Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 12) – Filipino teen racer Bianca Bustamante left a good impression in her debut in a Formula 3 car in the W Series 2022 season first round held at the brand new Miami International Autodrome in Florida, USA.
The 17-year-old Bustamante got her first taste of the power of her purple Tatuus F3 T-318 car in the practice session, where she finished 15th out of 18 racers with her fastest lap time at two minutes and 0.182 seconds after driving for 12 laps.
In the qualifying session, Bustamante ended in 17th place after clocking in her best lap time of two minutes and 0.385 seconds to end in the last row for the first main race the following day.
Bustamante, who competes under the W Series Academy Team, tallied a good start in her first main race as she jumped to 13th place in the first lap and managed her tires well to continue her ascent.
The Filipina racing wunderkind finished her debut W Series race at 11th place but post-race penalties moved her up to the ninth spot, where she scored two points in the drivers’ standings of the all-female racing competition.
Bustamante also started in P17 in the second race but in the final laps, she had contact with one of her opponents which caused her car to lock up and her tires to experience flat-stopping. She finished in 14th place, failing to add the points she incurred in her debut race.
“There’s still a lot to work on and I am going to keep striving to fight at the top. I realized there is much more needed than just driving fast to win, and I’m looking forward to keep up the strong learning curve,” said Bustamante, who ranks in joint 11th place in the drivers’ standings.
The first round of the 2022 W Series season was held along with the inaugural Miami Grand Prix of Formula One.
Bustamante is heading next to Barcelona, Spain for the second round of the 2022 W Series season on May 20-21.
