Spanish driver Belen Garcia announces a testing and racing programme in Formula Renault Eurocup as preparation for her W Series debut.
W Series newcomer and 2019 Spanish F4 Female Trophy champion Belen Garcia will join the Formula Renault Eurocup grid for pre-season testing and two races as a preparation for her debut in the women-only series. The Catalan driver announced that she will stay with Global Racing Service for the programme: the team that brought Garcia to Spanish F4 will also line up fellow countryman Xavier Lloveras for a second season in the Renault championship.
Belen, who previously tested at Yas Marina and Barcelona with the Spanish outfit, will be back on track from Wednesday 11th March for the official pre-season testing in Valencia. As announced earlier today, the Ricardo Tormo Circuit will also host the only W Series collective test on 4-5 May.
Garcia, one of the six new entries in the fully-female championship, took part in a three-days preparation workshop at the W Series headquarters in London, together with the 18 other drivers. She will now hit the track at Valencia from 11-12 March, and will then move to her home track of Barcelona Montmelo for two additional days of testing with the Tatuus T318 employed in the Eurocup championship, from 14 to 15 March.
Belen will make her racing debut at Silverstone, UK (May 9-10), after the cancellation of the Formula Renault Eurocup opening round at Monza, following the Italian Coronavirus outbreak. As Garcia had planned to enter the Italian round as well, her second Formula Renault race with Global Racing Service will be announced at a later date.
One of the most anticipated newcomers to the W Series sophomore season, Belen Garcia will thus have the opportunity to adapt to the same Formula 3 car employed in the W Series ahead of the important debut at Igora Drive, Russia.
“It is an ideal series for my preparation, since the cars of the two championships are very similar. The big difference is that in this case [F.Renault] the engine is Renault and in the W Series it is Alfa Romeo,” - Belen explained. “It is a highly competitive championship and a great opportunity. The best way to learn and improve is with races.”
“The goal is to arrive very well prepared to the W Series and I am convinced that I can do it at a great level."
As Belen said, a competition-based preparation means to build experience in a plethora of different situations that goes beyond the vital mileage.
It will be the second racing season in single-seaters for 20-year old Belen Garcia, who completed an excellent season in the Spanish Formula 4, claiming an historical overall victory at the opening round at Navarra. After an exciting battle with other 2020 W Series addition Nerea Marti, Belen was crowned Female Trophy champion and later added to her resumé the participation to the inaugural FIA Motorsport Games, where she impressed in the F4 Trophy as the Spanish representative.
Want to learn more about Belen? Here's our interview!
In Belen's words:
"The goal is to arrive very well prepared to the W Series and I am convinced that I can do it at a great level."
