Ana Beatriz

Ana Beatriz Caselato Gomes de Figueiredo, known as both Ana Beatriz and Bia Figueiredo (born March 18, 1985), is a racing driver from Brazil. De Figueiredo has previously raced in the IndyCar Series and Stock Car Brasil, and was the first woman to win a race in the Indy Lights series.

De Figueiredo started her career in karting at the age of eight.

At the age of twelve, racing coach Nailor Campos – who had previously worked with Tony Kanaan, Rubens Barrichello, Enrique Bernoldi and Andre Ribeiro – became her coach and chief mechanic. When De Figueiredo's family could no longer fund her racing endeavors at the age of 15, Campos helped her attain sponsorship from the Medley pharmaceutical company, owned by former racer Xandy (Pollini) Negrão, father of racer Alexandre Sarnes Negrão.

With formal sponsorship, De Figueiredo finished as runner-up in a variety of karting championships and won the Sorriso Petrobrás Kart Cup championship in 2003.

After three seasons in the Brazilian Formula Renault championship, De Figueiredo started competing in Formula Three Sudamericana in 2006, driving for the Cesario Formula team. In 2006, she also drove a Volkswagen Touareg for PPD Sports, owned by Pedro Diniz.

In 2008, De Figueiredo began racing in the American Indy Lights Series for defending championship-winning team Sam Schmidt Motorsports under the name Ana Beatriz. Prior to racing in the United States, she was referred to as "Bia" (a nickname for Beatriz), not Ana, causing some confusion in the media.^{[citation needed]}

De Figueiredo placed fifth in the Freedom 100 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on 23 May 2008, the highest finishing position by a female driver in that race. On 12 July 2008, she led the most laps and won her first Indy Lights race at Nashville Superspeedway, becoming the first woman to win a race in Indy Lights.

"Everybody is making that comparison [with Danica Patrick]... But I always say that I'm always going to be Bia. I'm never going to be Danica... I hope there is a place for a Bia now."