Bianca Bustamante to represent PH at 2021 FIA Girls on Track program

The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) wants to promote more young women to join motorsports. Aside from introducing the all-female W Series, the association also established the FIA Girls on Track - Rising Stars Youth Scholarship Shoot-Out last year. The scholarship was set up by the FIA together with Scuderia Ferrari’s world-renowned Ferrari Driver Academy.

For 2021, 14 new young female talents from around the world were chosen for the scholarship shoot-out, and one of them is Filipina racer, Bianca Bustamante.

Aside from being the only Filipina to be selected, Bustamante is also the only Asian driver to compete in the scholarship shootout. After seeing her racing record, it's easy to see why she was one of the 14 talents chosen for the FIA Girls on Track - Rising Stars Youth Scholarship Shoot-Out.

Bustamante started racing at the age of 5 and has since established herself as an up-and-coming driver following multiple karting championship wins across Asia. Some of Bustamante's notable achievements include 4-time Winner of the China Grand Prix Kart Scholarship (2018-2019), 3-time Macau International Kart GP Champion (2014, 2018, 2019), 2-time Junior Asian Karting Open Championship - Overall Champion (2018, 2019), 3-time Philippines Driver of the Year - Karting (2018, 2019, 2020), and Philippines National Junior Karter of the Year (2018).

Come October, Bustamante will travel to France to take part in the first segment of the competition. The test will be held at the Paul Ricard Circuit where she and 13 other female drivers will conduct various race tests at the track. Only the 8 best-performing drivers will be selected to attend FIA training camps. From there, they will head to Fiorano, Italy for the final tests in Formula 4 cars. The winner will be recruited into the FDA with full race scholarships.

“Thank you to the FIA for selecting me as one of the 14 drivers for the Girls On Track - Rising Stars scholarship shoot-out. I fell in love with racing ever since I was a kid, and I haven’t stopped training in preparation for this moment. Now that it’s becoming a reality, I will continue to work hard towards being selected for the Ferrari Driving Academy race scholarship. I am so proud to represent the Philippines in this competition and to be the only Asian driver selected is an added bonus, but also adds a bit of pressure to represent the Asia region against the global field,” said Bustamante.