Pinay snags points in W Series debut in Miami

MANILA: The 2022 W Series season officially got underway last weekend with the first two out of 10 races being held at the brand- new Miami International Autodrome. The all-female race series was a support race to the F1 Miami Grand Prix. 

Seventeen-year-old Filipino driver Bianca Bustamante officially made her debut in the W Series Academy car, and went on to score points in her very first race in the championship.

With the Miami W Series race being only her third-ever race weekend, the goal was to complete all sessions and gain experience in the W Series F3 car, in which  Bustamante developed in each session.

The weekend started with the one and only practice session on Friday. Bustamante went out on track for the first time and clocked in 12 laps in her new purple W Series Academy Team Tatuus F3 T-318.

She made consistent progress on every lap, learning the best racing line around the Miami street circuit and gaining confidence.  Being part of the W Series Academy, she had dedicated engineers and mechanics that studied her data around the track to give her feedback on how to improve.

Things started heating up on Saturday as the drivers got ready for the all-important qualifying session, as that would dictate the starting position in both races. With all 18 cars on track, Bustamante struggled to get a clean lap in, having to deal with traffic and navigate her way through her first ever W Series qualifying session.

The young racer was left disappointed as she was unable to show her ultimate pace, with a lap time of 2:00.385 only good enough for P17.

Starting from the last row, it was all to play for in Race 1 of the Miami W Series race. She had a lightning start and put herself immediately up to P13. The 30-minute race was action packed, and the main focus for Bustamante was to fight hard but keep it clean and bring the car home.

She managed her tires extremely well and made steady progress to eventually finish in P11. Post race penalties moved her up to P9, which meant that she scored two important world championship points in her very first race weekend.

In Race 2 on Sunday, Bustamante started from P17 once again and showed her ability to get off the line, passing four cars immediately. She had some hard-fought battles on the track including setting her fastest lap of the race weekend. Unfortunately, she was hit by another competitor in the closing stages of the race, locking up and flat-spotting her tires causing her to lose out on another spot and eventually come home in P14.

Overall, it was a milestone of a weekend for Bustamante, making her professional Formula 3 debut and scoring points as well. Her team engineers and coach helped her make inroads and get familiar to the W Series car. She was greeted by an overwhelming contingent of Filipino fans based in the USA, coming out in numbers to show their support.

Bustamante is heading to Barcelona, Spain next week for the round two of W Series, scheduled to be held on May 20 to 21. 

Photos from biancabustamante.com

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