Yahoo Autos Motorsports Plus Chocolate Equals a Good Snack for a Good Cause
I felt like Charlie Bucket in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as I peeled back the foil. There were a slew of eager taste-test volunteers watching my every move, and while there was no golden ticket beneath the wrapper, there was a bar of lavender-streaked milk chocolate squares, which were quickly divided and devoured. This led to detailed professional analysis like, "Mmmm," and "Oh that's good," and "Is there any more?"
Why is Car and Driver testing candy? Well because it's car candy! After we ran our scientific investigation into "Car Cake," we got a call from reps from Marsatta Chocolate in Torrance, California, asking if we'd be interested in sampling some small-batch chocolate with a connection to motorsports. The bar, in a flavor called "Ube Brownie," is made by Marsatta in partnership with McLaren development driver Bianca Bustamante. There is a racing helmet on the packaging and we really don't need much encouragement to eat a second dessert, so I assembled the team and doled out purple pieces. "You can really taste the race car," said one reviewer.
OK, maybe not. What you could taste was chef Jeffray D. Gardner's focus on making chocolate with natural flavors and no filler. Gardner prides himself on bean-to-bar chocolate that he roasts and flavors in his Southern California kitchen. Ube was a new ingredient for him, but he likes a challenge. "For Thanksgiving, we made a cranberry and gravy bar, that was a hit," the chef told me in an absolutely bonkers phone call that had us covering everything from the best milks for chai lattes to how he met his wife while roller skating and eating a pasta salad. Finally, we came back to chocolate and race cars, and Gardner encouraged me to take some time while sampling the ube brownie bar to notice the interplay of chocolate with the ube and coconut.
We really tried. We admired the purple hue and noticed the scent of coconut and vanilla, with a hint of the ube yam that gives it its color. The main flavor was a not-too-sweet cocoa that sat for a second on your tongue before melting away in silky chocolate bliss. Even so, the whole test drive took about 30 seconds, before the bar was reduced to crumpled wrappings by voracious magazine editors. With nothing left to eat, I called Bianca Bustamante to find out how an up-and-coming racing driver from the Philippines ended up making a candy bar with a chocolatier in California.
C/D: Let's set the stage before we talk about chocolate. You're racing F1 Academy and you're a McLaren development driver, [After this interview Bustamante also entered and finished 8th in her first British F4 weekend]. How old were you when you started racing?
BB: Well, motorsport is not very common where I come from in the Philippines, but my dad was very passionate about racing and cars. So I got into motorsport pretty much at two years old. I had my racing suit and everything. I was already watching Formula 1 with my dad, and by age three, I was driving my own kart.
Do you remember much about racing from back then?
You don't forget the first time you ever get in a car. I was driving a 60-cc engine, and it was a Bambino, a baby kart, and so cute. I was so little. I could barely walk, I could barely talk, but I knew how to drive a go-kart. And I think that kind of feeling just stayed with me forever. It's something that I remember so vividly.
A lot of people do something like this as a kid, and they're into it, but they're thinking they're going to do something else as a career. Was there a point where you became aware you wanted to do this as a real job?
When I won my very first international race, at the age of... I think, seven. I knew then it wasn't just a hobby, it was something that I wanted to do when I was an adult. I told my parents that I wanted to go into home study programs so I could manage my time and fully give myself to racing. So going into the gym, dealing with my academics, you know, and managing my time and schedule all at six or seven years old so that I could hopefully become a professional.
Did you have any idea what you were giving up socially when you made that decision?
Yes [she laughs and shakes her head]. Well, no, clearly not, because I didn't realize how big a step it was. There was only one plan: to become a professional racing driver. We came from a very middle-class family, so if I failed, I'd be nowhere, I'd be nothing. I didn't give myself any other options. I've been living pretty much my whole life with the thought that if all else fails, I've got nothing. I'm just a driver. That's all of me. Obviously, my lucky star is alive, and it all panned out.
Yeah, first woman to be in the McLaren driver development program [McLaren's talent training pipeline to F1] and two wins and several podiums in F1 Academy [an all-women junior-level, single-seat, spec series run by Formula 1]. What's it like being in-house at McLaren?
It's the most amazing opportunity. I'm able to train in the facility at McLaren Technology Center (MTC). I have the support of their physio, their mental coach, their trainers, engineers, mechanics, the whole team. To be working with such professionals, people that I look up to, you know, like Lando Norris, to be training alongside Oscar Piastri, it's allowing me to be molded into a professional in the sport. And, of course, you know, I want to make it to Formula 1, and McLaren is helping me make that happen.
Do you have any racing heroes?
I've looked up to Niki Lauda my whole life. I grew up watching him with my dad. He was way before my time, but he's just someone I've idolized. I've read numerous books and autobiographies. He was the epitome of a champion. He was beyond a racing driver. He was a complete package. Everything I want to be.
Lauda, he's an unusual choice! So serious.
I think that's what really attracted me to his whole persona. I think there is this misconception about racing drivers that you're living this amazing, lavish life of parties, of flying to different countries, private jets, and everything, but the reality is most drivers aren't like that. For me to see how he lived his life in Formula 1, even when he was winning world championships, after he'd win a race, the first thing he would do is go back home and be with his family or go with his team and review data or prepare for the next race. It's that mentality of knowing that even when you're at your highest, it's important to keep yourself grounded and get your head down and back to work. I feel like it's very easy to get driven by the high you're experiencing, to get distracted.
I read in a recent Vogue interview that you just moved to the U.K. and you didn't have your U.K. license yet, so you weren't allowed to drive on the street. Is that still the case?
I've got my Philippines license but I can't drive in U.K. because I'm underage. I'm still 19. And to rent a car, you need to be, I think, 24 or 25 or something. So I can't even rent cars. I'm working on getting my U.K. driving license.
Then McLaren can give you a car so you can drive?
That's another battle.
All right, enough cars, time for chocolate. How did you end up making a chocolate bar with Chef Jeffray?
At the end of 2023, my management team said, "Here's a chance for you to do something for yourself and for the people supporting you. It's the end of the year. What's something that you want to do?" A couple of weeks later, we got approached by chef Jeffray of Marsatta Chocolates, and they said that they were huge fans, and they love what I'm doing, and they want to support me. I wanted to give back to my community, to share a piece of my culture and my country with other people.
The Philippines has the best desserts. We love food. We love chocolates. We love sweets. So it was just a perfect opportunity. We had to decide on flavor ingredients, and I wanted to use ube. Ube is a taste that is very hard to explain, but it's the earthy, sweet, vibrant taste of the Philippines. I hope people like it and that it's a small introduction to Filipino cuisine.
Are you raising money for your racing with sales of the chocolate?
No! I didn't want to take any profit, I was happy just to get to do it, so we partnered with Kusina ng Kalinga, which is an organization in the Philippines that helps feed the poor.
I feel very fortunate to be racing these expensive cars all over the world, so I wanted to give something back to my country. Every bar we sell will help feed kids in the Philippines.
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