Charlie Martin secures McLaren Trophy Europe AM class title
"Consider where I was at the start of the season, 18 months since I last competed and limited budget, and you can appreciate that I've had a mountain to climb this year" - Charlie Martin secured the 2026 McLaren Trophy Europe AM class championship at the Portimao season finale, overcoming a missed round to clinch the class title in her rookie season.
Charlie Martin secured the 2026 McLaren Trophy Europe AM class championship at the Portimao season finale, overcoming a missed round to clinch the title in her rookie season.
Partnering Albert Jochems for the first time at the Portuguese circuit, the Niemann Autosport driver finished second in class in both races, with a final runner-up result on Sunday proving sufficient to seal the championship after a determined charge for victory.
Martin's title triumph marks the culmination of a campaign in which consistency and perseverance proved decisive. She made a late entry into the one-make series at Monza, immediately securing an AM class podium, before joining forces with Emily Bishop at Spa-Francorchamps. There, Martin claimed pole position and recovered from a dramatic opening-race accident to win Race 2, while Bishop made her debut at this level of international GT racing in the McLaren Artura Trophy EVO and made significant progress throughout the weekend.
The pair continued their strong form at Misano, finishing second and third in the two races to extend their lead in the AM standings. However, financial constraints forced them to miss the following round at Barcelona, leaving Martin's championship challenge in jeopardy. With her participation in the Portimão finale initially uncertain, she eventually secured enough support to return to the grid and fight for the title.
Jochems joined Martin in the #96 Niemann Autosport McLaren Artura Trophy EVO; despite the new pairing and Jochems' limited recent seat time, Martin arrived in Portugal with a realistic opportunity to complete her comeback season with the championship.
The duo made a promising start to the weekend, finishing second in class in Friday's first free practice session. Martin recorded a 1:50.307 before improving to 1:50.508 in FP2, ending the session just two tenths of a second off the AM class lead as Jochems continued to familiarise himself with the car. Martin maintained the momentum on Saturday morning, setting a 1:50.446 in FP3 to finish just one hundredth of a second behind class leader Leimer.
Qualifying offered another indication of her potential. Taking the wheel for Q1, Martin posted a 1:47.957, missing AM class pole position by just three hundredths of a second. The result secured second in class and 15th overall for the opening race, putting her in a strong position for a crucial first contest in the championship fight.
Race 1 began in disappointing fashion for Martin, who was hit and spun around by another car at Turn 4 shortly after the start. The incident sent her tumbling down the order, forcing her to begin an immediate recovery. She responded with a 1:50.5 lap and quickly closed on the cars ahead, passing Rajani after the latter was forced to pit with an issue before overtaking Ron Trenka.
Martin then set about chasing Coelho, initially sitting around five seconds behind before gaining half a second on the fourth lap. The recovery was interrupted when Joshua Mason's #1 car made contact and went off at Turn 5, prompting the deployment of the Safety Car.
The neutralisation gave Martin an opportunity to regroup, and she remained second in the AM class when racing resumed with 30 minutes remaining. She immediately began putting pressure on Coelho again, while the opening of the pit window a lap later triggered the first round of stops. Martin stayed out longer than several of her rivals, moving into the overall top ten by lap 11 before bringing the #96 into the pits on lap 12.
Jochems took over for the second half of the race, rejoining in second place in the AM class following a clean stop by the Niemann Autosport crew. He subsequently lost some ground in the overall order, dropping to 17th as he negotiated traffic and struggled to maintain contact with the pack. However, he kept the car clean and preserved the team's position in the class battle.
Jochems crossed the line 17th overall and second in the AM class, securing valuable points towards Martin's championship challenge heading into the final race.
Sunday brought another sunny start to the final day of the season, with Jochems taking part in FP4 ahead of his qualifying session. He initially recorded a 1:55.615 before making further progress, improving to 1:53.102 in Q2 to secure second in the AM class and 18th overall on the grid for Race 2.
Jochems was again entrusted with the opening stint, but the conditions quickly became difficult. Rain began falling during the formation lap, leaving the field to start on slick tyres as the circuit became increasingly slippery. Taking a cautious approach into Turn 1, Jochems avoided trouble and held his position, although he gradually lost contact with the cars ahead.
On lap four, he spun at the final corner but managed to rejoin without damage. As conditions began to improve, his pace increased, with lap times settling into the 1:55s. Meanwhile, AM class leader Laurent Jenny began to struggle during the second half of his stint, allowing Jochems to close the gap.
By lap 11, the Niemann Autosport driver had reduced the deficit to just 2.6 seconds, bringing the battle for the AM class victory back into play as the pit window opened. Both drivers came in to hand over to their teammates, with Martin taking the wheel for the decisive second half of the race.
A slightly slower pit stop left Martin around ten seconds behind the #63 McLaren Artura Trophy of Cedric Leimer, but she immediately launched her pursuit. On her first push lap, she recorded a 1:51.781, more than two seconds faster than the class leader. Leimer responded, but Martin continued to find time, setting a new fastest lap in class of 1:51.000 and gaining another full second on lap 14.
With 20 minutes remaining, Martin lowered the benchmark again with a 1:50.785, continuing to close the gap. By lap 17, however, the deficit had stabilised at around six seconds as Leimer increased his pace and rebuilt a margin.
Rain returned with five minutes left, adding another complication to Martin's final push. Undeterred, she set a 1:50.670 and gained a further two seconds on lap 25, but the remaining gap proved too large to overcome. Martin crossed the finish line second in the AM class and 16th overall, just short of the race victory but with enough points to secure the championship.
Martin's runner-up finish brought a remarkable rookie campaign to a close with the AM class title. After making a late entry at Monza, building a successful partnership with Bishop and scoring back-to-back podiums at Misano, she had been forced to sit out Barcelona because of a lack of funding. Her return at Portimão was far from guaranteed, making the championship victory an especially meaningful achievement.
Reflecting on the weekend, Martin thanked Jochems for stepping in as her teammate and acknowledged the challenge of preparing a new pairing for the season finale.
"I'm really grateful to Albert Jochems for stepping in as a teammate at the weekend, it's been tough getting everything to work for Portimão," she said. "As Albert has been out of the car for a while and never driven Portimão, we knew we'd struggle to match the pace we needed for a win. Still, we had a great coach in Charles Zwolman and Niemann Autosport did a top job setting the car up - I missed pole by a tenth and my race pace was there too."
The title carries added significance given the difficulties Martin faced before and during the season.
"Consider where I was at the start of the season, 18 months since I last competed and limited budget, and you can appreciate that I've had a mountain to climb this year," Martin explained. "It's been a battle on and off track just to keep going, and so coming away with the AM title is huge for me… back in April I honestly thought my career had ground to a halt and I'd given up completely."
Beyond the championship itself, Martin also highlighted the relationships and opportunities that emerged during the campaign. The support she received helped her rebuild confidence and develop as a driver, while creating momentum for the next stage of her career.
"Another positive is some of the people I've met and worked with this year. I've made some great friends who've helped me believe in myself and grow as a driver, and also created momentum and opportunities for 2027," she said. "I genuinely feel like next year could be the step up that I've been working towards for some years now."
