Iron Dames' rising star Doriane Pin clinched pole position at debut in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo - with also Michelle Gatting starting from the top five in tomorrow's races at Portimao.
To anyone that had the pleasure of following Doriane Pin's career so far, this might sound quite the norm - but the reality is that what the 18 year-old Frenchwoman did in Thursday's qualifying at Circuito do Algarve, Portugal, is highly remarkable even for Dorian Pin's standards.
With the groundbreaking Iron Dames project undergoing significant changes in the 2023 season - and after their most successful year since the program inception, including a class win at the 24 Hours of Spa and the first GTE win at the 4H of Portimao in ELMS - the all-female squad announced to have entered the final round of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo at Portimao, in a wild card entry driven by two of its bright stars: Michelle Gatting and Doriane Pin.
Both drivers were part of the race-winning effort in ELMS last month, with Pin also claiming the Ferrari Challenge Europe title with an utterly dominant campaign.
The change of brand, though, could have been tricky. Iron Dames started its first season in 2019 with Ferrari, and had so far competed only with Ferrari machinery.
But the Dames were ready to shatter all doubts as soon as the pink #83 Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2 hit the track in practice: Pin and Gatting were consistently around the top-three, on the track where they made history less than a month ago.
In qualifying, all eyes were on their debut - and they delivered once again: Michelle Gatting will start from P5 in the first race of the weekend - a result that, at their debut, should already impress. The fact that Gatting couldn't set a clean lap due to traffic and still clinched a top-five is even more mid-blowing.
Pole position in Q1 went to the series dominator, Loris Spinelli, followed by Edoardo Liberati and Lewis Williamson.
In Q2 it was time to shine for Doriane Pin: the young star was eight tenths faster than anyone and, with a 1:42.330 lap she claimed pole position at debut for Iron Dames in the series, in a 42-car field.
Pin became the first ever woman in pole position in the series' history.
"We're super happy for Doriane taking pole, she brought out the best when we needed it and put together a perfect lap", commented Andrea Piccini, Iron Lynx Team Principal.
With the #83 Lamborghini starting from the top five in both races, the team expects to fight for the podium on Friday.
Race 1 will go green at 08:35 local time, while Race 2 is scheduled for 13:25 local (GMT).