Célia Martin makes spectacular GT2 European Series debut at Misano
- RACERS
- 2 days ago
- 8 min read
Célia Martin made a spectacular return to contemporary GT racing at Misano, producing remarkable drives in her GT2 European Series debut, climbing the podium despite having had very limited competitive mileage over the year.
Célia Martin made a spectacular return to contemporary GT racing at Misano, producing a remarkable drive in the third round of the 2026 GT2 European Series season despite having had very limited competitive mileage over the year.
Making her GT2 European Series debut aboard the #18 LP Racing Maserati GT2 alongside Luca Pirri, Martin immediately demonstrated impressive speed: the French driver qualified second in the Master class, executed a brilliant opening stint in Race 1 that saw her climb to second overall before taking the lead, and ultimately secured a genuine second-place class finish in Race 2.
Although the result of the opening race was later removed from the classification because the Maserati was found to be underweight following an issue, the disqualification did little to diminish the performance Martin delivered on track. Her Misano weekend marked a great personal comeback after a difficult period away from contemporary sportscar racing.
One of the Iron Dames main drivers, Martin joined the organisation two years earlier and progressed from the Michelin Le Mans Cup to the main programme in the FIA WEC and ELMS. However, with Iron Dames scaling back its sportscar commitments for 2026, she had been forced to look for alternative opportunities.
Her last race in contemporary equipment had therefore come at the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship finale in Bahrain in November, while her 2026 racing programme had centred on the GT3 Revival Series and the historic Ford GT Matech entered by Klausen Racing.
Historic racing had brought its own challenges, including technical difficulties and an incident involving her teammate at the most recent Le Mans Classic event, which left Martin with almost no meaningful racing mileage.
It was in the aftermath of that difficult weekend that an unexpected opportunity emerged, when Martin met SRO founder and CEO Stéphane Ratel, who asked whether she knew Misano. The answer was yes.
Martin had in fact tested at the circuit two years earlier with Iron Dames, and it was also the venue where she had completed her first GT3 test.
The conversation ultimately led to an unexpected invitation to race in the GT2 European Series at Misano.
“The opportunity came when I had a difficult weekend in Le Mans Classic because there was an incident in the race 1, in Turn 1, with my teammate and therefore the car was too damaged to keep going. I think that weekend I did like two laps. So I was very down mentally. At some point I met finally Stéphane Ratel”, she explained.
“I just explained my journey, that's it. He contacted me one week after and he said, do you want to race with me in Misano? I said, of course, I'm not even thinking about it, for sure.”
Ratel had originally been scheduled to race alongside Martin at LP Racing but was forced to withdraw from the event because of a back injury. Luca Pirri ultimately took his place.
“It was funny because I met Luca in a completely different place in Sweden on ice driving, so I knew the team already a bit. And immediately it worked super nicely.”
“For me, I was just very happy to do some laps and to just enjoy it. That was the main thing, I wanted just to enjoy that weekend.”
What followed, however, was considerably more impressive than simply a return to the track.
Martin's weekend began with a slight setback as a technical issue delayed her participation in the opening practice session. Once the problem was resolved, she quickly established a competitive pace, setting a 1:38.606 to finish 12th overall and third in the Master class.
She made more steps forward in the second session; after initially setting a 1:38.8 and then a 1:38.5, Martin produced a superb 1:36.627 lap to move fourth overall and top of the Master class. She ultimately ended the session 11th overall and third in class, but the pace demonstrated that she was rapidly adapting to the Maserati GT2.
Qualifying provided further confirmation of her progress: the first session was interrupted by an early red flag following contact between the #119 KTM and #111 Mercedes. Martin had already set a 1:37.722 before the stoppage, placing third in the Master category.
When the session resumed with six minutes remaining, she immediately improved and lowered her time to 1:36.530, moving sixth overall and second in class. Despite having her qualifying laps repeatedly interrupted by yellow flags and red flags, she came extremely close to securing Master class pole position.
The result was particularly impressive given the limited amount of meaningful push-laps in the session.
“Quali normally was not my strongest, I feel now I made a step”, Célia commented.
“And because I had so much limited driving time this year, each time I was going into the car, it was for me like a quali. So that was the exercise to just try to adapt as quickly as possible, even more than I was used to.”
Martin also admitted that she had deliberately worked on avoiding the overthinking that can sometimes accompany a return to competition after a long absence.
“In quali, we had the yellow in my first fast lap, then the red flag in the second fast lap, and then I had to go again. And this was the only lap - and it was good. I was very happy with myself. And I was looking forward to the race.”
Martin started the opening race sixth overall and second in the Master class. She produced an outstanding launch, immediately moving into third overall and taking the Master class lead by the end of the opening lap in spectacular fashion.
The French driver continued her charge and soon moved into second overall, while leader Antoine Potty opened a four-second advantage.
While Martin couldn't quite match Potty's pace, her performance was extremely competitive, with the Maserati consistently lapping in the 1:36s. More importantly, she had established a significant margin over the rest of the Master class field.
The race was then dramatically interrupted when Potty went off from the lead in a heavy accident caused by a failure. While the driver could luckily escape without major injuries, the Maserati hit the barriers heavily, prompting a red flag and a lengthy stoppage while the circuit's barriers were repaired.
Martin therefore led the race when the field was stopped.
After almost an hour under red flags, the race restarted behind the safety car, with the pit window approaching.
Célia Martin once again made a strong restart and accelerated away from the cars behind her; with two rivals battling for second place, she was able to maintain the lead as the pit window opened.
She eventually pitted on lap 14, handing the Maserati over to Luca Pirri.
The leading Master class cars remained on track for a few more laps, but when they finally stopped on lap 17, Pirri regained the lead in both the overall race and the Master class.
The Italian driver then came under intense pressure from Marcucci's Audi with ten minutes remaining. The Audi eventually managed to pass the Maserati, but shortly afterwards spun at Turn 14, allowing Pirri to retake the lead.
Pirri and Martin therefore initially secured a sensational overall and Master class victory on their GT2 European Series debut - with Célia becoming the first ever woman to secure an outright win in the series.
Unfortunately, the result was later removed from the classification after the Maserati was found to be underweight. Nevertheless, the performance Martin delivered during her opening stint remained one of the weekend's highlights.
“I've always loved the race starts - I love it. I think it's one of my specialities, because I love to fight. So, it was nice”, Martin summarized.
The race had also presented Martin with a considerable physical and technical challenge.
“It was tough. It was hot. To be honest, it was difficult out there with the grip. You had to adjust your line a little bit. I was having a bit of ABS, too much interference. So, yeah, it was not easy.”
“And then the restart with the safety car. I think it was my first one since years. But I'm very happy, because of the way I was this weekend mentally.”
Most importantly, the performance represented a major personal breakthrough after a difficult year: “It was so difficult this year. So, to be able to do this now, it's perfect.”
“I hope I showed what I can do. The last proper race that I did was in Bahrain last November. So, you know, it's been a long time not sitting in the car. I hope there will be some positive out of it."
Célia Martin returned to the track on Sunday determined to finish the weekend on a positive note.
Her teammate Pirri took the start from ninth overall and fourth in class, losing two positions early on but quickly recovering his pace.
The Maserati driver moved closer to the group ahead and began attacking the #898 KTM for third in class. When the pit window opened, Pirri completed the move before making his stop with 26 minutes remaining.
Martin took over from third in class and ninth overall: she was immediately up to speed, setting a 1:39.0 on her first flying lap before quickly improving to a 1:38.8. At that point Martin was already overtaking cars ahead and moved into the top ten overall.
After the pit window had cycled through, she was ninth overall and second in the Master class.
Célia continued to lap consistently in the 1:37s and began closing on the Ginetta ahead. With seven minutes remaining, she completed the pass to move into eighth overall.
She then maintained her position under pressure from Prette, who was attempting to close the gap.
A late incident involving Aigner's KTM and Prette's Maserati gave Martin an over 20 second margin to the closest Master class rivals.
She crossed the finish line second in class, securing a genuine podium finish on her first GT2 European Series weekend.
“I just wanted to finish the weekend on a positive, having fun and see what would be possible."
“On track, Philippe Prette was coming in hot, but I knew that I could keep him behind. I needed to get used to the car and we had a bit too much of rotation sliding especially in sector 1, so I had to adapt to it.”
Once she had fully settled into the car, however, her pace became increasingly competitive.
“And then I could really start to overtake some other guys, especially with the heat, as it was quite a race. So it was good, and I could make up some position in P2, this time it's a real P2, let's put it that way.”
The result completed a remarkable weekend for Martin, who immediately demonstrated the pace to fight at the front of her class.
“Very positive weekend, I think from my side I showed what I can do, which was not a secret, but once again, just to show it. Very happy with the team and racing with Luca was nice. Again, thanks to Stéphane Ratel.”
While the Race 1 disqualification ultimately removed the victory from the official records, Martin's performance across the weekend was impossible to overlook. She had qualified less than a tenth from a class pole position, led the overall race, produced a strong opening stint and then secured a second-place class finish in Race 2 - becoming the first woman to claim a podium in the Maserati GT2.
More importantly, the Misano weekend provided Martin with the opportunity she had been searching for: the chance to demonstrate exactly what she can do.
