Fortec Motorsports’ Jordyn Martin has described herself as “really proud” after completing her first full season in cars as the highest-scoring female driver of the 2026 GB4 Championship.
The 16-year-old American ended her rookie campaign 27 points clear of her closest female rival, securing the €50,000 MotorSport Vision career contribution available towards a potential 2027 F1 Academy seat.
Martin’s final championship position did not fully demonstrate the pace she showed throughout the year. She regularly mixed with more experienced midfield competitors, particularly in Qualifying, while several narrow misses denied her the opportunity to start from reverse-grid pole and potentially fight for significantly larger points hauls.
Her performances nevertheless represented substantial progress during what was effectively her first complete season of single-seater racing, and Martin leaves GB4 with F1 Academy firmly established as her next target.
Martin “really proud” of rookie campaign
Martin entered 2026 with limited car-racing experience after progressing through motocross, dirt oval competition and karting before making only a handful of single-seater appearances during 2025.
GB4 therefore represented a significant step, particularly against drivers who already had considerably more experience in cars. Martin expected a steep learning curve when she joined Fortec Motorsports for her first full single-seater campaign, but steadily closed the gap as the year progressed.
Martin commented, “Honestly, it’s been a really up and down season, my first year in cars, but overall I’m really grateful for everybody on the team, and I’m really grateful for this year. There’s been so much progress that’s been made, and just being able to secure the top female, honestly, I’m really proud of it.”
That progress ultimately allowed Martin to move ahead of the other female contenders and secure one of the championship’s major end-of-season prizes.
€50,000 prize strengthens F1 Academy ambitions
Finishing as the highest-classified female driver earns Martin a €50,000 contribution towards an F1 Academy programme should she secure a seat for 2027.
The prize has already created a pathway from GB4 into the Formula 1-supported championship. Martin follows Alisha Palmowski and Ava Dobson as a recipient, with Dobson using her 2025 award to secure an F1 Academy seat for 2026.
Martin has already taken another important step towards following them. She participated in the 2026 F1 Academy Rookie Test at the Circuito de Navarra, where her pace included a top-seven time during the opening session.
With the funding now secured, Martin made clear where she hopes her 2026 progress will lead.
Martin said, “I’m really hoping for F1 Academy next year, especially with the prize, it would definitely help me getting in. But definitely F1 Academy will be the target next year.”
Qualifying pace showed Martin’s potential
Qualifying became one of the clearest indicators of Martin’s progress during her rookie season. She repeatedly placed herself around the established midfield and came particularly close to breaking into the top 12, an important target because GB4 reverses the leading 12 qualifiers for the final race of each weekend.
A place inside that group would have given Martin opportunities to start Race 3 from or near the front. Several narrow misses instead left her needing to work through the field, limiting her chances of converting her underlying pace into a standout result.
Her testing speed also suggested that the potential existed. Martin regularly ran closer to the midfield during official sessions, including finishing 14th during Silverstone pre-event Testing and 11th on the final day at Snetterton.
Martin believes her first year therefore exceeded her expectations, even if the biggest result remained just out of reach.
“The year has gone better than I expected”
Martin’s improvement was not always visible through finishing positions, but the American felt the underlying performance demonstrated how far she had progressed.
Martin explained, “I think the year has gone better than I expected, to be honest. The pace was definitely there, especially in testing, and I had pace to be in the top 12 for the reverse grid, but it just needed to work in qualifying.
“But overall I can look back on this year and be really happy and grateful for it, and look at all the progress that I made.”
The difference between testing pace and Qualifying execution has consequently become one of Martin’s clearest areas to address. In a championship where relatively small margins can separate the midfield, converting that pace at the decisive moment could have substantially changed several of her race weekends.
Nevertheless, regularly competing around drivers with greater experience provided Martin with a strong foundation heading into the next stage of her development.
Martin turns attention towards further development
Martin’s exact 2027 programme remains unconfirmed, but her racing season will continue immediately through the Aramco F4 Saudi Arabian Championship.
The six-round 2026 Saudi F4 campaign begins at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit before later moving to Lusail International Circuit. The additional mileage will give Martin another opportunity to develop her Qualifying approach and racecraft after completing her first full GB4 season.
Her focus remains on improving the areas that prevented her underlying pace from consistently translating into starting positions during 2026.
Martin said, “I’m going to keep training, keep progressing, keep improving, keep absorbing the data, and talking to all my engineers and mechanics. Those will definitely be key things for me to keep progressing higher up the grid, and especially for qualifying.
“It’s something that I struggled with to show my pace. I usually showed it in the racing, but definitely training, sim work, and mostly gym and sim work, those will be the main things I’ll be working on.”
F1 Academy remains the target
Martin leaves her maiden GB4 campaign without the major race result that occasionally appeared within reach, but with several of her original objectives achieved.
She established herself as the championship’s top female competitor, secured the €50,000 contribution and earned an opportunity to demonstrate her pace during the F1 Academy Rookie Test. Most importantly, she completed a full season of racing against a deep GB4 field after beginning the year with comparatively little single-seater experience.
The next challenge is converting that development into stronger Qualifying performances and more opportunities towards the front. Her upcoming Saudi F4 programme will provide additional experience before decisions surrounding 2027 are finalised.
For now, the F1 Academy route remains clear. Martin entered GB4 hoping the championship could provide that opportunity, and after finishing her first full year in cars as its leading female driver, she leaves with both the prize and experience needed to strengthen that pursuit.
