AJ Foyt Racing’s Tatiana Calderon says that she is excited about the opportunity to compete for the team in the NTT IndyCar Series. It was announced on Monday that the Colombian will compete in road and street course events in the No.11 ROKiT Chevrolet alongside Dalton Kellett and Kyle Kirkwood.
Speaking to Paddock Eye on Tuesday, Calderon said that is Excited to get the opportunity to compete against Juan Pablo Montoya who was one of her hero’s growing up. Montoya will compete in the GMR Grand Prix of Indianapolis in May.
Calderon, who impressed during a test with Foyt last season says that she is most looking forward to racing at Road America but is also excited about the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg which takes place from February 25-27.
Calderon said that she learnt a lot from former AJ Foyt Racing driver, Sebastian Bourdais whose car she tested last season.
The Colombian also said that she is looking forward to working as as part of a three car team.
Ed Carpenter Racing’s Conor Daly, driver of the No.20 BitNile Chevrolet says that he is super confident heading into the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season. The Indiana native has signed a multi-year contract to race full-time with ECR.
Speaking during media day in answer to a question from Paddock Eye, Daly said that he is looking forward to a time in the season when his engineer says let’s test in Texas and they can actually do that as a team.
Daly has spent the last few seasons between Ed Carpenter Racing and Carlin so now he can focus purely on developing the car with ECR.
NTT IndyCar Series rookie David Malukas who will make his debut with Dale Coyne Racing at next month’s Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg says that he has had no issues in adapting to driving with the aeroscreen.
Speaking to Paddock Eye during Monday’s opening NTT IndyCar Series media content day the Lithuanian-American said that initially he found it difficult to get in and out of the car but other than that it is fine.
Malukas who will race alongside two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato says that the only issue that he can foresee is if the cooling device attached to his helmet gets unplugged for any reason.
The Chicago, Illinois native said that he is looking forward to working with Dale Coyne Racing who are based in Chicago.
Malukas revealed that his main aim for the upcoming season is to win the coveted NTT IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year prize.
AJ Foyt Racing’s Dalton Kellett, driver of the No.4 K-Line Insulator Chevrolet says he is looking forward to working with Tatiana Calderon and Kyle Kirkwood during the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season.
Speaking to Paddock Eye on day one of media content day on Monday, the Canadian, who is in his third season with the team said that he learnt a lot from his time with both Tony Kanaan in 2020 and four-time CART champion Sebastien Bourdais and that he hopes that this will help the team to move in the right direction in 2022.
Speaking to Paddock Eye about his new teammates, Kellett said that both Kirkwood and Calderon bring a fresh prospective to the team, particularly with Tatiana Calderon as she has raced in so many other categories and he is excited to discover what ideas the pair bring to the team.
Kellett also said that in terms of results what he is looking for is for the team to continue their solid momentum from the end of last season where they were fighting in the midfield pack and to go from there.
Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus VeeKay has told Paddock Eye that he is looking forward to having Conor Daly as his full-time NTT IndyCar Series team-mate in 2022.
Speaking to Paddock Eye during the opening media day of the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season on Monday the Dutch driver said that he was excited to have Conor at ECR for the full season.
VeeKay told us that he hopes that he and Conor can help move the team forward over the course of the 2022 season.
VeeKay also said that he is happy that Conor Daly has a full-time drive for the upcoming season.
Defending NTT IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou, driver of the No.10 NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing Honda has told Paddock Eye that he is looking forward to having a target on his back going into the 2022 season which gets underway next month with the Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg.
The Spaniard was extremely consistent last season winning just three races on his way to winning his first championship.
Palou told Paddock Eye that while he is happy with one championship he is not stopping there and is looking forward to challenging at the front of the field again this season.
Palou also that he is looking forward to having Jimmie Johnson full-time with the team although he confirmed that even when he wasn’t racing last season, Jimmie was still at the track with the team.
NTT IndyCar Series rookie Kyle Kirkwood says that outside of the 106th running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge in May that he is most looking forward to the season-opener in St Petersburg and also the race at Mid-Ohio.
Speaking to Paddock Eye during media content day on Monday he said that St Petersburg is his home race and that he has always ran well there during his junior career heading up to IndyCar.
The Florida-native said that he is also looking forward to the race in Mid-Ohio as like in St Pete he has also run well there.
Kirkwood will make his NTT IndyCar Series debut with AJ Foyt Racing driving the No.14 ROKiT Chevrolet alongside Dalton Kellett and Tatiana Calderon who it was confirmed on Monday will race road courses in the No.11 ROKiT Chevrolet and will make her NTT IndyCar Series race debut alongside Kirkwood in St Pete.
Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato says he feels like a kid opening presents on Christmas morning as he prepares to make his debut with Dale Coyne and Rick Ware Racing at the Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg in just over a month from now.
Speaking to Paddock Eye on day 1 of IndyCar media day the Japanese driver said that he is extremely excited to be racing with Dale Coyne with Coyne himself serving as Sato’s strategist.
Sato is also looking forward to working with rookie driver David Malukas who will make his NTT IndyCar Series race debut in St Pete.
Sato has made 198 NTT IndyCar Series race starts and will celebrate his 200th start at Texas Motor Speedway on March 20.
Chip Ganassi Racing has confirmed that NTT IndyCar Series veteran and Indianapolis 500 champion Tony Kanaan will return to the team for the 106th running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.
Kanaan will be sponsored by American Legion and will join full-time teammate’s Alex Palou, Scott Dixon, Marcus Ericsson and Jimmie Johnson.
The AJ Foyt Racing Team announced on Monday that Tatiana Calderon will compete on all road and street courses in the NTT IndyCar Series from 2022 with sponsorship from ROKiT.
Calderon impressed during a test with the team in 2021 and speaking about her new adventure with the famous team, the Columbian said:
“I’m thrilled and very thankful to Jonathan Kendrick, ROKiT and AJ Foyt Racing for the opportunity to race in the NTT INDYCAR Series! Ever since I started my single seater career in the United States eleven years ago, INDYCAR has been a reference for me and it’s a dream come true to be on the grid this year! I can’t wait to get to St. Petersburg for the first race of the season! I’m well aware of the challenge ahead, but this is the chance of a lifetime and I’m keen on making the most of it
AJ Foyt Racing Team President Larry Foyt commented saying:
I’m elated to announce the continuation and expansion of the ROKiT AJ Foyt Racing Team with Chevrolet power. We welcome Tatiana Calderón in car number 11 joining Kyle Kirkwood in car 14, both in the very cool ROKiT liveries. With Dalton Kellett in the No. 4 K-Line Insulators Chevrolet, I think our 3-car team is in for an exciting season.”
Calderon joins Kyle Kirwood and Dalton Kellett for the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series and will make her race debut in the No.11 ROKiT Chevrolet at next months season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg which takes place from February 25-27.
Co-founder and CEO of ROKiT, Jonathan Kendrick said:
One of our fundamental principles in the overall marketing of the ROKiT brand worldwide is our support and promotion of women in motorsport and, as part of that principle, we’ve supported Tatiana for a long time now. “We recognized her talent and charisma early on, which we’ve seen grow and develop, so we’re very excited to be expanding our partnership with Larry and the AJ Foyt Racing Team by having Tatiana drive the No. 11 ROKiT Chevrolet alongside Kyle Kirkwood in the No. 14 ROKiT Chevrolet this season. We know Tatiana is already a role model to many young female drivers around the world and we think the huge exposure of the NTT INDYCAR Series will serve only to increase her reach even further to become an inspiration to many more women to get involved in motorsports.
Photographs courtesy of Sebastian Cardone and Yesid Pamplona
Ben's News Round-Up 