her sister, and aged nine began driving go-karts visiting a rental race track north of Bogotá in the city's 170th street close to the family home with Paula and some of her friends. The two siblings went to the track every night after school and during the weekends. Around the age of ten Calderón began seriously considering a possible motor racing career. She persuaded her father greatly to purchase a green go-kart and a 50cc motorcycle for use on a personal basis on her family's farm and he educated her on racing's mechanical aspects. Calderón's mother tried to sway her away from racing because she believed it was too dangerous, though she later supported her daughter's career choice on the condition she maintained good grades in school. Calderón was inspired by Juan Pablo Montoya's achievements and Ayrton Senna, a three-time Formula One World Champion. As she began winning races, Calderón was regularly rammed by her male rivals, forcing her to retaliate in response to demonstrate that she was undeterred by them. In the 2005 season, she won the EasyKart National Championship, making her the first woman to win a Colombian national karting title. The following year, she was runner-up in the EasyKart National Championship, took third in the Stars of Karting Este Division and was the Rotax Junior Division champion of the Colombian Kart Championship. Calderón drove her first racing car at age 14, sharing a Kia Picanto with her sister Paula. Around this time, the owners of her local go-kart track later allowed her to drive a professional four-stroke go-kart after she began winning races. In 2008, she became the first woman to win the Snap-On-Stars of Karting Divisional Championship-JICA Eastern Championship and the IAME International Challenge series. The former achievement made Calderón the first woman champion of a national American karting series. Racing career Junior open-wheel racing (2009–2014) After winning the Snap-On-Stars of Karting Divisional Championship-JICA Eastern Championship, she told her parents of her decision to focus on racing and not enroll at university. Calderón had more success in 2009 when she made her sports car debut, coming second in the Radical European Master Series – SR5 with one victory and ten podium finishes, accruing 240 points for the PoleVision team. She finished second in that year's Colombian Rotax Senior Max Challenge. Aged 17, Calderón moved into open-wheel racing, driving in the Star Mazda Championship (part of the