She accomplished the feat after driving the “best race” of her career in the previous run.
Bianca Bustamante said that the Autodrome Nazionale Monza is her favorite track. It really seems like it, as the Filipina racer earned her second career win after topping Race 3 of Round 5 on Sunday in Italy.
The 18-year-old driver earlier completed a momentum-shifting feat to jump seven spots—from P9 to P2—in Race 2.
By Race 3, she used her cards to her advantage to complete the win over other contenders Abbi Pulling and Hamda Al Qubaisi.
“It was a tough race. The P2 in qualifying really helped me,” she said in an interview by the F1 Academy after the race.
The teenage racer was also quick to give credit to her team at PREMA Racing.
“At the start, the main goal was to race cleanly and navigate the first few corners. I tried a few time in T1 for the overtake on Abbi [Pulling] but was able to have a good run on one occasion into T3 and get the move down. It was a really mega job from the team and the car was amazing.”
Bustamante, who got her first F1 Academy win in May, dedicated her win to her supporters.
“This one was for all who kept believing in me,” she wrote in an Instagram story on Sunday.
With the win, Bustamante is now sixth in the driver standings at the F1 Academy. She is only 10 points away from the fifth spot. Bianca’s team, PREMA Racing, has closed the gap to league no. 1 MP Motorsport, trailing by just 28 points.
The next competition for the teams will be in Le Castellet in France for Round 6, which will take place on July 29.