Tatiana Calderón will get her first taste of the world-famous NTT IndyCar Series when she joins the legendary AJ Foyt Racing team for a one-day test at Mid-Ohio next week.
The Colombian driver will pilot the ROKiT-liveried No.14 Dallara-Chevrolet on Tuesday July 6, after spending the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio race weekend (July 3-4) embedded within the AJ Foyt Racing team to learn and prepare herself for her test outing.
It marks the latest chapter in a car racing career that began when Tatiana spent two seasons on the ‘Road to Indy’ ladder, in the Star Mazda series (now Indy Pro 2000) in 2010-11.
Since then, the Latinamerican has driven a wide range of high-powered single-seaters all over the world, including FIA Formula 2, Super Formula in Japan and the pinnacle of motorsport, Formula 1, in her capacity as Alfa Romeo Racing test and development driver.
The NTT IndyCar Series features some of the fastest racing in the world, bringing together drivers from a diverse range of motorsport backgrounds to fight it out in near-identical machinery across America’s most challenging road courses, ovals and street tracks.
Its centrepiece race is the Indianapolis 500, or ‘Indy 500’ which is considered one of motorsport’s ‘Triple Crown’ events alongside F1’s Monaco Grand Prix and the Le Mans 24 Hours. Average speeds in qualifying for the Indy 500 often exceed 230mph (370km/h).
AJ Foyt Racing is the team founded and owned by AJ Foyt, considered among the greatest drivers in motorsport with four Indy 500 wins to his name, as well as victories in NASCAR’s Daytona 500 and the Le Mans 24 Hours. His eponymous team can also boast five IndyCar drivers’ titles and three Indy 500 victories.
While Tatiana’s main focus remains on her dual campaigns in Super Formula and the FIA World Endurance Championship, her IndyCar test will offer the chance to underline her credentials at the wheel of another top high-powered single-seaters.
Tatiana Calderón: “I’m very excited and thankful to the ROKiT AJ Foyt Racing team for this incredible opportunity. I started my single-seater career in the US and it has always been a dream to drive an Indy car one day. I’m sure it will be a great challenge and I can’t wait to have the experience to drive around Mid-Ohio on Tuesday, learn about the car and enjoy the chance to drive one of the fastest race cars on the planet.”
Team President Larry Foyt: “We are looking forward to having Tatiana in the ROKiT Chevrolet! She has a lot of open wheel experience in different formula cars so I’m really interested to hear her feedback after driving an Indy car. Following the race weekend, the car setup should be in a good place where she can focus on driving and learning about the car. I think she will really enjoy it.”
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