Marta Garcia makes TGR Cup Spain Debut
A new challenge awaited for the F1 Academy Champion
Marta Garcia made her debut in the TGR Cup Spain Series last weekend at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia. Appearing a guest driver, Marta hit the ground running and made a very notable impression on the competitive series in her first outing.
What is the TGR Cup Spain?
The TGR Cup Spain is a single-brand circuit cup series created by Toyota Spain and the Motor & Sport Institute. Competing in a Toyota GR 86 Circuit Pack, which has been prepared in MSi facilities, the series unfolds over six rounds across Spain.
The Toyota GR86 is one of the few naturally aspirated and rear-wheel drive cars available on the market today and is developed by Toyota’s sports division. With a rigid and lightweight body, a low centre of gravity and a powerful boxer engine, it gives the drivers a vehicle with which to learn and hone racing skills in that strokes to find that balance between car preparation and driver input. Sturdily built, the cars are also capable of taking some door to door contact during race weekends, promoting firm but fair racing.
With a focus on young up and coming talent, the series acts as a place to race to both develop skills and as a place for future professional drivers to be promoted into higher racing series elsewhere.
Marta Garcia’s Weekend in Valencia
As it was her first full weekend in the Spanish series, Marta was naturally on the backfoot from the off. But nobody appeared to have told her that. This was most evident early on in the weekend through the lap times that Marta set in practice. From an initial best time of 1:57.259 in the first practice session to a time of 1:55.356 in the next session and a qualifying time of 1:53.121 (compared to that of a 1:52.419 which was good enough for Pole Position), it was clear that Marta was getting to grips with the car very quickly indeed and getting up to speed nicely.
Race I
Qualifying in twelfth place for the first of two races held over the weekend, it would now be Marta’s racecraft in the series that would be put to the test. When the lights went out to signal the start of the race, it was immediately apparent what a feisty and fun series Marta has signed up for with the TGR Cup. With battles left, right and centre, drivers had to have their wits about them if they wanted to stay ahead of their competition. Before the first lap was even over, Marta was already up to P11 and then moved up to P10 just one lap later.
Moving up to P9 proved a little more difficult but a combination of patience and aggression paid off on the eighth lap of the race when she finally made the maneuver that would move her one more place up the order. Garcia then battled with Ignacio Rodriguez one lap later and was able to get past him for P8. The gap to P7 ahead was much bigger and as she went hunting after Vinyes R who held that position, Marta was able to pull a gap of over three seconds to Rodriquez behind her. She finished the race in P8 - a decent first outing for the young Spaniard.
Race II
Marta would then start the second and final race of the weekend from P8. A rough start put Garcia down to P10 at the start of the race - but it would only take two laps before she was back up into P8, putting in the fastest lap of the race at that point in time to boot as she did so.
Contact with Castilla on lap three put her down to P9 again but it would be the last time in the race she would be running in so low a position. For the next few laps, she climbed up the field, dancing around P7 and P8 as she fought hard against the regular series drivers around her. Alvarez in particular put up a stout defensive drive in his attempt to keep Garcia behind. But a separate battle that he had with Vinyes R sent both cars off track, opening the door for Marta to get past both of them and neatly up into P6. In racing, survival and keeping it clean is often enough to help propel you up the order.
By the time the end of the race came, Marta had to settle for P7 overall, ultimately one place better than where she’d begun the race. But as ever in racing, the end result on paper is a far cry from an accurate medium through which to tell the story of the race.
As the highest female driver to finish the event, Marta should also receive €1000 and a trophy after her first weekend in the TGR Cup, as per the format and rules of the series. It’s currently unclear if Marta will return to the series in the future but her performance and improvement across the weekend perfectly demonstrated her capabilities and potential were she to be given the opportunity to come back into the series again.
Who is Marta Garcia? A Brief Overview
For many, the 25 year old Spaniard will be known to them for her time in W Series. For others, it’ll be for competing in and becoming Champion of its successor, F1 Academy in its and her inaugural season in 2023 where she beat Lena Buhler to the title.
After winning in F1 Academy, Garcia moved over to the Formula Regional European Championship. Here she raced with Iron Dames in 2024. At the same time, she competed in the Ligier European Series for four races, also with Iron Dames, making her mark though as she notched up two wins in this series in Spa and Portugal respectively.
In 2025, Marta teamed up once again with Iron Dames to compete in the Le Man Cup GT3. She finished in P4 overall with a podium finish in Spa. She also made her Formula E debut back in 2024, taking part in the rookie test with ERT. Since then, Maeta has also tested with Porsche in the pre-season women’s test and gone on to partner with Lola Yamaha ABT in this year’s pre-season women’s test.
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The third round of TGR Spain will take place at Motorland from June 19th - 21st.