Natalia Granada makes car racing debut in Mugello

16-year-old Iron Dame Natalia Granada made a promising debut in car racing at Mugello, finishing seventh in the JS2 R class in Race 1 and demonstrating significant progress throughout the Ligier European Series weekend.

Natalia Granada made her car racing debut at Mugello, Italy, participating in the fifth round of the Ligier European Series, where she drove the #85 Ligier JS2 R car to a seventh-place finish in Race 1.

The 16-year-old Catalan driver made the step from karting to GT competitions under the banner of Iron Dames, taking over the M Racing-operated car that Marta Garcia had debuted at Spa Francorchamps, with her compatriot unavailable due to a clashing commitment in the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine.

Born in 2008, Granada started karting at 11 and quickly climbed the ranks of national karting competitions before joining the Iron Dames project in 2023, where she became the first driver in the karting programme of the all-female squad.

Natalia has competed in the Spanish Karting Championship and the IAME European Championship in Iron Dames colours, and she now had the chance to make her first-ever start in sports cars at the demanding Mugello circuit, known for its fast, technical, and undulating layout in the Tuscan hills.

Granada made significant improvements in the two practice sessions, finding two full seconds between sessions on Friday. Later in the afternoon, however, a rainy qualifying session posed additional challenges as she had to process a lot of new information while learning the car and the track in changing conditions.

Nevertheless, her first-ever qualifying session in cars turned out to be a positive experience of improvement. In wet weather, the first session was interrupted by a red flag with 8 minutes to go. When the session resumed, Natalia clocked a 2:31.750, securing P8 on the grid for her first-ever car race.
The second qualifying session took place a few minutes later to set the grid for the second race. Granada continued to close the gap and came not far behind Formula Regional Americas driver Ryan Shehan, setting a time of 2:26.487 and again qualifying P8 for Race 2.

The first race took place on Saturday morning under dry conditions, though the track was slightly damp after overnight rain. Natalia would start her first race from the fourth row in the JS2R class. When the lights went out for the first 1-hour race of the weekend, Granada held her position. Class leader Lepesqueux went off in the gravel on lap 2, allowing the Iron Lynx car of Bertocco to move into first place in the JS2R class. Lepesqueux and Schell battled for second.

Granada chased down Sita Vanmeert, gaining ground and clocking increasingly competitive times, running in the 2:02.5 mark for the first time. She closed in lap after lap, but Vanmeert maintained a 1-second advantage throughout the first stint as the pit window approached.

All drivers pitted on lap 13; Granada had a longer stop due to being a silver-rated solo driver, which caused her to lose ground to the rest of the pack at the start of the second stint.
Ryan Shehan was taken out by the #44 prototype of Vieira on lap 21 and became stuck in the gravel, bringing out the safety car. Unfortunately, Granada was trapped a lap down during the safety car period and couldn’t catch back up to the rest of the field.
With 6 minutes to go, the race went back to green. Granada found herself right in the JSP4 traffic at the restart, with 7 cars from the overall leaders right behind. She managed the traffic well, collecting crucial experience in multi-class racing.
Granada spent the final laps in traffic but gained vital experience and finished P7.

In the second race on Sunday afternoon, Natalia Granada would start from P7 after inheriting one position from Louis Stern.

When the lights went out, a JSP4 prototype car spun in the middle of the pack, forcing the leading JS2R cars to take evasive action. Granada also had to avoid the chaos by taking the outside line and fell to P8. The safety car was deployed for the stranded Monza Garage prototype of Chou.

The race restarted at the end of lap 3, with Granada faster than Stern and just one second behind, consistently improving her sector times. The young Catalan was running well, gaining some tenths and keeping close to her closest competitor, steadily closing the gap.
However, just as she was preparing to make a move, she was handed a drive-through penalty for track limit violations.
The leaders pitted on lap 13, and the round of pit stops commenced. Unfortunately, Granada was hit by a prototype and sent into a spin on lap 16 by Alin Fulga. She ultimately had to pit with damage and retired from the race, while Fulga received a drive-through penalty for the incident.
Despite the unfortunate outcome in the second race, Natalia Granada was the protagonist of significant improvements throughout the weekend. She continuously progressed, learned to navigate traffic in Race 1, and got quicker and quicker in Race 2 while battling with the cars ahead, showing she was not far off more experienced drivers.
Overall, it was a promising debut that leaves optimism for the young Iron Dame’s future.