“First GT race and first win" - Marta García made a remarkable sports car racing debut in the Ligier European Series at Spa-Francorchamps, where she battled fiercely for victory in both races, ultimately winning race 2.
Marta García made a remarkable debut in sports car racing as the Iron Dame joined the Ligier European Series grid at Spa Francorchamps battling for the victory in both races and eventually stepping on top of the podium in race 2.
The reigning F1 Academy champion and current FRECA driver made her first start in GT racing with the support of Iron Dames, in a M-Racing operated Ligier JS2 R and was aiming to collect her first racing experience in sportscars on the ELMS support package, in the Ligier one-make series that represents an important stepping stone for endurance competitions.
The 24-year-old Spaniard immediately found herself running at the front of the JS2R class pack and fought elbows out for the win in both one-hour races - the longest contests she had ever driven.
Despite entering the series with one single test day in the car under her belt, one month prio to the event, her weekend at the iconic Belgian circuit - which she had raced at both in W Series and in Formula Regional European Championship - was off to a highly positive start.
The two 40-minute practice sessions immediately showed a big potential: while in FP1 an issue to the transponder did not record any lap time, her speed was encouraging - and she eventually had proof of it in the second practice, where she was second fastest with a 2:32.668 best lap.
The series has featured a number of female drivers in the opening rounds of 2024: the JS2R class saw entries from French hillclimb star Cindy Gudet and Belgian racing rookie Sita Vanmeert, while Scottish racer Logan Hannah made her sports car debut in the prototype-based JS-P4 category. With Gudet out following an injury suffered in the GT4 European Championship at Hockenheim, Vanmeert (Les Deux Arbres team) joined García on the grid at Spa Francorchamps, sharing the #86 Ligier with Sacha Bottemanne.
Marta García’s first-ever qualifying session in a GT car began with the Valencian setting a strong initial lap, placing her Ligier JS2 R in fourth position. As the session progressed, times dropped, García pushed hard and improved her lap time significantly, clocking a 2:32.429 which propelled her into second place, just behind Tomas Granzella, who had taken provisional pole.
While briefly bumped down to third as Moreno found additional pace, Marta shaved off nearly a second from her previous best and climbing back to second place, a few tenths shy of Granzella’s time. On her final flying lap, she set a personal best in the first sector but couldn’t quite improve her overall time and ultimately secured a front-row start for race 1, lining up in second place with a 2:31.541 lap.
Belgian rookie Sita Vanmeert also delivered a solid performance and qualified in P7.
In the second qualifying session, García once again proved her speed: she quickly established herself in the top positions, setting a 2:31.712 on her first timed lap, which was only two-tenths off Granzella’s best time. The session, however, was short-lived, as Sacha Bottemanne, who had taken over the #86 Ligier from Vanmeert, made contact with Granzella, leading to a red flag with four minutes remaining. The session was not resumed, leaving García in P2, securing another front-row start for the second race of the weekend.
As the lights went out for race 1, García made a strong start from the front row, but her progress was immediately hindered by a spun JSP4 prototype directly ahead of her at La Source. Forced to take evasive action through the gravel, she dropped from P2 to the back of the JS2R class.
Despite the early setback, García quickly charged through the field: within a few corners, she was already up to P6 and then climbed to P5 on the second lap, setting the fastest sectors overall.
Consistently nearly two seconds per lap faster than the cars ahead, Marta caught up to Schell, Moreno, and Pianezzola, passing Schell for fourth with a determined maneuver. As the race progressed, she continued to lower her lap times, setting a 2:32.3 which was one full second quicker than the race leader.
García soon overtook Moreno at Les Combes and set her sights on Pianezzola, who was driving the Iron Lynx car in second. In a thrilling move, García executed a late-braking pass at Les Combes, securing second.
Despite her rapid pace, García had a significant gap to close to Granzella, who was leading by six seconds. She steadily reduced the deficit, gaining half a second per lap with purple sector times, and eventually brought the gap down to two seconds before making her mandatory pit stop midway through the race.
However, due to the pit stop handicap time imposed on silver-rated solo drivers, both García and Granzella dropped to sixth and fifth respectively, at the start of the second stint. García however continued to push hard, passing Bertocco to climb to P5, and then up to P4 as she tried to close a ten-second gap to Moreno, who had a shorter pit stop time.
The best action of the race saw García engaged in a fierce battle with Granzella for second place. The two drivers fought closely, with García attempting to pass multiple times, including a daring outside move at Les Combes. Despite being squeezed and unable to initially complete the pass, García persisted, trying again at La Source and the Fagnes chicane.
This intense battle allowed Moreno to extend his lead; after several laps of wheel-to-wheel racing, García finally made a pass stick at the Bus Stop chicane on the final lap, crossing the line in P2. However, a 30-second time penalty for track limits dropped her to P5 in the final classification.
A few hours later, García had another opportunity to fight for victory, starting from second on the grid for race 2. Determined to make up for the result of race 1, she got a lightning start, immediately going side by side with Tomas Granzella. In a bold move, García swept past Granzella at Eau Rouge, grabbing the lead in spectacular fashion.
The two resumed their battle from the previous race, with Granzella closely following García - but their duel was interrupted by an early safety car on lap 2 after Bertocco’s Iron Lynx car became stranded on track. The safety car was potentially a setback for García, as solo silver-rated drivers like her needed to build a gap in the first stint due to the longer mandatory pit stop time.
When the race resumed, García faced intense pressure from both Granzella and Bottemanne, who had moved up to third. After a strong restart, Marta initially defended well but made a small mistake under braking at the Bus Stop chicane, allowing both Granzella and Bottemanne through, dropping her to third.
The drama however continued as Granzella and Bottemanne made contact at Les Combes, sending the Uruguayan driver spinning and promoting García back to second.
The Iron Dame soon caught up to Bottemanne and began applying pressure for the lead, but the race was again interrupted by a safety car following a crash involving Vieira’s #44 JSP4 prototype on the Kemmel Straight.
With 36 minutes remaining, the race restarted with Bottemanne leading, though under investigation for his earlier contact with Granzella. García defended from Granzella on the restart, knowing that Bottemanne’s impending drive-through penalty would effectively put her in the lead battle.
Once Bottemanne served his penalty, García was left to battle Granzella once again. In clear air, she pushed hard to create a gap, but Granzella made a late dive into the Bus Stop chicane to retake the lead. The two drivers pitted simultaneously a lap later, with García emerging ahead after a quicker stop. Meanwhile, Stern and Moreno had taken the lead due to pit stop handicaps but made contact at Les Combes, allowing García and Granzella to close the gap.
The race took another twist when Winslow’s Monza Garage prototype collided with another car, bringing out a third safety car that ultimately leveled the pit stop times. With Stern leading, García was up to fourth, though the gaps were now neutralized.
When the green flag waved again, García was locked in a battle for the lead, passing Moreno and Stern while holding off Granzella. In the closing laps, she executed a perfect pass on Schell at Les Combes to take the overall lead.
Once in front, García unleashed her pace, setting the fastest lap of the race at 2:32.991 and steadily pulling away from her rivals. Despite some late-race chaos in both categories, García held on to cross the finish line in first, securing a remarkable victory in only her second-ever GT race.
“First GT race and first win", García stated after the accomplishment. "We had a great weekend at Spa for the Ligier European Series, we learned a lot, and we’re so happy with the result. I want to dedicate this victory to Luca. I know he would be proud", she said, remembering her driver coach Persiani who tragically lost his life in a road accident in the previous days.
"I’d like the thank the Iron Dames by M Racing team for putting together a great car, and Yann Ehrlacher for being my coach and engineer.”
“It was a very good weekend for me", she added. "It was my first competition with a GT car. I did one test day before the meeting with M Racing, one month ago. So obviously I didn’t have a lot of experience with the JS2 R. I’m really happy of course."
"I was lucky to have Yann Ehrlacher here with me. He is a very good driver and also a great coach. That helped a lot. I’m super proud of winning my second race in GT. I just want to thank Iron Dames as well for their support and M Racing”.
Garcia will return to her Formula Regional European Championship campaign at Imola for the seventh round of the season on 7-8 September, but aims to return behind the wheel of the Ligier JS2R car later on in the season.
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