- Bustamante excited ahead of first-ever formula car race weekend
- Valuable opportunity to develop racecraft in her rookie year
- Partial season with 4 race weekends to gain additional seat time
Seventeen-year-old Filipino racer Bianca Bustamante has signed with IGY6 Motorsports to race in the USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tires, a pre-step to the highly regarded Road to Indy ladder series. The series kicks off this weekend at the Ozarks International Raceway in Missouri for its inaugural season, where Bustamante will be aiming to gain race experience ahead of her W Series debut in two weeks' time. This will also be Bustamante’s first-ever formula car race weekend, an opportunity she has been working towards since the age of 5. She will only be taking part in the first four out of six race weekends of the USF Juniors, missing out on the last two events due to schedule conflicts.
Bustamante has proven her ability to adapt and learn quickly, as evidenced by her excellent performances at various pre-season tests in Formula 4 and Formula 3 cars earlier this year. However, she has still not had the taste of a formula car in race situations, an opportunity she is really looking forward to. It is not the first time she has driven for IGY6 Motorsports, having taken part in the USF Juniors Official Test at the end of March 2022 at Barber Motorsports Park, where she showed rapid improvement in every outing.
The USF Juniors is a pre-step to the highly regarded Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires development ladder and attracts some of the best young racing talents. The championship is staged at famous tracks across the United States, with two race weekends run as support to NTT INDYCAR SERIES weekends. The clear goal will be to gain experience through a race weekend, to strengthen her skills ahead of her full season campaign in W Series which kicks of in Miami in May.
Bianca Bustamante | Driver #9 of IGY6 Motorsports:
“I’m truly grateful to have this opportunity to learn and join the USF Juniors which has built a strong entry list of competitive drivers for its debut season. It is important that I make the most of every opportunity behind the wheel, and to get my first-ever formula car race under my belt will definitely teach me a lot. I had an amazing time during the official test in Barber and felt comfortable in the car right away, so I can't wait to get my season started with IGY6 Motorsports. I’m very confident that with the teams preparation and technical support from VRD Racing, I’ll be able to maximize this learning opportunity and hopefully improve throughout every session and race this weekend.”
Brandon Graham | Team Manager of IGY6 Motorsports:
“We are excited to have Bianca join our team for the USF Juniors season. She is a fascinating young talent and has shown what she can do behind the wheel. Bianca did extremely well at the pre-season test with the limited track time she has had to date. It is important for young drivers to gain a lot of race experience and USF Juniors provides an excellent platform for young racers like her to show their abilities and develop their race craft. We are looking forward to working with Bianca and giving her the support to continue her rapid growth in single-seater racing.”