Sofia Ankudinova

**Sofia Ankudinova** is a Ukrainian-Belarusian driver who competes in the MMS IndyCar World Series with Haubica Racing.

## Early Life

Sofia Ankudinova was always full of energy and was a very active child. Her parents, always tried to provide her with the best possible conditions for her development. When she was six years old, her parents signed her up for karate classes. Sofia immediately liked the sport and attended practice regularly. When she was nine, her parents took her on a trip to an adventure park. There, at one of the exhibition stands, Sofia saw a racing simulator. She immediately fell in love with the sport and has since dreamed of one day becoming a racing driver. Sofia's parents were a little sceptical about the idea, but they decided to give her a chance and they signed her up for kart driving lessons. Sofia proved to be a natural talent behind the wheel and quickly became one of the best drivers in her group. When she turned thirteen, she was spotted by the coach of the Belarus national youth kart racing team and was invited to join the team.

## Early career

### Belarusian karting team

From then on, Sofia's career progressed rapidly. As a teenager, she won a succession of titles and awards in various go-kart competitions, and when she turned seventeen, she was spotted by the owners of a lower-class racing team. This allowed her to start her career as a professional racing driver in Italian F4

### Italian F4

The season in Italian F4 was a challenging and exciting one for Sofia Ankudinova. The Belarusian-Ukrainian driver started the season with high hopes and ambitions, but it soon became clear that the competition in Italian racing was fierce. Sofia started the season well, taking several top places on the Italian circuits. Her driving style and determination meant that she quickly earned the respect of other drivers and fans. However, halfway through the season Sofia started to have problems with her car, making it difficult for her to fight for the podium. Nevertheless, she did not give up and continued to fight for the best possible results.Fortunately, in the last race of the season Sofia was finally able to enjoy victory. Her commitment and hard work were finally rewarded. Sofia finished the season in fifth place overall, but was very happy with the progress she had made over the year.

### Indy Lights

After an impressive F4 season, Sofia Ankudinova received many interesting offers from sponsors. One of them was the American businessman of Polish origin Robert Haubica, who offered her participation in the Indy Lights. Anku started the season at Indy Lights with high hopes of winning the championship. Throughout the preparations for the season, she worked hard on her form and also on perfecting her setup of her car. Her dreams became a reality as early as the first race of the season, where she won pole position and triumphed on the St. Petersburg circuit. The following races also went very well for Sofia, and she started to get closer and closer to her goal of the championship. However, it was not without difficulties. During the race at Long Beach, Sofia had to confront technical problems with her car, which resulted in her dropping further down the final result. However, she did not give up and continued to fight for the best possible results. Finally, the moment came when Sofia scored enough points to become the Indy Lights champion. In the last race of the season, at the Sonoma track, she scored a second place, which allowed her to secure the title. Sofia Ankudinova was thrilled and happy when she received the trophy for the championship. It was a dream come true for her and proof that her hard work and determination had finally been rewarded. She was proud of her origin and wanted to show that women can also achieve great success in motorsport. Sofia Ankudinova became the first driver of Belarusian-Ukrainian descent to win an Indy Lights championship.

## MMS IndyCar World Series

### Season 1

Sofia, after a successful season in Indy Lights, could not complain about the lack of offers from various teams in the American indy car series, but Anku remained loyal to the man who gave her the opportunity to race in Indy Lights and accepted his offer to join Haubica Racing. In his first St. Petersburg race, Sofia showed class and made it to the podium. She didn't have to wait long for a win because it came in the next race at the Aegna Saar International in Estonia, after the race Sofia howed her support for Ukraine by displaying the flag of Ukraine with help from Johannes van Leer on the podium. The Belarusian government did not like this and Sofia was considered a traitor to the Belarusian nation. FEDERATION AUTOMOBILE D'UKRAINE offered her a licence to represent the Ukrainian people and helped her to accelerate the acquisition of citizenship. Unfortunately, despite a relatively even season, Sofia finished a distant 45th in the final race in Anderstorp after Schuael Michaelmacher drove in and damaged the rear wing of the number 80 car. Sofia finished the season with 161 points in second place.