Heinricher is a successful entrepreneur and award-winning bio-scientist whose passion for innovation led to groundbreaking developments in cultivating plants. But it’s her entrepreneurial drive that made dreams real in business and in racing.
Heinricher is a bit self-deprecating about her role.
“I’ve been racing for a while. I’ve known several females in racing,” she explained. “I watched Simona (de Silvestro) leave the country. I’ve watched other people go away and wanted the chance personally and selfishly to race with the best women in the world. Also, I thought it would be fun to bring everybody together.”
In this case, everybody includes Legge, Simona de Silvestro, Bia Figueiredo (AKA Ana Beatriz) and former IMSA GTD champion Christina Nielsen.
Finding a sponsor with enough money to fund a world-class team is the hardest part. Heinricher stomped her work boots to the floor in the quest.
“I got a chance to talk to them (Caterpillar) on what women can accomplish,” Heinricher said. “Luckily for me their executives, one of them was a woman. Through conversations and negotiation on the contract and here we are today. From start to finish, it took a solid year to sort through what it (the sponsorship) might be. At the end of the day, they have been a fantastic partner.
“They have so many goals corporately that meld with what I do as a scientist (her biotech Booshoot Technology) and also what we do on the track,” Heinricher added. “I can’t say enough about it. When I started my biotech in Washington State, one of the pieces of equipment I bought and test drove for my company was a Cat skid loader. I got to drive it around and didn’t kill someone. I brought the payoff letter to Caterpillar and was able to share that with Caterpillar.”
Successful women racers on the same team can be as competitive as men. It’s interesting to note that the only “catty” thing on this team is the big CAT logo with the signatures of hundreds of Caterpillar employees on the hood of their Acura NSX.
We caught up with de Silvestro in Australia where she races in the V8 Supercar series. “We’re all passionate about racing and we’ve got a really amazing opportunity with Jackie putting the program together and Michael Shank giving us a competitive car to be in,” de Silvestro said. “To be honest, it’s the only way to do it. I think that’s why all of us drivers accepted it.”
The team has been fast, but has had more than its share of misfortune. Their fortunes took an uptick June 30 at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) Int’l.
Nielsen put in a scorching front-row qualifier to get things rolling. “We were in really good position the entire race (most of the time in P2),” Heinricher noted, “but it’s not the finish we hoped for. We fought and fought the entire race. We finished fourth and I’m really proud of the team. Bia (Figueiredo) took us to P1 (briefly) and Katherine (Legge) did an amazing job (in the final stint), so it’s onward to the next one.”