Tatiana Calderon to test Indycar with AJ Foyt Racing

VIVIEN STREBELOW

Jul 3, 20212 min read

ROKiT-sponsored Colombian racing star Tatiana Calderon will join AJ Foyt Racing for her first IndyCar test at Mid-Ohio next week. She will drive Sébastien Bourdais's No-14 car - also sponsored by ROKiT - to take her first steps in the biggest American open-wheel racing series.

Racing star Tatiana Calderon joins AJ Foyt Racing for her first test in the American NTT IndyCar Series as part of a test day in Mid-Ohio next week. She will drive the black ROKiT sponsored Dallara-Chevrolet usually driven by Sébastien Bourdais to take her first steps into the famous open-wheel series.

“I’m very excited and thankful to Jonathan Kendrick at ROKiT and Larry Foyt for this incredible opportunity." - said Tatiana, who has already met the team. "I started my single-seater career in the US and it has always been a dream to drive an IndyCar 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.”

Coming from a difficult but equally character-building year in FIA Formula 2 in 2019, the Colombian racing driver has competed in SuperFormula since 2020 for ThreeBond Drago Corse and has made the step up from ELMS to WEC in 2021 with all-female team Richard Mille Racing. Calderon is also test and development driver for Alfa Romeo in F1.

So far, Tatiana has only been only able to enter two rounds of the Japan-based SuperFormula this year due to clashing commitments with the World Endurance Championship and for restrictions limiting her travels from Japan to Europe.

Now she has the chance to have her first taste of the biggest US open-wheel championship at her first test, which is scheduled for Tuesday 6th July. Before climbing in the car, Tatiana will be spending the entire weekend with the team to learn about the operation from the inside as she prepares to drive the #14 car owned by AJ Foyt.

The team was founded by former racing legend AJ Foyt and has collected many successes in the history of american and international racing - including three victories at the Indianapolis 500, Daytona 500 in NASCAR and the Le Mans 24 Hours. Currently, the team lines-up former F1 driver and multiple ChampCar champion Sébastien Bourdais and Dalton Kellett as permanent drivers.

“We are looking forward to having Tatiana in the ROKiT Chevrolet!" - added Team President Larry Foyt. "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.”

ROKiT is a long-time sponsor of Calderon, having supported the athlete through her journey in motorsport in the past years. The brand has been lately heavily involved in the sport and displayed passionate support for women in motorsport, such as Esmee Hawkey in DTM, Juju Noda in Formula 4 and it is partner of the all-female championship W Series.