Natalia Kirichenko

**Natalia** Vladimirovna **Kirichenko** (born 21 July 1993) is a Russian professional racing driver, who currently competes in the Champ Car World Series with Striker Motorsports. Kirichenko is a protégé for two time Indycar World Champion, Stephanie Porter-Kelley.

Prior to her time in Champ Car, Kirichenko participated in the GP1 Championship from 2015 to 2017, being the first driver with a Russian racing driver to compete in the series.

## Early Years

Kirichenko was born in the town of Sovetsk, in Kaliningrad Oblast, a province of Russia isolated from the rest of the country. The oblast is nestled between the countries of Poland and Lithuania, with Sovetsk on the Russia-Lithuania border. Her father, Vladimir, works as a local police officer, while her mother, Lesia, works from the Lithuanian consulate building in Sovetsk. Through her mother, she has dual nationality between Russia and Lithuania, but races under the former due to her father being a Russian nationalist.

Kirichenko became engaged in racing after being taken to the Hungarian Grand Prix, which at the time was the only Formula One event held on the eastern half of Europe. After constant pressuring of her parents, she was bought a 50cc kart, and began racing around local competitions in neighboring Lithuania, and Poland, occasionally coming across future Champ Car competitor, Alicja Kowalkiewicz, in her Polish karting expeditions.

## Champ Car career

### 2019

Kirichenko made her long-awaited Champ Car debut in the 2019 season, which was noted for its backstage controversies between series organizer, Citadel Promotions, and the North American Motor Racing Association (NAMRA). Kirichenko raced an abbreviated five race schedule, beginning with the second race of the season at Motegi, where she was a recognizable name to Japanese fans following her time in GP1. She would also race the following race at Shanghai, before taking a prolonged break due to the cancellation of the Indianapolis 500 that year.

Kirichenko's next two races would be both of the European events on the calendar, racing at both the Brno Circuit, and the EuroSpeedway Lausitz, which was a 500 mile race in place of the cancelled Indianapolis 500. Kirichenko would round out her debut season at the Nazareth Speedway, with Striker Motorsports wanting to ensure she qualified for all five of her races in 2019.

### 2020

Kirichenko would make the move to full time for the 2020 season, racing the #84, as she did the year before, with more support from Russian companies, such as financial institution VTB, and nuclear energy company, Rosatom. She would be paired with veteran teammate, and mentor, Stephanie Porter-Kelley, as well as debutant, Giuliano Ansaldi.

Kirichenko would kick of the 2020 season by finishing 8th at Phillip Island, while her teammates finished 11th and 14th. Kirichenko would not keep the hot start at Motegi, where she finished 16th despite having familiarity with the egg-shaped oval. She would bounce back temporarily with a 9th at Brno, where she also raced the year before, before slumping with a 13th at St. Petersburg, and 19th at a very sloppy race in Homestead-Miami, where Porter-Kelley won, and Ansaldi scored his first career podium.

Kirichenko's first Indianapolis 500 would be one of mixed emotions. Kirichenko would rally to an incredible second place finish, securing Indy 500 Rookie of the Year honors, but the rally came after a lap 171 crash that killed her teammate, Ansaldi, as well as fellow Indy 500 rookie, Tim Kourting. Pictures emerged of an especially emotional Kirichenko embracing with Porter-Kelley, who finished the race in 5th, after the race upon learning of Ansaldi's passing.

Her first career Champ Car pole position came a race later, at Texas Motor Speedway, and she would bring the car home in fifth after struggling with tire wear later in the race. She'd continue her top 10 finishing streak with a 9th at the inaugural event in Valkenburg, before claiming a second podium in Lausitz, again under emotional duress after witnessing her karting adversary, Alicja Kowalkiewicz, become gravely injured in a violent crash early in the race. Kirichenko later remarked that after the race at Lausitz, she seriously explored exit opportunities to leave the series, afraid a similar fate would befall her before the season ended.

A combination of stress, and poor adaptability led to her worst finish of the year at Toronto, where she finished 24th, before rebounding with a 10th at Detroit, and a 6th at Pocono, where she scored her second career Champ Car pole position. A slight road block at Watkins Glen resulted in a 15th place finish, before she stormed to a triumphant first win at Kentucky, leading the most laps in the process, and all but securing Rookie of the Year honors in the process. A 6th at Richmond, and a 7th at Mid-Ohio followed, before being taken out in a crash at New Hampshire and being scored 20th. Her last top 10 finish of the season came at Road America, where she finished 8th. She'd match her worst result of the season with a 24th at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, before ending the season with a 12th at Fontana.

Overall, Kirichenko ended the 2020 season with 1 race win, 2 pole positions, 3 podiums, 4 top 5s, 12 top 10s, and Rookie of the Year honors for both the Indianapolis 500, and the season as a whole. Kirichenko also scored the most points ever as rookie since Astrid Krane in 2018, scoring 457 points, which was good enough for 5th in the Indycar World Driver's Championship standings. She finished just three points behind Isabel Espinoza.

### 2021

The 2021 season was, in some ways, a downgrade for Kirichenko, despite ending the season sixth in World Championship standings. She started off the season with a 12th at Phillip Island, before finishing fourth at Motegi. An eighth followed at Richmond, almost mirroring her result at the track from the previous season, before finishing fifteenth at Texas. An eighth at Chicagoland was followed by her first DNF of the season at the Indianapolis 500, where she was scored 29th. A ninth at Belle Isle began to accentuate the up and down season Kirichenko endured most of 2021. Two DNFs followed at Brno, and Pocono, before surging forward with back to back podiums in Canada.

In Toronto, Kirichenko rallied to a 3rd place finish, behind race winner, David Wessel, and second place finisher, Ryan Stevens. The following round at Vancouver, Kirichenko finished second, only to Ray Taylor, before finding her fourth DNF of the season at Gateway. An eighth at Kentucky preceded a poor performance at Watkins Glen, while Road America only offered 15th. Kirichenko found another pocket of success at Mid-Ohio, and New Hampshire, where she finished second both times. At Mid-Ohio, she was second only to eventual 2021 Indycar World Driver's Champion, Hazel Lacasse, while she played runner up at New Hampshire to Kaylee Zappa, who's 2021 win at the track marked her third within 5 years at the mile-long short oval.

Kirichenko's season would end as it started, as an up and down battle. She encountered her fifth DNF at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, while the inaugural event at Denver brought her another top 10 finish. Her season would end on a sour note, as a mechanical failure left her 32nd at Fontana. She would be one of only two drivers to fail to finish each of the Triple Crown events in 2021, alongside Anastasius von Sonnen.

In summary, 2021 left Kirichenko sixth in points, scoring 403 points, just four points away from another top 5, with Simona Leroux scoring 407 points. Kirichenko ended the season with no wins or pole positions, but scored four podiums, an increase from her rookie year, as part of five top 5 finishes, ten top 10 finishes, and six DNF results. Despite the rollercoaster of results, Kirichenko was the best of the three Striker cars, with her mentor, Stephanie Porter-Kelley, ending her career with an 11th place finish in points, while Lucien Lachapelle ended his Champ Car tenure with a 16th place finish in the standings.

With her sixth place points finish, Kirichenko would be invited to the International Race of Champions for 2022, being one of five drivers to represent Champ Car in the special six race season.

### 2022

Kirichenko will enter the 2022 season as her third full season in Champ Car. She will have an all new teammate lineup for the season, with Matheus Michelin taking over the #60 from Porter-Kelley, who moves into the team owner role full time, while series rookie, Elise Alexander, slots into the renumbered #11 car to complete the team's full time lineup. Additionally, Striker Motorsports will be adding fellow Russian, Artyom Kozlov, to its ranks on loan from Team Impulse for the 109th Indianapolis 500.

## Personal Life

Kirichenko is an avid hockey fan, supporting SKA Saint Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), as well as Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League (NHL). Kirichenko also supports Zenit Saint Petersburg of the Russian Premier League, but has vocalized her disinterest in following teams of Major League Soccer in the U.S, despite living most of the racing year out of Seattle, Washington, which is home to the Seattle Sounders, one of the more successful teams in the league.

In 2021, Kirichenko openly discussed the idea of applying to become an American citizen, eventually dismissing the idea upon learning most naturalized citizens have to forfeit their birth citizenships. Kirichenko, if she were to pursue American citizenship, would not be able to do so until early 2024.

Since April 2021, Kirichenko has been in a relationship with professional boxer, Patrick Floyd. The two met in 2020 after Floyd was invited to the 2020 season finale in Fontana, California, as part of cross-promotion between the two sports, as his upcoming bout at the time was also being aired via CRC Network's PPV service.