Belén García

Belén García Espinar (born 26 July 1999 in L'Ametlla del Vallès) is a female racing driver and pole vaulter from Spain. She currently competes in the W Series.[2][3]

Belén García Espinar
Nationality Spanish
Born (1999-07-26) 26 July 1999
L'Ametlla del Vallès, Spain[1]
Previous series
2019Formula 4 Spain

She is of no relation to Marta García.

Biography

Belén García was born and raised in L'Ametlla del Vallès, a small village near the city of Barcelona. Her parents José Luis and Pilar run motorsport timing company Alkamel Systems, her father also being a professional rally driver.[1]

In conjunction with her racing, García is also a competitively-registered pole vaulter with Club Atlètic Granollers.[4]

Career

García began karting in 2015 in the Spanish Karting Championship, where she finished 10th in 2018 in the Senior-KZ2 class.[5]

She made her professional single-seater debut a year later, competing in the 2019 Spanish Formula 4 Championship for Global Racing Service. She became the first woman to win a Formula 4 race in Europe at just her second attempt at the Circuito de Navarra, but only managed a best result of seventh after that. She eventually finished the season 15th overall on equal points with Nerea Martí, thus beating her to the female trophy on countback.[6] She also received a call-up to race for Team Spain at the 2019 FIA Motorsport Games, as their representative in the Formula 4 Cup, where she finished 6th, from 12th on the grid.[7]

The Catalan driver qualified for the W Series, a Formula 3 championship for women, in 2020.[8][9] She was set to twin this with participation in selected rounds of another Formula 3 championship, the Formula Renault Eurocup.[10] However, following the cancellation of the 2020 W Series and the withdrawal of Global Racing Service from the 2020 Formula Renault Eurocup due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she was left without a drive for the season.[11] She then opted for a temporary return to karting, finishing 7th overall in the KZ category of the Spanish Karting Championship, ahead of former Formula 1 driver Roberto Merhi.[12] García also raced in the final round of the Spanish Endurance Championship at Ciudad del Motor de Aragón, driving for NM Racing Team along with her father, in a Ginetta G55 GT4. They finished 6th in race 1 and 10th in race 2 overall but were ineligible for championship points.

Racing record

Career summary
Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2019 F4 Spanish Championship Global Racing Service 21 1 0 0 1 35 14th
F4 Spanish Championship - Female Trophy 1st
FIA Motorsport Games Formula 4 Cup Team Spain 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 6th
2020 Campeonato de España de Resistencia - C3 NM Racing Team 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC†

† As García was a guest driver, she was ineligible to score points.
* Season still in progress.

References
  1. "Pertiguista y campeona de España de Fórmula 4" (in Spanish). Superdeporte. 20 November 2019.
  2. "W Series announces 18 drivers for 2020 season". W Series. 19 October 2019.
  3. "Belén García Espinar DATOS DEL ATLETA. - Real Federación Española de Atletismo - RFEA.es (in Spanish)". Real Federación Española de Atletismo. 20 December 2014.
  4. "Pole Vault & Racing". Belén García Espinar on YouTube. 22 November 2019.
  5. "Resultados - Campeonato SR-KZ2 - CEK 2018" (PDF). Karting - RFEDA (in Spanish).
  6. "Belén García, la primera mujer que vence en la F4: "Hay hombres que no les gusta competir ante nosotras"" (in Spanish). El Español. 12 April 2019.
  7. "Belén García acaba sexta en la final de Fórmula 4, a tan sólo dos segundos del bronce" (in Spanish). Marca. 5 November 2019.
  8. "Tres pilotos españolas en las W Series 2020: Belén Garcia y Nerea Martí, junto a Marta García" (in Spanish). The Champions Voice. 23 October 2019.
  9. "Belén García Espinar: entrevista exclusiva a la piloto" (in Spanish). Actualidad Motor. 17 January 2020.
  10. "Belen Garcia to race in F.Renault Eurocup as W Series preparation". Racers – Behind the Helmet. 11 March 2020.
  11. Wood, Elliot (3 July 2020). "Global Racing Service drops out of Formula Renault Eurocup". Formula Scout.
  12. "Resultados - Campeonato KZ - CEK 2020" (PDF). Karting - RFEDA (in Spanish).
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