Ana
Beatriz

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Beatriz was gridded 2nd and was running fifth when JR Hildebrand drove her off the track. She finished in 16th at Kentucky Speedway. Next race at Infenion, Sears Point.

One of Auto Week's "Five of the fastest women you will ever meet"

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Related Issue: Women Racers Directory, Women in Racing, Women Racers, More Women in Racing, Race Schedules, Notable Women
Contact:
www.biafigueiredo.com (Portuguese) or www.torcidabiafigueiredo.com.br (English) or E-Mail

Bio

Name: Ana Beatriz Caselato Gomes de Figueiredo
Age: 23
Date of Birth: Maarch 18, 1985
Nationality: Brazilian
Home Town: São Paulo
Height: 1,70m
Weight: 60 kg
Idol: Ayrton Senna
Favourite Track: Londrina - Brazil
Favourite Food: Italian and Japanese
Music: Rock and Pop
Others Sports: Football and Tennis

Ana Beatriz Caselato Gomes de Figueiredo (born on March 18, 1985, in São Paulo) is a Brazilian female racing driver.

She started her career in karting races.

After an outstanding season in Brazilian Formula Renault championship, she 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) who hosted events of the Brazilian Formula Renault championships, Renault Speed Show.

In 2008 she began racing in the American Firestone Indy Lights Series for defending championship-winning team Sam Schmidt Motorsports[1]. She placed fifth in the Firestone Freedom 100 at Indianapolis, the highest finishing position by a female driver in that race.[2] She has begun using the name Ana Beatriz in the United States.

with top Brazilian female racer Ana Beatriz impressing with the third quickest lap time in qualifying, third in the first race and what was shaping up to be a breakthrough win in the second race........until she was tagged by teammate and eventual race winner Antinucci then hit by Pablo Donoso as she was trying to get back onto the track....

Results

2008

Indy Lights
4 podiums - St Peterburg (3), Iowa Speedway (3), Watkins Glen (3), Nashville (1)

Car No C/E/T S F Qual Speed Laps XL LL Status Pts

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 - Homestead-Miami Speedway 6 7 185.802 67 0 0 Running 26

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 - Streets of St. Petersburg 3 3 95.969 40 0 0 Running 35

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 - Streets of St. Petersburg 2 16 95.969 32 1 7 Accident 14

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 - Kansas Speedway 5 14 0.000 67 0 0 Running 16

Sat, 24 May 2008 - Indianapolis Motor Speedway 4 5 0.000 40 0 0 Running 30

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 - The Milwaukee Mile 21 19 0.000 78 0 0 Running 11

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 - Iowa Speedway 6 3 159.548 115 0 0 Running 35

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 - Watkins Glen International 6 4 122.746 28 0 0 Running 32

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 - Watkins Glen International 3 3 0.000 29 1 9 Running 35

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 - Nashville Superspeedway 2 1 180.368 77 1 45 Running 52

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 - Infineon Raceway 3 0.000 30 0 0 Running

Key: No: Car Number C/E/T: Chassis/Engine/Tire S: Starting Position F: Finishing Position XL: Times Led LL: Laps Led Pts: Points

2007 - A1 GP

2006 - South American Formula 3
5th place - 5 podiums and one pole position
Award: São Paulo Citizen Driver

2005 - Formula Renault Brazil
3rd place - won 3 races: Campo Grande, Vitória and Tarumã
Pole Position in 4 races, Campo Grande, Vitória, Interlagos (twice)
Gold Helmet Award - Winner

2004 - Formula Renault Brazil
5th place

2003 - Karting
Rookie of the year - Brazilian Formula Renault
Best lap - Londrina
Best lap - Campo Grande
Champion - Sorriso Petrobrás Kart Cup
Runner-up - Petrobrás Karting Selective

2002 - Karting
Gold Helmet Award - Best Brazilian Driver
Runner-up - Brazilian Championship
3rd place - São Paulo Championship of karting cat. A

2001 - Karting
Gold Helmet Award - Best Brazilian Driver
Runner-up of Brazil Kart Cup

News

Beatriz becomes first female winner in Firestone Indy Lights


Beatriz was gridded 2nd and was running fifth when JR Hildebrand drove her off the track. She finished in 16th at Kentucky Speedway. Next race at Infenion, Sears Point.

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First Danica Patrick. Then Simona de Silvestro. Now Ana Beatriz in 2008.

Video Search for "Ana Beatriz wins in Nashville"

Shorter video

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Beatriz became the first female winner of a Firestone Indy Lights race, overtaking pole sitter and Sam Schmidt Motorsports teammate James Davison on Lap 33 of 77 and holding on in the Sunbelt Rentals 100 at Nashville Superspeedway.

Four other females have competed in the series, including Cyndie Allemann with American Spirit Racing this season. Sarah McCune (Chicagoland 2005) was the first female pole sitter in the series - the same year that Patrick started from the pole in three races during her IndyCar Series rookie season.

In April at Twin Ring Motegi, Patrick became the first woman to win a major closed-course auto race.

"I just can't be more thankful for Healthy Choice/Sam Schmidt Motorsports for bringing me to the U.S. (from Brazil)," said Beatriz, whose previous best finish was third (last week in the second race at Watkins Glen International, at Iowa and the first St. Petersburg street race). "I thought I would win at St. Pete; we were almost there.

"I'm with the best team and they have so much information on oval. I won my first race on an oval. It's amazing."

Bobby Wilson finished 1.2392 second behind in the No. 17 Team E Patriot Bank car, advancing six positions from his starting spot. Arie Luyendyk finished third and J.R. Hildebrand fourth.

The race was delayed 105 minutes because of a thunderstorm.

"We had the rain in the afternoon and that surprised everybody, so the track was green again," Beatriz said. "At the beginning, I wanted to make sure that the car would be fine, and it was OK. But I got passed by two cars."

After a Lap 14 restart, she settled in and caught Davison on the low side in Turn 3. She led a field-high 45 laps.

Beatriz, competing in her 10th race, said the victory - the 25th for Sam Schmidt Motorsports, including four at Nashville Superspeedway - is a tribute to her abilities.

"I'm really, really happy to win as a driver, a driver that came from Brazil and is a rookie in the series," she said. "I'm really happy to be a winner as a driver, no matter of the gender."

The series moves to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for a doubleheader July 19-20.
Source: www.indycar.com/pro/news/story.php?story_id=11980

Brazil's Beatriz 1st woman to win Indy Lights race


Ana Beatriz of Brazil became the first woman to win on the Firestone Indy Lights Series, taking the rain-delayed Sunbelt Rentals 100 on Saturday at the Nashville Superspeedway.

Beatriz is one of five women who have taken part in the series, that started in 2002, to help develop drivers for the Indy Racing League's IndyCar series. She had finished as high as third three times previously this year.

She started on the front row beside James Davison, the pole-sitter and her Sam Schmidt Motorsports teammate, after a thunderstorm forced a nearly two-hour delay. But Beatriz dipped inside Davison going into Turn 3 on lap 33 and took the lead. Beatriz held onto that for the rest of the 77-lap, 100-mile race, winning by 1.2392 seconds ahead of Bobby Wilson.

"Our car was the best one today, and we did it," Beatriz said.

Mishael Abbott, Sarah McCune, Veronica McCann and Cyndie Allerman also had competed on this level. Beatriz said she thought she would prevail in St. Petersburg.

"I'm really, really happy to win as a driver, a driver that came from Brazil as a rookie in the series and really happy to be a winner as a driver," she said. "I don't know about gender."
Source: ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jA6LnE4vDmuG9Fz-uKBfJnkVRGqwD91SK3F00

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Sam Schmidt Motorsports Ana Beatriz brought home a third-place result on the 7/8th mile oval matching her season's best finish at St. Petersburg.

"I was confident, but starting from sixth had me a little bit worried because it is so hard to pass here," she said.

"I'm happy, I'm proud with a third-place result under the circumstances."

Beatriz too was a victim of "traffic", herself penalized in-race for blocking at one point. "I'm not certain where it happened, and will have to go back and look at the tape, but I'm sure that race control was on top of the situation if they felt it happened."

With victory in books, Beatriz looking to challenge for title


Ana Beatriz grinned when a spectator at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course displayed a USA Today article that featured the Firestone Indy Lights driver.

Beatriz, who July 12 at Nashville Superspeedway became the first female to win in the series, was accepting congratulations in the paddock at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The victory lifted Beatriz into championship contention. She's 49 points behind leader Richard Antinucci heading in to the doubleheader race weekend.

"It was something huge in a Brazil, like I was really, really excited that I could say that for one week we were more famous than Tony (Kanaan), Helio (Castroneves) because all the newspapers were talking about it," the driver of the No. 20 Healthy Choice/Sam Schmidt Motorsports car said. "And I'm really glad that all the press that are in Brazil did that. That's really, really nice."

Beatriz and Cyndie Allemann (No. 18 American Spirit Racing car), both first-year drivers in the series, are looked at as competitors and not by their gender. That wasn't the case in Beatriz's formative years.

"It was hard work, especially in the beginning," she said. "The boys were dominant, and I really had to do a lot of bad things to get their respect. I used to drive with Nelson Piquet Jr. in go-karting when we were 8 years old. And one day Nelson Piquet couldn't pass me, and then the session was over and Nelson Piquet's father was fighting with him because he couldn't pass me. What's that, you know? What's the problem? So it was really hard to get the respect.

"But by the time that I could win, start to win races, people just got used to me in Brazil so I didn't have many problems anymore and all the drivers started to respect me. Americans, they are really more acceptable about women racing than in Brazil and Europe."

Beatriz was 17th overall (1 minute, 15.7588 seconds; 107.298 mph) on the combined practice chart on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn Mid-Ohio circuit. Allemann was 15th quick (1:15.7323; 107.336).

"I think we improved from the first session to the second," Beatriz said. "The track changed a lot. I just had to adapt. I'm happy with the Healthy Choice/Sam Schmidt car, and I'm looking forward to a good rest of the weekend."
Source: By Dave Lewandowski, www.indycar.com/pro/news/story.php?story_id=12043

Snippets 


Beatriz was gridded in the 14th spot of 22 cars for Race 2 of the Indy Lights series at the Mid-Ohio circuit. She finish 5th place, behind Cyndie Allemann, who finished in 4th. Ana Beatriz is 3rd of 34 drivers in the series point standings, only 44 points behind the leader. The next race will be Kentucky Speedway on August 8.

One of Auto Week's "Five of the fastest women you will ever meet"

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Beatriz was 17th overall (1 minute, 15.7588 seconds; 107.298 mph) on the combined practice chart on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn Mid-Ohio circuit and started in the 19th position and finished 14th in Race 1. She will therefore be gridded 14th for the second race.

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Beatriz was 17th overall (1 minute, 15.7588 seconds; 107.298 mph) on the combined practice chart on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn Mid-Ohio circuit and started in the 19th position. Allemann was 15th quickest (1:15.7323; 107.336) and will start 18th..

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Beatriz becomes first female winner in Firestone Indy Lights. This occurred on July 12, 2008 at the Sunbelt Rentals 100 at the Nashville Superspeedway. This puts her 3rd in series points.

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23-year-old Indy Pro Series racer Ana Beatriz is 6th of 34 racers in the series standings (only 73 points behind the leader) and has 5 top 5, 6 top 10, has lead for 16 laps and finished in 8 of her 9 races as of 7/5/08.

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