Colombian ex-Formula 2 driver Tatiana Calderon says she now feels that she is getting to understand Super Formula’s tyres better.
Tatiana Calderon was struggling with her high fuel load in the early stages of the race, however, Calderon picked up her pace while reaching the final stages of the race. Calderon set her personal best lap as she neared the end of the race that is with only two laps to go.
Tatiana Calderon mentioned- “I think I’ve never been so unprepared for a race because we didn’t do any long runs and the race was longer than Motegi. My longest run [in practice] was seven laps, we were just focused on car balance and not high fuel runs or race set-up.
“The weight really affects you, so the start was difficult with how to read the tyres. But in the second part of the race I felt I was understanding the tyre much more. I just got used to it at the end and the pace was good.
“We were there to fight with a few cars, so I think that’s encouraging for [the next round at] Suzuka and we definitely learned a lot. I think I really found the feeling with this tyre finally."
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Though Calderon was not able to finish in 12th-place as she did on her debut at Motegi back in August, Calderon said the experience she gained in a race with a mandatory pitstop and a driving longer distance than her only previous Super Formula outing was invaluable.
She also said the difference in conditions at Autopolis which was 18 degrees Celsius, as opposed to the 34 degrees of the curtain-raiser including the different layouts of the two tracks has helped her develop her driving skills.
“In Motegi it was so hot, and you couldn’t judge so much on the high-speed side," she said. "Here we have such long corners. This was really important to help me understand how the tyre operates and this will help me for qualifying as well.
“When you think it’s the limit, you can go a little bit above that and the car still sticks, you can get on the throttle much earlier."
On her goals for the last three races, she said- “I would like to get into Q2 for sure, that’s a target for qualifying, and I think we can be in the top 10 to score a point at some stage in the next couple of rounds. I would be pleased with that.”
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