was a big effort from everybody and I’m extremely excited to finally start my Super Formula season in Motegi. It’s a new track for me, and it will be my debut in the championship as well. It’s all very exciting and I can’t wait to get started. I’m grateful for the support I’ve had so far and looking forward to the weekend.”
Tatiana racing in Japan means she will not be able to participate in this weekend’s European Le Mans Series round at Paul Ricard with the Richard Mille Racing, but she will be back with the team for next month’s Le Mans 24 Hours on September 19-20.
MOTEGI WEEKEND SCHEDULE
all times Japan Standard Time (GMT +9)
Friday August 28
Official test session – 13:00
Saturday August 29
Free practice 1 – 11:50
Free practice 2 – 14:25
Sunday August 30
Warm-up – 08:00
Qualifying – 10:05
Race – 14:15
2020 SUPER FORMULA SCHEDULE
Round 1, Motegi: August 28-30
Round 2, Okayama: September 26-27
Round 3, Sugo: October 17-18
Round 4, Autopolis: November 14-15
Round 5/6, Suzuka: December 15-16
Round 7: Fuji: December 19-20
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