18-year-old Filipino motorsports racing driver Bianca Bustamante expressed her gratitude to her fans and to the TikTok community after she won the Sports Content Creator of the Year.
In her acceptance speech during the TikTok awards 2023, Bustamante shared a glimpse of her life as a racer as well as her F1 Academy experience.
“I am honored to receive this award. Honestly, I’m baffled to even be recognized as one of the top content creators in sports,” she said.
“I know how difficult it is to actually be a pioneer in our own paths. For me, being a female driver, female racing driver and to be the only Filipina, Filipino as well to be racing abroad in F1 Academy,” she added as the audience applauded.
Bustamante also looked back on the difficulties she had to face in her chosen field of sport.
“I know what it feels like to not be seen and not be heard and to face various defeats in life and overcome hindrances thrown at you, whether it might be small or it might be big. And of course, all the silent battles we fight. This year, it really has been a journey,” Bustamante noted.
She also shared how the social media platform allowed her to reach out a wider audience, hoping to bring inspiration not just to future athletes but also to the whole TikTok community.
“That’s why I’ve always used TikTok to share what it’s like to share the defeats, the lows, and to highlight the lows to make the wins even more memorable. Because of that, the TikTok community has supported me and it has been so overwhelming and, of course, to share my passion as well,” she stressed.
With more than 870,000 followers, as of this writing, Bustamante usually posts videos about her daily life in and out of the racing track.
“To everyone supporting, to my parents and, of course, to the whole TikTok community and to my fellow athletes who continuously fight so victoriously in their own careers and in their own sport,” she added.
Bustamante joined F1 Academy’s Prema Racing in February 2023 and won her first title in May at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, Spain.
