Bia Figueiredo
Ana "Bia" Beatriz Caselato Gomes de Figueiredo (born on March 18 1985, in São Paulo) is a Brazilian female racing driver currently competing in the Firestone Indy Lights series. Figueiredo won her first Indy Lights race at Nashville Superspeedway on 12 July 2008, becoming the first woman to win a race in the Indy Lights series.
Career
Figueiredo started her career in karting races. Initially funded by her family, "Bianinha" ("Little Bia") began kart racing at age eight.At the age of 12, Afro-Brazilian racing coach Nailor "Nô" Campos, former coach of racers Tony Kanaan, Rubens Barrichello, Enrique Bernoldi and Andre Ribeiro, became her coach and chief mechanic. When Figueiredo's family could no longer fund her racing endeavors at the age of 15, Campos helped her attain sponsorship from the Medley pharmaceutical company, owned by former racer Xandy (Pollini) Negrão, father of racer Alexandre Sarnes Negrão.
With formal sponsorship, Figueiredo finished as runner-up in a variety of karting championships and won the Sorriso Petrobrás Kart Cup championship in 2003.
After three seasons in the Brazilian Formula Renault championship, Figueiredo started competing in Formula Three Sudamericana in 2006, driving for the well-established Cesario Formula team. In 2006, she also drove a Red Bull Volkswagen Touareg for PPD Sports, owned by Pedro Diniz.
In 2008, Figueiredo began racing in the American Firestone Indy Lights Series for defending championship-winning team Sam Schmidt Motorsports under the name Ana Beatriz. Prior to racing in the United States, Figueiredo was referred to as "Bia", not "Ana", and many people, including Figueiredo herself, continue to call her "Bia". Several American reporters have begun to use the name Ana "Bia" Beatriz in their written articles.
Figueiredo placed fifth in the Firestone Freedom 100 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on 23 May 2008, the highest finishing position by a female driver in that race. On 12 July 2008, she led the most laps and won her first Indy Lights race at Nashville Superspeedway.
With the excitement surrounding Figueiredo's victory a reporter asked if she was the next Danica Patrick. She responded, using her Brazilian nickname Bia, "Everybody is making that comparison... But I always say that I'm always going to be Bia. I'm never going to be Danica... I hope there is a place for a Bia now.
Summary career results
| Year | Category | Result | Awards | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win, PP, FL | Overall | |||
| Karting | ||||
| 2000 | São Paulo Championship (Category B) | Runner-up | Price Racing of 2000 - Kart | |
| 2001 | Brazilian Championship (Category A) | 3rd place | Capacete de Ouro - Kart | |
| São Paulo Championship (Category A) | Runner-up | |||
| Brazil Kart Cup | Runner-up | |||
| 2002 | Brazilian Championship (Category A) | Runner-up | Capacete de Ouro - Kart | |
| São Paulo Championship (Category A) | 3rd place | |||
| 2003 | Sorriso Petrobrás Kart Cup | Champion | ||
| Petrobrás Karting Selective | Runner-up | |||
| Open wheel | ||||
| 2003 | Brazilian Formula Renault | 2 FL | Rookie of the year - Brazilian Formula Renault | |
| 2004 | Brazilian Formula Renault | 5th place | ||
| 2005 | Brazilian Formula Renault | 3 win, 3 PP | 3rd place | Capacete de Ouro - Fórmula |
| 2006 | Formula Three Sudamericana | 5th place | Capacete de Ouro - São Paulo Citizen Driver | |
| 2008 | Firestone Indy Lights | 1 win | 3rd place | |
References
External links
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Friday October 10, 2008 at 18:52:34 PDT (GMT -0700)
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