Formula racing is almost half way through its 2022 season and the driver standings are getting interesting. F3 Filipino driver, Bianca Bustamante is in Hungary with the W series, which pioneers women's racing, for this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix. This was her first back-to-back race weekend before the summer break. Representing the W series, not only did Bianca get to race but also have a Formula 1 experience where she met drivers like Lewis Hamilton.
However, the weekend didn't go as planned under wet conditions as Bianca finished with a DNF. She made huge improvements from the qualifying round into race day, but the wet roads were unforgiving. Bianca shared that she caught water on the drying track and lost the rear of her car causing her to retire early in this GP.
Bianca keeps her head help high going into this 2-month break until the next race in Singapore. The street circuit is one of the most exciting courses with the coolest views, but she'll have to get ready for the heat and humidity that increases while in the cock pit. It looks like Bianca will be working with her team from now until October to raise sponsor funding for four days of track testing. We're excited for Bianca's next race and second half of the season to start!
Cover Photo Credit: Bianca Bustamante Instagram
A reigning Olympic champion, Hidilyn Diaz defends her title in the women's 55kg diversion in this year's 31st Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi. The Games initially scheduled for 2021 in Hanoi was postponed to 2022 due to the pandemic. With this win, she helps narrow the gap for the Philippines against Singapore and Indonesia for the third spot.
It's been 10 months since Hidilyn last stepped out for an international competition and only a few months after she battled with COVID-19 earlier this year. According to her coach, they tried a new training regiment and adopted sports science to help with her nutrition. The hard work paid off again as she won gold again Thai Sanikun Tanasan, keeping the gold streak alive and gets her one step closer to the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.
Cover Photo Credit: Hidilyn Diaz Instagram
Huge congratulations goes to the Pilipinas Women's National Soccer Team who earned their spot to the 2023 Women's World Cup Tournament. Soccer or football as it's widely known, holds a men's and women's FIFA World Cup tournament every 4 years for national teams who are members of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). It's one of the most popular and biggest tournament in the sport.
The upcoming tournament in 2023, which will be held jointly by Australia and New Zealand. The current champs are the U.S. Women's National Team who won the tournament back in 2019. Now, there's a new contender with the Philippines National Team. They had a hard fought battle in the AFC qualification round against the Chinese Taipei women's national team. The win against Taipei earned them a World Cup debut, the first time in history.
At the end of 90 minutes of regulation, the score was held to 1-1. The game went into extra time and the tie remained between the two teams. What happens after fulltime and extra time? Of course, it come's down to a shootout. We know how this story ends, Philippines wins the shoot out 3-4 with Bay Area native, Sarina Bolden scoring the winning penalty. They edged out Taipei by scoring the last 2 penalty kicks.
The next semifinals game for the Women's National Team is against South Korea on Thursday, 2/3 at Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune, India. Keep up with the ladies on socials @pilipinaswnft. We're all rooting for the team and can't wait to see what happens next.
Cover Photo Credit: Pilipinas Women's National Football Team Twitter
