From the humid warmth of her American base at Miami to the chilly rain of a weather ‘bomb’ rolling in over Teretonga, Tatiana Calderon has come south to hone her skills in the intense focus of the five-round, fifteen-race Toyota Racing Series.

Just 18 years old, Calderon has used the tricky southern circuits to adjust to the racing pace here and is now pushing her all-male rivals in Toyota Racing Series for every race position and point she can.

In the first on-track testing and familiarisation sessions at Teretonga Park Raceway, the petite Columbian was quickly on the pace as she familiarised herself with the FT40 cars used by New Zealand’s premier motor racing championship.

Calderon showed wisdom beyond her years, lapping the tricky curves of the circuit securely amidst the 18-strong pack as she acclimatised to the track and to the chilly temperature. The family name means “cauldron” – and Tatiana has definitely added some heat to the championship, frequently upstaging racers with more TRS race time on their cvs.

She is racing with Trevor Scheumack’s ETEC Motorsport, one of four teams contesting the championship and a ‘United Nations’ of driving talent, with racers from Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Italy, the UK and of course Colombia. She is one of four South American drivers in this year’s championship and is the only female driver – but the latter distinction is not one that phases her. She expects only that the other drivers judge her on her results. And with a best of fifth at Taupo, after working solidly with her engineer and mechanics to get the car set up properly, the results are starting to look impressive.

The quietly-spoken racer says the trip south has required some adjustment to the cooler temperatures – and like many of the overseas drivers she is grappling with some jet-lag from crossing time zones – but she was pleased with her speed in the opening rounds. She kept out of trouble, learned the tracks and watched how her rivals tackled the circuits, learning from some at-times spectacular errors.

“Teretonga is very fast and really challenges you as a driver, Timaru as well – and so flat, no banking and no changes in elevation! I really liked Taupo, we made some changes to the car and the track was great. Very good for a driver to go faster on,” she says.

Born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia, Calderon has followed an established path into motor racing, beginning her career in karting and taking a championship win in 2005-2006, third in the Colombian National Championship the following year and in 2008 becoming the first female to win the Snap-On-Stars of Karting Championship.

In 2010 she began her open-wheel auto racing career, finishing tenth in the American Star Mazda Championship in her rookie year. Returning to the fiercely contested championship in 2011, she stepped up to sixth overall with two third place race finishes – making her the first female driver to take a podium in the history of the series.
Continuing her career momentum in 2012 Calderon moved to Europe to race Formula 3 and was ninth overall.

Tatiana Calderon’s early start to 2013 follows her first full season of racing in Europe after competing in the US for two years. At 19, she arrives in New Zealand on the back of a promising season in the European F3 Open, scoring a podium at Paul Ricard in the Winter Series before embarking on the championship across Europe where she finished ninth, twice making it into the top-five as the only female competing in the top class.

Following her TRS experience she will return to Europe, aiming to hit the ground running in her second year in F3.

Tatiana Calderon is travelling in New Zealand with her dad Alberto, and says the added pleasure of racing here is in the ‘amazing’ countryside and the warmth of the reception she has received from series management and local communities.

“It is a most beautiful country, and the series has given us a chance to see some of the most amazing places.” There’s every chance the Calderon family will return in 2014, this time bringing sister Paula to race as well.