Nerea Martí joins Virtual Racing Academy to maximise sim training

As she explores opportunities to maximise her training in both real and virtual racetracks, Nerea Martí has joined Virtual Racing Academy, the first professional simracing academy to support professional racing drivers into virtual competitions.

Photo credits: Racers - Behind the Helmet

W Series star Nerea Martí continues to make strides in motorsport and to explore more opportunities as a professional athlete.

Martí, 20, made her debut in 2021 in the all-female single-seater championship after only one season in single-seaters; in her rookie campaign, she was fourth in the drivers' championship - the top rookie - also claiming a podium.

At the 2022 season opener, Martí secured a pole position and a further podium in Miami. She is currently fifth in the W Series points table.

At the same time, the Spaniard started to venture into the world of touring cars and joined BMW Espana Motorsport for the 2022 GT Winter Series and Spanish Endurance Championships. With podiums and victories at debut, Nerea Martí - who is sharing a BMW M2 Cup car with experienced racer José Manuel de los Milagros - finished second in the GT Winter Series, before winning at debut in GT-CER (Campeonato de España de Resistencia​).

As she continues to explore opportunities within the industry to grow as a racing driver, Nerea Martí announced she will join Virtual Racing Academy, the first professional simracing academy aimed at supporting drivers in sim training as well as virtual competitions.

The Valencian - who is contesting the third round of GT-CER this weekend in Motorland Aragon and will be back in the Tatuus F3 Regional car next weekend at the British GP - thus aims at taking a further step in her career and maximise the benefits of the crucial sim preparation, also eying a bigger involvement in national and international simracing in the near future.

The organization was founded by Bewolfish, Ramboot Club and Formula Events Club. She is joined by fellow racers Guillem Pujeu and Marc de Fulgencio.

“Joining VRA is a great opportunity to continue my training as a driver and continue preparing for W Series" - Nerea said. "Also, hopefully in the future I can become a professional in simracing."

Martí was first involved in simracing in 2020, when W Series opted to move its championship to a fully-online competition due to the pandemic challenges, before returning to the tracks in 2021. In the W Series Esports League - which featured all the qualified drivers for the 2020 on-track season - Martí was among the leading protagonists and finished fourth in the championship.