There’s No Conventional Way of Getting Into Motorsport and Celia Martin is a Proof of This
- Catherine Micallef
- 1 day ago
- 10 min read
Endurance racing, single-seaters, rally, touring cars, drag racing - you name it, motorsport is blessed with the various series that keep us entertained. So many drivers with so many different qualities take on challenging conditions which are unique to each series. However, one common aspect that you’d find among the drivers across the different series, is that they started out their motorsport career in karting. Or have they? Well, not Celia Martin.
Females in Motorsport had the opportunity to sit down and listen to Iron Dames driver Celia Martin’s amazing story of how she got involved in motorsport. A story filled with determination and that taught us how you just need to believe in yourself, even if your ideas may sound crazy.
Martin is a great example of how she made opportunities for herself and eventually, she managed to earn herself a seat with Iron Dames and is now competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC). She never let the stories of how other drivers started karting from a young age and how they’ve been driving cars for their whole lives, stop her from chasing her dreams.
As Martin said:
“If you push, if you still work for yourself and you keep believing in yourself and what you can do, you then meet the right people at some point and here we go, I’m now with the Iron Dames.”
It’s easier said than done, but Martin is a great example of how sometimes you need to stop thinking and just go for it.
How did it start?
Celia Martin didn’t come from a motorsport background. Her father used to do offroading, so she was exposed to some kind of motorsport when she was 10. However, she admitted that her family couldn’t afford to send her to karting sessions, so she never really asked and kept her passion a secret.
This still didn’t stop her from trying to pursue a career in motorsport. When she grew up, she studied law and private wealth management. She figured that if she had a well-paid job, she could fund herself and practice motorsport in her own time.
At 26, she moved to Germany. She was introduced to the Nurburgring Nordschleife and started driving during tourist sessions there. She performed so well that she met someone that suggested she should pursue a career in motorsport. This wasn’t the first time that someone told Martin this because it happened back in France too. She had two people, in two different places, tell her to pursue something which she is very passionate about. And so that is what she did.
“I was so sure, 100% that I will make it,” she tells Females in Motorsport. “Don’t ask me how and why, I was just so sure and if I look back now, I think for sure people didn’t believe me because it sounds so crazy and naive at the same time.”
The atmosphere at the Nurburgring really made her feel determined that she will be able to make it as a racing driver.
“But it was such a different world and it felt so easy coming to the Nurburgring because you just get in your normal road car and you drive on the track,” she says. “So somehow, everything here was making me feel like it would be possible and I met some nice people.”
Working with Jaguar and Competing with WS Racing
Even though Martin moved to Germany to drive at the Nurburgring, that didn’t happen too easily. She landed her job with Jaguar and passed all the tests to drive at the Nurburgring. However, as she was about to start, the track issued new regulations which required a driver to be 27 to be a race taxi driver.
So Martin had to wait yet another year to drive at the Nurburgring. But during that time, she started testing prototypes with Jaguar on the highway and other proving grounds. This helped her to learn more about the relationship building with engineers and how everything comes together to get a car going. She really liked this job and in fact Martin still tests for Jaguar and other car companies from time to time.
Her main goal in Germany was to do the 24 Hours Nurburgring, but that took time too.
“Funny enough, my goal was to drive the Nurburgring, this is why I was there,” she says. “But my first racing season ever was actually in the Jaguar I-PACE eTrophy. So it was actually not what I wanted, I wanted to drive the Nurburgring. So for one year, I travelled the world within Formula E, to drive an I-PACE at city tracks.”
This was a great experience in which she finished second overall, but she still kept working hard to earn her licence to drive GT4 cars.
After this experience, she met two men who suggested the WS Racing programme, which was looking for new drivers. Martin admitted that at first, she wasn’t sure about applying but she realised that she needed to give this opportunity a chance. And so she did and completed all the tests at the Nurburgring. From not being sure on whether to join the team to spending around four years with them.
Martin enjoyed some great but also tough moments with her team, learned more as a driver and how to communicate better too, because she admitted that being French in a foreign country was not always easy.
From one female team to another
In November 2023, Martin joined the Iron Dames. The way that Martin joined the team is why she insists that if you want something, you have to ask and get yourself the opportunity.
Before she joined the team, Martin had already met all three drivers that make up part of the FIA WEC team of the project - Rahel Frey, Michelle Gatting and Sarah Bovy.
Before she moved to Germany, she worked with Peugeot in France and Bovy was in their racing team. Looking at Bovy’s experience with Peugeot, Martin admitted that she wanted to be able to do that too. Eventually, as already highlighted, Martin moved to Germany and at the time Gatting was working as a Porsche instructor. This was another job which Martin really found interesting and wanted to take it on. She got to spend time with Gatting and when they were once in Leipzig together, they talked about what they wanted to do and where they wanted to take their career.
As for Frey, at first Martin got in contact with her through email.
“With Rahel, I remember I wrote her an email, it was quite early because I was still racing at Nordschleife only and she answered saying I should try to get a bit more experience internationally,” she says. “But I was like how was I supposed to do that? It was 2021 or 2022, and I got the chance to go into GT4 Germany. It wasn’t super good in terms of result, I learned a lot though. But thanks to this I managed to get from silver to bronze which to me, again, made no sense, because no karting started late, I was not 30 when I got my racing licence but close.”
While driving towards her bronze licence, Martin visited Barcelona to speak with some sponsors and Frey was there too. Martin’s boyfriend suggested that she should get in touch with Frey again and so they did. In Barcelona, Martin and Frey made a deal that if she gets her bronze licence, she would get a test with the Iron Dames. The reason Martin wanted the test was to see where she was at in terms of progress in her career.
She earned bronze, she earned the test and it went so well, it earned her a seat with the Iron Dames too.
A new chapter with the Iron Dames
With Iron Dames, Martin is competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Entering the world of endurance is no easy feat. It’s a challenging series, both physically and mentally and it is one of the highest levels of motorsport a driver can compete at.
“Doing the 24 Hours of Nordschleife helped, but this is very different,” Martin says. “The Nordschleife actually has such a long straight and especially in GT4, you have a lot of time to breathe and to relax and to concentrate again. So it’s very different, when you go into those tracks, you have a lot of traffic all the time, it’s very intense.”
Maintaining her energy levels and being relaxed is something that Martin has been working on to help her deliver the best performance. In FIA WEC, there isn’t a lot of breathing space and Martin explained how a driver has to be physically fit, but also car fit. The type of fitness and training she does, prepares her for the car and to maintain her energy while racing. Martin also admitted that while this has become more manageable, it also depends on the weather conditions of the day.
Martin competed in the Le Mans Cup during her first year with Iron Dames to help her prepare for FIA WEC.
“Somehow I had less pressure than maybe I have now because I knew that it was a preparation year,” she says. “So I tried to really enjoy it and just drive. So we had a good year with ups and downs, it’s always like this, but it’s a very good memory within the team that I had. The car was also nice, the Lamborghini, a nice V10, so still very loud and it was a very good experience to get into GT3. It somehow felt easy.”
But when she made the move to FIA WEC, Martin felt the gap and how higher the level is. She is working on making this gap smaller and on getting to the highest level possible. Despite it being difficult, Martin described this situation as “part of the game” and she’s up for such a challenge.
The FIA WEC paddock is full of massive names who made headlines in motorsport, so this combined with the media attention, felt quite intense when Martin arrived in Qatar for her first race of the season.
“When I arrived, you see all those big names in motorsport and I still feel like, I’m sure sometimes people would think who is really this girl, I mean what did she do to be there?” she says. “I’m here to race though.”
Martin admitted that the team didn’t have the pace that they wanted throughout the weekend and so there was no margin for error because the small mistakes could cost them so much time. She is still looking forward to what’s to come and took some very important lessons from Qatar.
The French driver explained that having the opportunity to do so much testing with Iron Dames is something which has helped her a lot.
“We do a lot of testing and this is something Iron Dames is doing very well, not just for me but also for the other girls who are involved in this project and this is something, when I was thinking, we do a lot of testing, this is crazy. I though that was really just specific to the Iron Dames but when I look who’s there, it’s also competitors who are either in ELMS or in WEC. So in the end, they’re just following what the others can do and sometimes we can do even more,” she explained. “And this is just super nice, because this is what was missing for me in the race. I always come, new car, two, three laps, and then here we go qualifying and race and you would just have no time. So I’m super happy to be involved in this kind of project that really gives the tools to develop and be a better driver.”
Looking forward…
As Martin looks forward to more races in WEC, she has set herself some goals to achieve over the year.
On a personal level, she wants to reach the highest level as a bronze driver and be the best. She admitted that she uses Manthey’s Ryan Hardwick as a reference, as he is one of the fastest drivers. While she manages to be faster than him at times, Martin admitted that she couldn’t sustain it for a whole weekend. So she’s aiming to get closer to his time and be faster than him by the end of the season.
As for the team, Martin wants to help Iron Dames to win a championship.
“I know Rahel and Michelle want to win a championship and I wish I could do everything that I can to be able to help them get there, because you know it really helps a lot when the bronze driver is doing good qualifying,” she says. “Because they won a race, for sure I would also maybe start by winning a race and then we’ll see if we can win a championship.”
“My experience may be a hard example, but it’s a good example”
One of the reasons that Martin is happy to be involved with Iron Dames is because she has the opportunity to help others get into motorsport with more resources.
“This is also why I’m in this project - I would like to make the path easier for the younger generation and for women who have a dream like this,” she says. “So they don’t struggle like I had to because to race with no money and no conduct, it’s very tough. I definitely chose the hardest way and I would rather make it easier for other people.”
Despite this, she also encourages others to not always stick to what’s considered normal.
“Try to meet people and just ask, be very open and there is not just one way of getting there,” Martin says. “I am a good example. Maybe a hard example, but it’s a good example.”
She also encourages others to talk to people, ask questions and take advice. However, Martin emphasised that when applying others’ advice to your life, make sure that it aligns with what you want because sometimes what works for others, may not work for another because everyone is unique in their own way.
Finally, Martin wants women to stop doubting themselves and just go for it.
“Sometimes we think that we are not ready,” she says. “We are doubting ourselves about our skills and we should stop doing this.
“I have one example in my life where I was not ready. I knew and I still did it because I really wanted to do it. I said I can’t do it, it was a bit obvious, but I was still there. I didn’t get fired or anything, I just got better and better and I got good feedback.”
Martin explained how others in the sport are not doubting whether they’re good enough, they’re just going for it.
Celia Martin’s final response to our interview questions was, “be brave, ask, be open and don’t doubt yourself”.
What's next?
Iron Dames are coming from a great win as they crossed the chequered flag first in the 4 Hours of Barcelona. The next round of the European Le Mans series will be the 4 Hours of Le Castellet on May 4.
But before France, the Iron Dames are heading to Italy, for the second round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, as they take on the 6 Hours of Imola.
Images credit: Iron Dames