Porsche Motorsport has confirmed that the Iron Dames will return to the marque in the start of a new multi-year partnership with the all-female squad. It marks the beginning of a new initiative to promote women in motorsport. The partnership …
Porsche Motorsport has confirmed that the Iron Dames will return to the marque in the start of a new multi-year partnership with the all-female squad. It marks the beginning of a new initiative to promote women in motorsport.
The partnership includes the promotion of long-time Iron Dame driver Michelle Gatting to Porsche contracted driver. The Danish racer will be joined by Switzerland’s Rahel Frey, Sarah Bovy from Belgium, and French driver Célia Martin. The four drivers will compete across the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s Michelin Endurance Cup (GT Daytona), FIA World Endurance Championship (LMGT3), European Le Mans Series (LMGT3) and Asian Le Mans Series (GT). The latter series gets it start next weekend at Sepang.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1406]
Iron Dames will partner with Team Manthey for WEC where Gatting, Bovy and Martin will make up the core squad, and Proton Competition in the other series. Gatting, Bovy and Frey will be the core driver lineup for the Michelin Endurance Cup.
“Porsche stands for a culture of equal opportunities and diversity. Encouraging women to get involved in motorsport and then supporting them in open competition is something we value highly,” said Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President Porsche Motorsport.
“In this context, we’ve seen that the Iron Dames project is well-structured and was very successful in recent years Since our customer teams have already celebrated victories with the Iron Dames, we’re now taking the next logical step. We’re very confident that the collaboration in all series will reap excellent results and we can highlight our contribution to supporting female racing drivers with victories and podium finishes.”
Launched in 2018 by Deborah Mayer, Iron Dames has been competing in worldwide endurance racing, and is the first all-female team to win a race in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Bovy, Frey and Gatting captured the final GTE-Am victory in the 2023 season-ender in Bahrain (main image). That victory came in a Porsche 911 RSR 19.
“It’s an honor to join forces with such a renowned brand as Porsche Motorsport, who share the same goal of leaving a lasting legacy in motorsport while driving forward progress,” said Mayer. “The Iron Dames Project has always been rooted in the power of dreams to overcome barriers. Our journey is not just about competing at the highest level, but also about proving that the door to the racing world is open to everyone with passion and determination.
“From 2025, we aim to set new benchmarks together, to empower women in endurance racing, support upcoming female drivers, change perceptions and inspire the next generation. ‘Porsche X Iron Dames’ provides more than a fresh impetus for women in motorsport, it sends a powerful message that every dream is worth pursuing, no matter how ambitious. I look forward to seeing Célia, Michelle, Rahel and Sarah racing Porsche cars all over the world again and to seeing the ‘Every Dream Matters’ movement flourish with them.”
The alliance between Porsche Motorsport and Iron Dames is set to continue for several years. Plans are already in the pipeline for the project to be closely linked to the German sports car manufacturer’s successful junior development pyramid. The aim is to link the national support programs in the Porsche one-make cups, the central Junior Program of Porsche Motorsport and the recently introduced “Iron Dames Young Talents” initiative. The aim is to create a path for young talent from karting to top-tier racing.
Van der Steur Racing is no stranger to the IMSA paddock, with a presence dating some twenty years. Most recently, the team founded by former racer Gunnar van der Steur has competed in the Grand Sport (GS) class of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge. …
Van der Steur Racing is no stranger to the IMSA paddock, with a presence dating some twenty years.
Most recently, the team founded by former racer Gunnar van der Steur has competed in the Grand Sport (GS) class of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge. For 2025, VDSR will move to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship side of the paddock as it steps up to campaign the No. 19 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo in the Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) class.
They’ll compete in all five IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup events, and possibly select sprint races as well, with drivers Rory van der Steur and Valentin Hasse-Clot.
Van der Steur Racing is making maximum use of the resources that Aston Martin Racing and its partner Prodrive have to offer in terms of technical and engineering support. Hasse-Clot is an Aston Martin factory driver who teamed with Rory van der Steur to finish fourth or better in four of the five Michelin Pilot Challenge races they ran together in 2024 in van der Steur’s Aston Martin Vantage GT4.
His best result of the season was achieved in the sprint race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, where he teamed with Scott Andrews for a second-place finish.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1406]
The No. 19 Aston Martin missed the Saturday morning session of the three-day IMSA-sanctioned test, but got up to speed quickly, with Hasse-Clot setting the third quickest GTD time in the Saturday night session.
Maxime Robin, van der Steur, Eric Filgueiras and Brady Behrman also ran laps in the car over the course of the weekend, with Robin running P3 in the first Sunday session. The team’s full 2025 driver lineup has not been finalized.
“It’s obviously a huge move for the team, and for my teammate Rory, who is discovering everything about GT3,” commented Hasse-Clot during the test. “They made the right decision by hiring people from the Aston Martin Racing (AMR) factory, so it’s going to be a smooth transition, I think. We’re all here to support them in this move.
“I’m feeling good,” he continued. “I’m very familiar with the car and the mechanics and engineers and everyone around the team. Saturday was our first roll-out with the car and with the IMSA systems on board the car, and we’ve sorted everything. All positive!”
Brandon Badraoui/Lumen
Fast start for Iron Dames Porsche
While there were other highlights, a sixth-place GTD class finish in the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona remained the best result of the 2024 season for the all-female Iron Dames program in the No. 83 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2.
For 2025, the pink Iron Dames livery and the No. 83 stay the same, but the driver lineup is evolving and the team has opted to trade the Lamborghini for a Porsche 911 GT3 R (992). It’s a homecoming of sorts, because Rahel Frey, Michelle Gatting and Sarah Bovy drove a similar Porsche to a historic first all-female win at the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship finale in Bahrain.
“Clearly we had a difficult year in 2024, so we chose to look for more reliability, for more consistency, and we found a partner within Porsche,” said Frey. “We already had some experience with that brand in Europe and thought it would be a nice idea to also make the move to Porsche for IMSA in 2025. We very much look forward to that.”
The 2025 Iron Dames WeatherTech Championship lineup is yet to be announced, but Frey was in the car for the test along with Karen Gaillard and team co-owner Claudio Schiavoni. Matteo Cressoni, a driver and engineering advisor for the related Iron Lynx organization, also drove the No. 83 Porsche at Daytona and set the second fastest GTD time of the week on Sunday afternoon.
Frey was pleased coming off her track time at Daytona.
“Whenever we jump in the car it gives us a smile, so we love the car very much,” she said. “The test for us was very positive, so I can’t wait to get it started in January.”
Michael Levitt/Lumen
New horizons for DXDT
DXDT Racing has plenty of experience with the Corvette Z06 GT3.R. The North Carolina-based team was the first to earn a major victory with the new-for-2024 GT3 version of the iconic American sports car.
This year, DXDT is tackling a new challenge by competing full-time in the WeatherTech Championship’s GTD class. With the 2025 driver lineup not yet announced, those at the test sharing seat time in the No. 36 Corvette were Alec Udell – who competed with the team this past season in GT World Challenge America – Salih Yoluc, Corvette factory driver Charlie Eastwood, and two-time IMSA champion and GM driver Pipo Derani.
Udell is looking forward to his first full season in the WeatherTech Championship.
“IMSA has the highest competition in the U.S. for any form of sports car racing,” he said. “The level of operations, the team strategy and all the execution … you have to be perfect. There’s no wiggle room with the packed fields. The events bring in a ton of fans and are really a show. It’s a fantastic place to race.
“We’ve had the goal of getting everything to gel together and building momentum to grow this program,” he added. “The focus was always to build up to the IMSA championship.”
The DXDT Corvette completed 343 laps over the course of two days at Daytona.
“Everything is coming together smoothly,” Udell reported. “We’re bringing a lot of talented minds together and I think that’s what it takes to have a successful program.”
The 2025 WeatherTech Championship season opens with the annual Roar Before the Rolex 24, January 17-19, leading into the Rolex 24 At Daytona, January 23-26.
Toyota Gazoo Racing has locked out the front row for the 2024 FIA WEC 6 Hours of São Paulo after a dominant performance in Hypercar Hyperpole from the pair of GR010 HYBRIDs. The quickest of the two was the No. 7, with Kamui Kobayashi scoring the …
Toyota Gazoo Racing has locked out the front row for the 2024 FIA WEC 6 Hours of São Paulo after a dominant performance in Hypercar Hyperpole from the pair of GR010 HYBRIDs.
The quickest of the two was the No. 7, with Kamui Kobayashi scoring the Japanese brand its first pole of the season with a 1m23.140s set with 3.5m remaining.
The other nine drivers in the final shootout pushed hard to better that lap on their final flyers but lost chunks of time in the tight, twisty second sector as the peak performance from the tires faded.
Sebastien Buemi would come close in the sister car, but the Swiss could only manage a 1m23.262s to claim second spot on the grid.
“We got the best possible result as a team,” Kobayashi said. “Me and Seb certainly enjoyed it today. We had an amazing car, and it was fun to drive, especially because Interlagos is such a great track. We have struggled a bit in qualifying at times this season because the competition is really strong, but finally we have a pole position which is a fantastic feeling. After Le Mans, the team made a big effort for this race.”
Row two for Sunday’s race will be occupied by the No. 5 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 driven by Matt Campbell and the Cadillac V-Series.R steered by Alex Lynn.
The second factory Porsche — the championship leader — took fifth alongside the Le Mans-winning No. 50 Ferrari that ended up 0.4s off pole with Antonio Fuoco at the controls.
Both JOTA Porsches will start seventh and eighth, while the No. 51 Ferrari will line up ninth in front of the No. 20 WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 that could only manage 10th.
It was a tough qualifying session for the French manufacturers. Neither Alpine nor Peugeot got a car into the top 10 during qualifying, with the No. 36 A424 coming closest, qualifying 11th after missing out by under 0.2s.
The No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari also didn’t get in and will start 15th behind the No. 15 WRT BMW that, unlike the sister car, was unable to sneak into the top 10.
JEP/Motorsport Images
LMGT3 saw Sarah Bovy and Iron Dames storm to pole position for the second time this season
The Belgian, who topped qualifying to set the Hyperpole field, set a blistering 1m34.413s in the final shootout to get the better of the two United McLarens and the Pure Rxcing Porsche which found themselves in contention for pole.
The time was just shy of 0.4s up on the Pure Rxcing 911, which will start alongside the No. 85 Lamborghini on the front row after multiple improvements during the Hyperpole session from Alex Malykhin.
“Taking pole at Sao Paulo feels different because it is a track synonymous with Ayrton Senna,” Bovy said. “I’m a bit emotional right now because this is very special. Thank you very much to the entire team for giving me a great car again and I can’t wait go racing tomorrow.”
Row two on the grid will be occupied by the two United McLaren GT3 Evos, with Josh Caygill putting the No. 95 third and James Cottingham putting the No. 59 fourth with times under 0.5s off pole.
Fifth was the Manthey EMA Porsche, which is joint top in the championship standings and is carrying the most success ballast this weekend.
The No. 31 Team WRT BMW M4 LMGT3, another car in contention for the title, will start sixth.
Only nine cars set times in the Hyperpole for the LMGT3 category, as Thomas Flohr in the No. 54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari was forced to park up early for causing a red flag.
Flohr had a spin at Turn 5 on cold tires at the start of the session, avoided the advertising boards on the apex, but ended up stranded on the apex, bringing the session to a halt with 8m remaining. The No. 54 will start 10th as a result.
Ahead of Hyperpole for the GT3 cars, a couple of key cars failed to make the cut in the first qualifying session. The No. 77 Proton Competition Mustang and No. 46 WRT BMW ended up 11th and 12th after Ryan Hardwick and Ahmad Al Harthy’s efforts respectively.
Christian Ried on his return to the cockpit ended up 17th in the No. 88 Proton Mustang.
Sunday’s race is set to start at 11:30 a.m. local time in Brazil.
Iron Dames driver Doriane Pin has been forced to withdraw from next month’s Le Mans 24 Hours after suffering broken ribs in an incident during the Formula Regional round at Spa-Francorchamps last weekend. “After further medical checks, we found out …
Iron Dames driver Doriane Pin has been forced to withdraw from next month’s Le Mans 24 Hours after suffering broken ribs in an incident during the Formula Regional round at Spa-Francorchamps last weekend.
“After further medical checks, we found out that I have fractured ribs,” the 20-year-old Frenchwoman said. “Obviously it means that I need time to heal, so we have made the difficult decision with the team not to race the 24 Hours of Le Mans or the FRECA races in Zandvoort.
“This decision is tough and sad, especially since Le Mans is one of the biggest races of the year and for me it’s a very special one. I was looking forward to driving there and share that week with all of you and of course my team. But, I need to do what is best for myself and the Iron Dames.”
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1416]
In Pin’s absence, team regular Rahel Frey will step in to race the No. 85 LMGT3 class Lamborghini Huracan to race with Sarah Bovy and Michelle Gatting at Le Mans. This adds to Frey’s surprise 2024 WEC program with the team, which began at Spa after she was drafted in to sub for Pin who signed a late deal to compete in Formula Regional.
Frey will now complete the WEC season with the Iron Dames, after she was previously confirmed for the races at Interlagos, COTA, Fuji and Bahrain. It will be her seventh Le Mans start and her fifth with the Iron Dames/Iron Lynx program.
Swiss racer Rahel Frey is set to return to the Iron Dames FIA WEC driver lineup for a partial season in LMGT3, following today’s news that Doriane Pin will compete in the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine single-seater series this …
Swiss racer Rahel Frey is set to return to the Iron Dames FIA WEC driver lineup for a partial season in LMGT3, following today’s news that Doriane Pin will compete in the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine single-seater series this year.
Due to Pin’s commitments with FRECA, Frey will join Sarah Bovy and Michelle Gatting aboard the team’s Lamborghini Huracan LMGT3 for five of the remaining seven races, adding to her ELMS LMGT3 program in the Iron Dames Porsche.
“I will rejoin Sarah and Michelle for the WEC in 2024 starting with the six hours at Spa, then after Le Mans I will be with them in Sao Paulo, Austin, Fuji and Bahrain,” she said. “I can’t wait to get back in the car and wish Doriane all the best for her new commitments.”
As part of the reveal, Frey also teased a further piece of news to come regarding Pin’s future in the sport. “Stay tuned for Dori!” she said.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1416]
20-year-old Pin meanwhile, will race as part of the championship’s first all-female lineup, operated by Iron Dames, alongside Spaniard Marta Garcia. This adds to her single-seater program in the F1 Academy series.
While Pin will miss five races this season, she will compete this weekend at Imola and return to the Iron Dames lineup for Le Mans.
“I feel grateful for this opportunity to participate in such a championship. I’m fully committed to this new challenge and can’t wait to be on track and make the most of it,” Pin said. “It’s fantastic to take another important step in single-seater racing together with Iron Dames and Mercedes. Together with Marta, we aim to inspire young girls around the world to pursue their dreams fearlessly and embrace opportunities in racing.”
Twelve years on from the inaugural FIA World Endurance Championship race back in 2012, so much has changed. The prototypes and GT cars look and sound different and there are more major brands throwing resources at it than ever before. But you could …
Twelve years on from the inaugural FIA World Endurance Championship race back in 2012, so much has changed. The prototypes and GT cars look and sound different and there are more major brands throwing resources at it than ever before.
But you could argue that one of the most impactful changes concerns the personalities in the paddock. At the end of the 2023 season, when the Iron Dames Porsche won the last ever GTE race with an all-female crewed 911 RSR 19, there was, quite rightly, plenty of buzz about the significance of the result. It wasn’t just the first time that an all-female crewed car had won a WEC race, it was the first time the feat was achieved in a WEC circuit race too.
Iron Dames Bahrain winners Sarah Bovy, Michelle Gatting, Rahel Frey were backed up by an all-female crew, too. Motorsport Images
Reflecting on that result as I toured the paddock in Qatar at the outset of what is recognized as Women’s History Month in the United States, it got me thinking in a wider sense about the level of female representation in the WEC, because it stretches far beyond the drivers listed on the entry. There are women in race control, on marshal posts, in the press room and in the garages, working at every level. This wasn’t always the case.
Crucially, this is a change that has occurred naturally. It hasn’t happened via regulation, or in response to protests or outside pressure. Instead, this has happened because the paddock is a meritocracy and everyone in it has earned their place. It’s a significantly more diverse place of work than it was 12 years ago and it continues to evolve by the season.
Yes, the grid is the healthiest it’s ever been, with awesome machinery and a calendar full of world-class circuits. But the WEC — which, like most motorsport championships worldwide, is male-dominated behind the scenes — has matured on a human level, and that’s something that should be celebrated.
So with that in mind, it feels like the right time to tell some of the incredible background stories from a selection of the prominent women in the paddock.
But before I do, I’ll say this: This is a topic that for better or worse hasn’t been easy to write about in 2024. In fact, this story has been written, scrapped, and written again, then pulled apart and written a third time. In the world we now live in, many see it as a sensitive topic. It wouldn’t be difficult to stray into fanning the flames of a culture war that none of us need in motorsport or come across as patronizing. Finding the correct tone to do this justice is vital.
Of the five women I spoke to while gathering content for the story, there were differences in opinion and a level of skepticism in places. But to me, this is a subject that deserves to be written about, because genuinely, the World Endurance Championship is a better place to be because of its diverse cast of characters. These stories are worth telling not simply because they are from women, but because their routes to the WEC are fascinating.
So, as a very real example, let’s take a look at General Motors’ effort, with three cars across both 2024 classes and two operations representing Cadillac (Chip Ganassi Racing) and Corvette (TF Sport). Within this group, there are 10 key women, working across a variety of roles and they all have a story to tell.
Among them, Laura Wontrop Klauser (pictured in light blue at top of page), the GM sports car racing program manager who grew up on a farm in Maryland, is perhaps the most recognizable face to the WEC’s fan base. She leads the way, having worked her way up GM’s corporate ladder.
“I’m a mechanical engineer by education and when I was in college I had the really cool opportunity to be part of my team’s Formula SAE team, which is what got me interested in motorsports,” she tells RACER. “Before that, I just knew I wanted to work as an engineer and work with cars. Growing up in Maryland, I knew that my life was going to take me to Michigan, so I chased it. And Formula SAE was something I fell in love with, building a car and competing. I loved the process of building the car and being a part of the competition, getting instant feedback. It’s the highlight of my college time.”
Laura Wontrop Klauser has worked her way up the GM Racing ladder, overseeing multiple programs. GM Racing photo
After her studies concluded, she got the call from GM in 2008 to become an engineer, where she spent eight years on the production side, working on the Corvette C7 among other things before finding her way into the motorsports division.
“It was a small group when I came into it. It was just the program management positions available. And since I became a part of it my love for it has grown.
“I’ve always been fascinated by how things work,” she explains. “Everyone in America needs a car unless you live in a place like New York with good public transport. So it’s a symbol of freedom to own a car and your own destiny.”
After joining the motorsport division, Wontrop Klauser started on the Cadillac ATS V.R GT3 World Challenge program before moving into endurance racing with the Cadillac DPi effort. Now, as we move into this new GTP/Hypercar era, she’s pushing to take GM to new heights in sports car racing, winning IMSA titles, targeting WEC titles and looking to score Cadillac its first overall win at the Le Mans 24 Hours.
“I started growing the program. I added the Camaro GT4 program and then in 2021 added Corvette to my role, and from there we began working on LMDh, the GT3 program. There has been huge growth.
“I’ve been lucky in my position. I sit in an area of authority with the budget, working with teams. I’ve loved everyone that I’ve worked with. The respect is given and received.”
Bianca Janas has moved from feeding the race crews to feeding the race cars. Richard Prince/Cadillac photo.
Meanwhile, in Cadillac’s garage, Bianca Janas holds the position of fueler. Remarkably, she joins the WEC having served as a truckie for Ferrari’s Formula 1 team and a caterer at race events.
“I actually started in motorsport doing catering in DTM, and I did that for a decade before moving to do catering in WEC and Formula E for a few years,” she relates. “But I wanted more than that, so I found a job doing the tires last year and I obtained a truck license, which led me to pursue driving trucks in Formula 1. That gave me lots of opportunities.
“I did the European F1 races, but I was there for setup and packup, so I missed the race days, which I didn’t like. I always liked the logistics, though, and being part of a team is so different.
“That’s when I found a way to the Cadillac program. I’m new to the team but I have plenty of responsibilities. I am a garage technician as well as a refueller and do a little bit of everything. I enjoy the high level of performance and pressure.”
Janas works alongside Elise Moury, who is the No. 2 car’s strategy engineer and brings a wealth of motorsport experience to the program. Her route to the WEC began in GT racing, working with Team WRT in Blancpain GT, before moving to single-seaters, where she spent the bulk of my time in GP2 with Russian Time and Prema.
“But after a while,” she tells RACER, “I had a crazy idea with my husband to start a race team. We started that journey in 2018 with a team in Formula Renault. That’s stopped now, as I’ve moved into working at the Nurburgring around the 24 Hours, working as a data engineer, performance engineer, and team manager.
“But now my job has changed and I do the strategy for Cadillac, through previous experience working with Earl Bamber (who drives for Cadillac in the WEC). It’s been quite a journey, as initially when I was young I wanted to be a chemist, but I was really good at mechanical engineering and I had a teacher who motivated me to pursue an internship, which I did with Sebastien Loeb Racing in the ELMS. It’s an illness — once you’re in you can’t escape.”
If the racing bug is an illness, Cadillac race strategist Elise Moury is happy to be sick. Richard Prince/Cadillac photo.
As a strategist, her work now sees her prepare for each race ahead of travelling and working up reports after each session.
“A lot of my work is analysis before a race weekend — on pace, tire degradation, fuel consumption — before validating it when we get on track. It requires a lot of communication with key members of the team.
“During the race, it’s more exciting, as I’m working under pressure and I need to be prepared for any situation so we can react quickly. It’s all about experience and working out what we can do to improve.”
The driver roster for Iron Lynx’s FIA World Endurance Championship effort in 2024 is beginning to take shape, after four names were confirmed this morning in the wake of the series’ provisional full-season entry list being revealed. In Hypercar, …
The driver roster for Iron Lynx’s FIA World Endurance Championship effort in 2024 is beginning to take shape, after four names were confirmed this morning in the wake of the series’ provisional full-season entry list being revealed.
In Hypercar, Mirko Bortolotti will race alongside Daniil Kvyat in the No. 63 Lamborghini SC63 LMDh prototype (pictured above). The pair have been confirmed for the WEC program after playing a key role in the development of the SC63, which has been track testing since the summer ahead of its global race debut in 2024.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1416]
Both drivers were previously announced as Squadra Corse factory drivers for the LMDh program, though it wasn’t clear which championship they would compete in, as Iron Lynx will also undertake a partial IMSA Endurance Cup campaign next year in GTP with an SC63.
33-year-old Italian Bortolotti joins the WEC’s top class with Iron Lynx following a lengthy spell as a Lamborghini driver that dates back to 2014. Kvyat, meanwhile, was welcomed into the project by Lamborghini earlier this year and competed as part of PREMA’s 2023 FIA WEC LMP2 campaign. The 29-year-old has 110 Formula 1 starts to his name.
Elsewhere, long-time Lamborghini driver, Andrea Caldarelli has also been confirmed for the 2024 season, though he will concentrate on the brand’s partial 2024 IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup campaign in GTP.
In addition to confirming the roles of three of its prototype drivers, Iron Lynx has also confirmed that the SC63 will take part in the IMSA test at Daytona next month in what will be the car’s first official appearance in North America.
However, Iron Lynx will sit out the 2024 Rolex 24 At Daytona as the SC63’s development and homologation processes reach their final stages. The target for the car’s race debut is the opening round of the ]WEC season in Qatar on March 2.
“Today’s announcement is particularly significant,” said Iron Lynx team principal and CEO Andrea Piccini. “Having the first names allocated to our roster brings us closer to our 2024 debut, and marks a new phase in the development of this project.
“We already worked with Mirko, Daniil and Andrea this year, and we were impressed by their skills, experience, and professionalism. I cannot wait to reveal our full line-ups and see where the future will bring us.”
Iron Lynx also received confirmation this morning that it will represent Lamborghini in the WEC’s new LMGT3 class, with a pair of Huracan GT3 EVO 2s.
Two drivers have been confirmed thus far, with Claudio Schiavoni set to race the No. 60 Iron Lynx-entered Huracan and Danish racer Michelle Gatting signed to form part of the “Iron Dames” trio that will race with No. 85. Gatting was part of the winning Iron Dames lineup in the 8 Hours of Bahrain earlier this month in GTE Am, which was the first in an FIA world championship for an all-female crewed car.
The GTE ruleset in the FIA WEC produced countless standout performances from world-class drivers, hundreds of hours of door-to-door action and a slew of unforgettable moments since the championship’s inaugural season in 2012. It was, therefore, …
The GTE ruleset in the FIA WEC produced countless standout performances from world-class drivers, hundreds of hours of door-to-door action and a slew of unforgettable moments since the championship’s inaugural season in 2012.
It was, therefore, fitting that last night’s finale for the category in Bahrain produced great racing, but also a historic result. The win for the Iron Dames Porsche, driven faultlessly by Sarah Bovy, Rahel Frey, and Michelle Gatting will go down in history, as the trio became the first all-female class-winning crew in an FIA World Championship.
“It was emotional and intense,” Rahel Frey told RACER. “Because like Sarah always says, I think it’s easier when you’re in the car because then you’re in control of what you’re doing.
“When you’re watching the last stint from the other side, you are out of control. And being out of control is not a strength of any driver. But in the end, we trusted each other, we can rely on each other. I can just say, I’m very proud of all of us, we did not crack under pressure. And this makes me very happy.”
The final hour of the race produced real tension. When the Porsche on the other side of the Dames garage from Iron Lynx was forced into retirement from the lead, as Bronze-rated Claudio Schiavoni was not well enough to race, it was game on for the Iron Dames, who inherited first position.
This left Michelle Gatting in the final two hours to hold off a fast-charging D’Station Racing Aston Martin. Casper Stevenson, in the Aston Martin at the end, reeled in the Dane, but couldn’t get close enough to make a move. His efforts in closing the gap resulted in a drop-off in performance caused by worn tires and brakes.
“Going into my first stint I heard the gap was around 15 to 18 seconds,” Gatting told RACER. “I thought going into the last stint it would be more or less the same. But unfortunately, it went from 18 seconds to 1.6 in a split second, at least that’s the way it seemed. I was like “Is that him?!!” and then he was in my mirrors. I wondered “Whoa, where did he come from?”
Sarah Bovy, Michelle Gatting, and Rahel Frey are the first all-female class-winning crew in an FIA World Championship
“He was really pushing to catch me,” she continued. “And at one point, I was maybe a little bit too calm in the car because I wanted to avoid killing my tires too early. But to be honest, when I saw that he was very close I also knew there would be a drop off for him. So when the gap was around 1.6 seconds, I started to push a bit more and he got a bit unlucky with traffic.
“And you know, in the end, I felt that I was more or less always in control of managing the gap to him.”
The Iron Dames team hopes the result, which comes at the end of a season which included a standout GTE Am win for young Frenchwoman Lilou Wadoux in the Richard Mille AF Corse-Ferrari at Spa, will inspire more women to pursue careers in motorsport in the future.
“I think this shows the female strength,” Frey said to RACER. “And we know that we have a very strong female crew also behind us. Clearly, the drivers are always in the spotlight. But it’s not only about the drivers. We have strong females around us who put us there. We have our leading Dame Deborah Meyer, she really believes in us and she keeps pushing the project.
“Clearly in the future, we also focus on the young ones to bring more Dames up. Because we need more we need more of us. We are proud and we need to pass the experience to others.
“We keep pushing, we keep working hard, I think we can still prove that we are one of the fastest out there. And this is exactly what we want. We want to show how performant or competitive you are to keep inspiring the next generation.”
This victory for the Dames comes six years after the project began back in 2017. And it adds to a growing list of accomplishments which includes a standout ELMS GTE win in its final race with the Ferrari 488 GTE EVO at Paul Ricard and a historic Gold Cup class victory at the Spa 24 Hours last year.
Yet yesterday’s triumph still felt like the beginning of something special for the Iron Dames team and initiative in sportscar racing. Next year Iron Dames is expected to return in LMGT3 with a Lamborghini Huracan GT3, and right now the sky, it would seem, is the limit.
“We just kept fighting for it,” concluded Bovy. “And that’s what Iron Dames do, even when it seems impossible, we just go for it and see what happens.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing’s No. 8 GR010 HYBRID scored a dominant 8 Hours of Bahrain victory Saturday evening from pole position, bringing another highly successful FIA WEC season for the Japanese-flagged team to a close. With their second win of the …
Toyota Gazoo Racing’s No. 8 GR010 HYBRID scored a dominant 8 Hours of Bahrain victory Saturday evening from pole position, bringing another highly successful FIA WEC season for the Japanese-flagged team to a close.
With their second win of the season, Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa claimed the 2023 Hypercar World Endurance drivers’ championship, taking the manufacturer’s 45th all-time win as well as six victories from seven races in 2023 for the Cologne-based program.
Behind, the No. 7 sister Toyota came home second to make it a 1-2. It was a hard-fought podium for the No. 7 crew after a superb comeback drive early in the race.
Mike Conway was hit from behind by Cadillac’s Earl Bamber on the entry of Turn 1 at the start, which turned the Toyota around, dropping it to the back of the pack. “Everyone trying to win it in the first corner isn’t working well,” Conway said later.
Bamber explained after the race that he wasn’t trying to make an ambitious lunge.
“I was actually not trying to pass anyone; I was just braking,” he said. “Then, in the middle of the brake zone, both front tires just locked up. I tried to avoid the left-hand side bit just clapped the Toyota. I feel bad we affected their race and we obviously affected our own.”
The Briton had a mountain to climb but put his head down and steered the No. 7 to third in the opening hour. Kamui Kobayashi then took second off the No. 51 Ferrari 499P of James Calado at Turn 1 with just under six hours to go.
From there, the No. 7’s run to the front stalled, with Hartley, Hirakawa and Buemi at the end managing the gap back to the sister car. The winning margin was 47s after eight hours.
“It has been an amazing year,” Hartley said. “I am really proud to be part of the No. 8 crew and this Toyota Gazoo Racing team. Thanks to everyone for a fantastic season. We have had some fierce battles with car No. 7 and the other Hypercar competitors all year and today was no different. There were times when we were not the fastest car on the track so we were really pushing. Seb had the most stressful part of the race today, getting through the first corner cleanly but he and Ryo did a great job. Becoming a four-time world champion is probably going to take a while to sink in, but it sounds really nice.”
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1416]
The No. 7’s season featured many highs, including wins at Sebring, Spa, Monza and Fuji to keep Conway, Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez in the hunt for the drivers’ title and help ensure Toyota claimed the manufacturers’ crown on home soil. But the No. 7’s woes at Portimao and retirement at Le Mans proved extremely costly and ultimately prevented them from beating the sister car to the title.
Elsewhere, both Ferraris were mathematically in the title hunt for today’s finale, but for either crew to win, they needed both Toyotas to hit major trouble.
Neither 499P had the outright pace on this occasion and, instead, found themselves fighting for third with the Hertz Team JOTA Porsche and each other for much of the race. Frustrations did eventually boil over at Ferrari in the second half, too, when Alessandro Pier Guidi and Antonio Fuoco made contact more than once after the sixth round of stops.
As for JOTA, its privately run Porsche 963 produced arguably the standout performance of the race en route to an impressive fourth-place finish for the British team, after herculean performances from Will Stevens, Yifei Ye and Antonio Felix da Costa.
Culminating after hours of fighting, Stevens crossed the line under a second behind Fuoco, who secured the final podium spot in the No. 50. The sister 499P came home sixth behind the No. 6 Penske Porsche.
A fifth-place finish for the No. 6 came on a day when neither Penske Porsche 963, nor the Proton example, featured in the battle for a place on the podium.. It was a quiet outing for both Peugeot 9X8s and the Cadillac V-Series.R, too. Cadillac Racing’s 11th-place finish in particular will come as a huge disappointment for all involved after showing so much promise pre-race.
The car started third after Alex Lynn’s Qualifying heroics but had to serve a 90s stop and hold for hitting the No. 7 at Turn 1. With no safety car periods during the eight hours, the team couldn’t find a way back into the race.
Team WRT dominated LMP2. Motorsport Images
In LMP2, Team WRT’s No. 41 ORECA of Rui Andrade, Robert Kubica and Louis Deletraz comfortably won the drivers’ and teams’ titles with a win from 10th on the grid. It was a metronomic run from the trio to the finish, while their title rivals from United Autosports and Inter Europol endured tough outings, punctuated by setbacks in the first half of the race.
United’s No. 22 ORECA was handed a punishing 90s stop and hold for hitting the Vanwall at the exit of Turn 1 at the start, while Inter Europol’s car lost chunks of time to a technical hiccup which forced Albert Costa to stop twice and complete power cycles.
This made it a relatively comfortable run to the flag for WRT’s title-winning crew in the final outing for LMP2 as a full-season WEC category. The No. 22 finished ninth, while the Inter Europol Gibson-powered ORECA took sixth. With a lead of over 30 points before the race, it was always going to be a long shot for either United or Inter Europol to clinch the title anyway.
Behind the No. 41 WRT, the sister No. 31 car took second making it a 1-2 for the Belgian team that is set to graduate to Hypercar with BMW next year. It was a heartbreaking final hour for Sean Gelael, Ferdinand Habsburg and Robin Frijns, though. The trio didn’t put a foot wrong and lost the lead after an issue at its final stop. The No. 28 JOTA ORECA finished the night in third.
It was a day to forget for Vector Sport’s ORECA and the No. 23 United ORECA. Both had their races ruined by 90s stop-and-go penalties for running with tyre pressures below the stated limit early in the race and “gaining a huge advantage.”
Both cars were leading at the time the decisions from race control came through. Vector’s car eventually retired in the final hour with a suspected throttle sensor issue, while the No. 23 came home eighth.
The Iron Dames claimed the last ever GTE victory. Motorsport Images
The final ever GTE victory, meanwhile, went the way of the Iron Dames Porsche after a highly-entertaining eight-hour battle for the 13 cars present for the category’s swansong. It was a hugely significant result for the program and the championship, as Rahel Frey, Sarah Bovy and Michelle Gatting’s performance secured the first-ever WEC class win for an all-female crew.
With the titles wrapped up by Corvette Racing in Monza, this was a straight fight with the pressure of a championship battle lifted. The gloves were off, and the category signed off its stint in the WEC, which dates back to the inaugural season in 2012, with a memorable encounter.
The D’Station Racing Aston Martin took second and Casper Stevenson was unable to catch and pass Gatting in the final hour. The No. 98 Northwest AMR Vantage made it a double-podium for the British manufacturer with a third-place finish.
“The final stint was pressured and stressful for me inside the car, but in the end, the feedback I was getting from our engineer helped made me stay calm,” Gatting said after the win. “At one point I could really see the No. 777 Aston Martin was very close. I pushed a bit more to increase the gap a bit, and in the end with the traffic I managed to increase the gap even more and feel pretty in control.
“To be honest, I just enjoyed the last ride in this car. It’s been an absolute pleasure having the opportunity to drive the Porsche this year. Finally getting this win is something we’ve wanted to achieve for a long time, and it’s quite emotional for all of us. This is what exactly what we want to achieve; we want to prove that we can compete on exactly the same terms as everybody else and we are here to win races.”
For much of the race, Iron Lynx’s No. 60 Porsche led the way, after monster stints from Matteo Cressoni and later Alessio Picariello. Sadly, though, the car had to be parked with 2h20m remaining as the team’s Bronze driver, Claudio Schivaoni, was not well enough to drive.
By regulation, the Bronze driver in each car must complete 2h20m during an eight-hour race. Thus, the team switched its driver order and held out as long as possible, but Schavoni felt unable to climb in for the end and the team parked the car early.
The GTE Am championship winners, in Corvette Racng’s final race as a factory with the C8.R, had an uncharacteristically forgettable run to seventh, but nevertheless enjoyed the final chapter of a spectacular season for the program.
History was made in the first FIA World Endurance Championship qualifying session of the season, as AF Corse’s No. 50 Ferrari 499P snatched pole position for tomorrow’s 1000 Miles of Sebring. A stunning performance from Antonio Fuoco means the …
History was made in the first FIA World Endurance Championship qualifying session of the season, as AF Corse’s No. 50 Ferrari 499P snatched pole position for tomorrow’s 1000 Miles of Sebring.
A stunning performance from Antonio Fuoco means the Italian brand will lead the field across the line at the start for its first race in the Hypercar category and its first top-class sports car race for 50 years.
Fuoco’s 1m45.067s with the sun setting over the pit straight stunned the Toyota personnel behind the pit wall, who would have been confident of securing pole position after setting the pace in the Prologue test and Free Practice.
The Italian’s lap was by far the quickest time of the meeting so far, and means AF Corse has become the first team to score pole position in each FIA WEC category.
— FIA World Endurance Championship (@FIAWEC) March 16, 2023
“I feel really good at the moment, I want to thank the guys,” said Fuoco. “Getting pole for Ferrari after 50 years is amazing. The team has done an amazing job — we are putting everything together.
“It was quite difficult because the sun was setting, and visibility was low in the final corners. The car felt really nice though. It’s good to start from a nice position.
“The key tomorrow will be managing tires — we will try to do our best in our first experience. We are really motivated and will do our best.”
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1416]
The best a Toyota could muster was a 1m45.281s from Brendon Hartley in the No. 8, two-tenths off the pole time. The No. 7 of Kamui Kobayashi ended up third, almost half a second adrift.
“Today we did our best but Ferrari was a bit quicker in qualifying; they did a great job,” conceded Kobayashi. “We knew they were competitive after the Prologue and free practice sessions, and everyone could see their performance in qualifying. We are definitely part of a fight, and I am enjoying it.
“We have worked hard over the past days to get our cars set up for the race, because obviously this is endurance racing so Friday is the most important day for us. I think we have prepared well and we’re in a promising starting position so we have a great chance. It is going to be an exciting race.”
The sister No. 51 AF Corse 499P slotted in fourth and was the final car to set a time under 1m46s, Alessandro Pier Guidi managing a 1m45.874s after regrouping from an early error, kicking up the dust at the exit of Turn 1.
Best of the rest was the Cadillac Racing V-Series.R following a 1m46.082s from Alex Lynn who secured a top-five spot on the grid for Cadillac’s debut race as a WEC manufacturer.
It was a tough session for Porsche and Peugeot. The No. 6 was the fastest of the two 963s, Kevin Estre setting a lap time two seconds off.
Loic Duval was the fastest driver for Peugeot. The French team’s struggles for speed continued here after a lackluster showing since arriving in Florida, its two 9X8s 2.3 and 3.1 seconds off the pace.
Glickenhaus and Vanwall were also nowhere on pace, both non-hybrid LMHs over four seconds back.
In the LMP2 class, it was Oliver Jarvis who snatched pole position. The Briton in the No. 23 United Autosports ORECA overcame challenges from JOTA, WRT and Alpine and set the fastest time, which was a 1m49.974s.
“I wouldn’t say it was a perfect lap, there was a bit left on the table, but I am really pleased with the lap we got. Delighted to start on pole after a great week of running,” Jarvis said.
His time was just 0.093s quicker than the No. 28 JOTA ORECA of Pietro Fittipaldi, who sat atop the timing screens briefly before Jarvis responded with his flyer with five minutes to go.
Robin Frijns, who told DailySportsCar the team had been struggling with the setup and balance of the No. 31 prior to the session, ended up third. It was a strong performance from Frijns here, to give the Belgian team a spot on row two. A late improvement from Matthieu Vaxiviere put the No. 36 Alpine fourth.
Sarah Bovy saw off the challenge from Ben Keating to take GTE AM pole with the Iron Dames Porsche. JEP/Motorsports Images
The first of the three sessions saw the Bronze-rated drivers battle it out in GTE AM.
After a thrilling 15 minutes, it was Iron Dames’ Porsche 911 RSR 19 that emerged as the polesitter. It was achieved after a superb performance in the first qualifying session of the season from Sarah Bovy.
It was a shootout between Bovy and Corvette Racing’s Ben Keating after their tires got up to temperature, Bovy setting the best time and with two minutes to go, a 1m58.949s. After multiple improvements by both drivers throughout the session, the pair trading the provisional pole position, her time bettered Keating’s best effort in the C8.R by four-tenths.
“It’s amazing, Sarah is doing very well,” said Bovy’s teammate Rahel Frey. “She loves it, but the time to celebrate is tomorrow.”
Third in the running was the ORT by TF Aston Martin, which made it three makes in the top three.
Ahmad Al Harthy, in his first WEC qualifying session will be full of confidence ahead of his world championship race debut tomorrow. It also marked a significant improvement for the Vantages, which had struggled to find pace until today’s track action.
Making it four in the top four, in fourth, was Luis Perez Companc in the Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari.
UP NEXT: Friday’s 1000 Miles of Sebring is set to get underway at 12:00pm local time.
