Iron Dames take first WEC victory in Bahrain
The Iron Dames made yet more history during the 8 Hours of Bahrain as the team of Michelle Gatting, Sarah Bovy and Rahel Frey became the first all-female team to win a race in the World Endurance Championship.
It caps off a season that saw the pink Porsche come tantalisingly close to a podium at Le Mans, and score consistently enough throughout the season to finish as runner-up in the LMGTE Am standings.
As if the point still needed proving, the Iron Dames have established themselves as worthy competitors in the WEC field, and have cemented themselves among very best outfits in the GT class.
Iron Dames qualified on pole position for the final race of the season, and managed to hold off pressure from behind to lead from the front and take a famous win.
Speaking after the race, Gatting said: “I just enjoyed the last ride in this car. It's been an absolute pleasure having the opportunity to drive the Porsche this year and finally getting this win.
“It's been something we wanted to achieve for a long time and finally to get it for the last race, it's something that is quite emotional for all of us.
“I'm very proud of the whole team of this project. This is exactly what we want to achieve and we want to prove that we can compete on exactly the same level as everybody else and we are here to win races.”
Bovy added: “I'm so proud of everybody. We have been working really hard for this and it's finally there and I think the way was long but we are super happy to be here tonight.
Meanwhile Frey was philosophical in the aftermath of their success: “To see that we can win races with the Iron Dames on the highest level of GT racing makes me very proud.
“I keep passing my experience to the younger generation, there are younger Iron Dames coming up. This is also something that we focus on for the future.”
Iron Dames was founded in 2019 by the Iron Lynx racing team, which will work with Lamborghini to help run its LMDh programme in 2024. The new partnership will see the SC63 entered into the Hypercar class in the WEC and the GTP class in the IMSA Sportscar Championship.
Gatting, Bovy and Frey raced a Porsche 911 RSR-19 during the 2023 WEC season, but it remains to be seen whether they will also make the change to the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2, as the new era of GT3 regulations move in to replace the outgoing GTE cars. Will we yet see a pink Lamborghini Hypercar lining up on the grid at Le Mans?
Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.
WEC
8 Hours of Bahrain
Iron Dames
Porsche
Sarah Bovey
Michelle Gatting
Rahel Frey
Race
Modern
