Filipina racer Bianca Bustamante to join 1st-ever Formula E test

Filipina racer Bianca Bustamante will join the first-ever all-women test session for the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. 

She will partner with fellow racer Ella Lloyd for the NEOM McLaren team to operate the new GEN3 Evo race car. 

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The official Formula E website says the all-women test will “remove barriers and expand opportunities for women.”

The Filipina racer and Formula E

The official Bianca Bustamante website says her passion for car racing started with karting at a young age.

Her father worked tirelessly to support her karting career, allowing it to transcend into professional racing.

Eventually, she won many competitions, such as the China Grand Prix Kart Scholarship four times.

Also, she became the only Asian contestant for the 2021 FIA Girls on Track – Rising Stars scholarship.

Bustamante will join the first all-women test session in Formula E. The latter is a global racing series that involves electric vehicles custom-built by multiple teams. 

Formula E and its more popular counterpart, Formula 1, promote the development of the latest transportation technology. Eventually, these innovations become part of consumer vehicles. 

For example, hybrid automobiles use regenerative braking to reduce energy consumption, and it originated from Formula 1 cars. 

Bustamante will make history in racing and transportation technology on November 7, 2024 at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Valencia, Spain.

The Filipina racer will drive the new Season 11 (2024/2025) GEN3 Evo. This race car can go from 0 to 60 mph in 1.82 seconds.

In contrast, the official Formula E website says it is 30% faster than a modern F1 vehicle.

Moreover, 11 world-class race teams and 22 drivers will test the GEN3 Evo in the same week.

Aside from car innovations, the test session will also expand opportunities for women in racing. 

Formula E says the sport is predominantly male, and women only hold 3% of the current top-tier racing licenses worldwide. 

“I’ve already been honing my skills in the simulator and working with the team so I can extract the most from this opportunity as I can,” said the Filipina racer.