Valencia has launched Spain’s first university chair dedicated to motorsport safety, performance and health through a partnership between Circuit Ricardo Tormo and the Universidad Internacional de Valencia (VIU).
The new Motorsport Chair focuses on road safety, athlete performance and health in motor racing. Organisers said the initiative aims to transform track and motorsport ecosystem data into scientific knowledge that can improve safety, rehabilitation, prevention and athlete wellbeing.
The project was presented at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Cheste on 6 May. The initiative brings together the Valencia circuit and VIU, which is part of the Planeta Formación y Universidades higher education network.
Luis Cervera, director general of Sport for the Valencian government, said the circuit had become one of the region’s most innovative sporting venues and described the new chair as a way to organise and transfer knowledge generated through motorsport activity.
Nicolás Collado, director of Circuit Ricardo Tormo, said the Motorsport Chair would provide visibility and reputation for the Valencian Community while helping attract talent and research investment.
“The Motorsport Chair provides the Valencian Community with a prestigious body that, in addition to visibility and reputation, attracts talent, investment in R&D and positions VIU and the Circuit as leaders in the world of motorsport,” said Collado.
Among those attending the presentation were four time motorcycle world champion Jorge Martínez Aspar and representatives from regional motorcycle and automobile federations.
Eva María Giner Larza, rector of VIU, said the initiative highlighted the value of cooperation between academic research and elite sport.
“Thanks to the Motorsport Chair, issues such as emergency medical care, the relationship between competitive driving and the physical reactions of drivers, or their mental health, will be addressed through a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach with the aim of generating specific scientific results,” said Giner Larza.
Organisers said the chair will focus on areas including nutrition, rehabilitation, trauma response, posture, mental health and self care for professional drivers and athletes.
Vicente Gea, dean of VIU’s Faculty of Health Sciences and director of the chair, said the initiative responds to a longstanding need to connect scientific research with the high intensity environment of competitive motorsport.
Bernardo Bonet, co director of the chair and deputy director of Circuit Ricardo Tormo, said the partnership aimed to address critical challenges linked to sport and health, road safety and the protection of young talent.
Research linked to the chair will also explore wider applications in high performance sport and technical education. Organisers said they want to create dual career pathways where young athletes can combine sporting careers with academic development and mental wellbeing support.
During a round table discussion held as part of the launch, racing driver Nerea Martí said the motorsport industry still faced unresolved challenges around athlete wellbeing and safety.
“Achieving optimal health, not only physical, but also mental or social in athletes and the people closest to them, is key to optimising performance in a maximum competition environment, with special attention to safety,” said Martí.
