Juliana Chiovitti

Juliana Chiovitti is from Canada. In the mid-2000s, she was touted as one of the strongest female hopefuls for Indycar.

She had been a karter since childhood and grew up around the sport. Her father was the owner of the US arm of Birel karts and her two elder brothers raced. Later, her family also owned a kart track in Sutton, Toronto. As a teenager, she began winning regional titles, in both Canada and the USA. By 2003, she was competing in senior karting and won at least one Formula Senior race outright at her home circuit.

As soon as she was old enough, she was looking for opportunities in single-seater racing. She raced in Formula 4 in Canada (not the same as modern F4) in 1999, competing at Mosport and Shannonville and winning a Rookie of the Year award. She was second in the championship.

The following year, she was assessed as part of a women’s training programme for Toyota Atlantics, with a view to CART in the future, but this did not lead to anything. She was the quickest of the three female drivers who were timed, but she could not find the sponsorship she needed. The others were Sara Senske, Jenny Sheehy and eventual winner Danica Patrick.

Her big break in cars came when she raced in the Canadian Bridgestone F2000 Series in 2004. She was fourth overall, with two wins and three further podiums, just in front of James Hinchcliffe.

Her performances brought her to the attention of Kathryn Nunn, who invited her to a six-driver, all-female shootout for an Indy Lights seat at the end of the year. Juliana lost out to Sarah McCune.

She did not race again and returned to karting. She now works as a performance driving instructor.

(Image copyright Retro Karting by PCN)