Marta García takes second win in two Ligier European Series weekends

Iron Dame Marta García made a stellar return to Ligier European Series at Portimao, as she took her second race victory in just as many entered rounds.

Photo credits: Iron Dames

Marta García made a spectacular return to the Ligier European Series for the Portimão season finale, where the inaugural F1 Academy champion and current FRECA driver took a stellar victory in Race 2, adding a second win to her GT racing career in just her second weekend.

García had, in fact, made her debut in GT competitions at Spa-Francorchamps, the fourth round of the one-make series on the support package of the ELMS. After an unlucky Race 1, where she battled at the front of the field, the Spaniard collected her first win in Race 2, immediately establishing herself as the driver to beat.

She was then forced to miss the following round at Mugello due to a clashing commitment with the Formula Regional European Championship, but the Iron Dame got back aboard the pink #85 Ligier JS2R machine for the final round at Portimão, Portugal – where she again showcased her quick learning with another spectacular performance.

On a circuit where she had never raced before, García was soon up to speed in Thursday practice, making significant progress over the sessions: Marta was second quickest in FP1 on a wet track and closed the gap in the second session in the afternoon as the track dried up, ending the day three-tenths from the pace setters, the Iron Lynx car of Bertocco/Pianezzola.

Later in the day, Marta qualified third in Q1, with a 1:52.659 on her penultimate run that placed her on the second row. A few minutes later, a red flag interrupted Q2 in its early minutes, but she continued to improve as the session resumed, eventually taking provisional pole position. While times dropped, Marta found more speed and clocked a 1:52.460, securing third on the starting grid for Race 2 on Friday.

Friday morning saw the first race of the weekend in sunny conditions. Starting from third, Marta briefly dropped to fourth on the first lap and had a close call with a JSP4 class car that went deep and hit the car ahead. She took evasive action, survived the incident, and then passed Lepesqueux, moving up into third on lap 2. Therbo led ahead of Trojani and García when Tanaka went off, bringing out the Safety Car.

At the restart on lap 5, Marta immediately attacked Trojani while Therbo pulled away with purple sectors. Garcia set the fastest lap, a 1:53.569, before Therbo topped it a lap later, gaining a second on the pursuers. The battle between Therbo and Trojani allowed García to close back in on the leaders.

As Therbo and Trojani traded positions, Pianezzola joined the leading group and put pressure on García, who was trying to take advantage of the duel for the lead. In a three-wide battle, Pianezzola made an aggressive move, taking out Marta, spinning her into the gravel.

The second SC was deployed with 32 minutes to go, just as the pit window opened.

After being recovered from the gravel, Marta rejoined the race, although she was three laps down. Following the restart, she set the fastest lap with a 1:53.0, showing strong pace and gaining over three seconds per lap on Caussanel, despite being two laps behind.

She moved up to P7 when Stern pitted with issues, gaining valuable experience in clear air.

Photo credits: Ligier European Series

Lining up in third place, Marta saw a new opportunity to close out the weekend on a high after showing great pace despite bad luck earlier: she immediately moved up into second with a great start.

García followed Trojani, setting purple sectors and quickly closing the gap. By lap 5, she outbraked Trojani at Turn 1 to take the lead; Trojani tried to respond, but contact sent Marta spinning for the second race in a row. This time, she rejoined, dropping to third.

García regained second place on lap 6 after overtaking Da Cunha, setting more fastest sectors overall, with Trojani now just three seconds ahead. By lap 8, Marta was half a second behind Trojani, and she made a stunning pass at Turn 5 to take the lead.

Once ahead, García initially struggled to pull away but eventually opened a one-second gap on lap 12, allowing her to breathe. Louis Stern was then hit by a JSP4 car and brought out the safety car midway through the race.

Marta pitted on lap 15, one lap later than most of the JS2R field as the pit window had just opened. After a great pit stop by the M Racing team, she nevertheless rejoined ahead of her class rivals.

In the final 20 minutes, the battle for the win resumed: Marta had a strong restart, managing the traffic from the prototype class while holding off Lepesquex and Trojani – while also having to navigate the traffic of some fast JS2R lapped cars ahead.

In the closing stages, Marta pushed hard to extend her lead, gaining three seconds in the final laps to take the chequered flag and secure her second race victory in two weekends.

It was a brilliant performance from García, showcasing her quick adaptation and extending her winning streak in the JS2R class of the Ligier European Series while continuing to gain vital experience in GT competitions.

At the end of the weekend, she was awarded her first test with the Iron Dames Porsche 911 GT3 R as part of the European Le Mans Series rookie test, aiming to continue her development with the all-female team.

Photo credits: Ligier European Series