ELMS: Iron Dames fight back to seventh in mixed conditions at Paul Ricard
- RACERS
- 3 hours ago
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Iron Dames completed a challenging 4 Hours of Le Castellet, second round of the 2025 European Le Mans Series, with a seventh place finish in a mixed-weather, strategic race that saw Célia Martin, Sarah Bovy and Michelle Gatting recovering to still score some valuable points.
Iron Dames completed a challenging 4 Hours of Le Castellet, second round of the 2025 European Le Mans Series, with a seventh place finish in a mixed-weather, strategic race that saw Célia Martin, Sarah Bovy and Michelle Gatting recovering to still score some valuable points.
After winning the season opener in Barcelona in spectacular fashion, the all-female crew was hampered by success ballast at Circuit Paul Ricard, traditionally a strong venue for the team. Starting from the third row in class, Célia Martin faced a tough challenge on slick tyres in heavy rain. Although she initially charged up to second place, an unfortunate safety car period disrupted a strategic gamble and cost the team a lap. Sarah Bovy took over in still-tricky mixed-weather conditions and made up several positions before handing the car to Michelle Gatting, who completed the final stint.
Despite the ballast making it a tougher mission, the Iron Dames were aiming to maintain momentum after their Barcelona win. The team, operated by Proton Competition, worked hard during practice to refine the setup of the #85 pink Porsche. Martin was second fastest in the bronze test session with a 2:04.958—just 0.042s behind the #59 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin. In final practice, Michelle Gatting posted a 2:04.613, with the entire LMGT3 field covered by less than a second.
Célia Martin tackled her second ELMS qualifying session on Saturday, looking to build on her front-row performance from the season opener. Her first push lap was deleted for track limits, but she managed a 2:05.712 that initially put her fourth. After Berry lost a lap to track limits, Martin moved up to third but was eventually pushed down to sixth by Clement Mateu and Custodio Toledo. She couldn't improve on her final two runs, and would start Sunday’s race from sixth on the LMGT3 grid.
Race day brought uncertainty, with rain earlier in the morning leaving a damp track and occasional drops still falling as the grid formed. Rain intensified on the formation lap; while most opted for wet tyres, Iron Dames gambled on slicks.
The start was chaotic, with mixed tyre choices and poor visibility. Martin initially got a good launch, but contact on the opening lap dropped her to the back of the LMGT3 field—though she kept the car out of trouble. Multiple cars went off, and a significant crash between the #83 AF Corse LMP2 and the #8 Virage car brought out the safety car immediately.
After 12 minutes, the race resumed. Martin rejoined the top ten and passed Takeshi Kimura for ninth. As the rain intensified, the French driver began to shine on slicks—carving her way through the field to fourth by lap 6, then taking second on lap 7 while setting the fastest lap of the race at that point in 2:20.962.
However, as the downpour worsened, the advantage swung back to those on wet tyres. Martin, still on slicks, began to lose pace dramatically and fell to fourth by lap 15 as Hiroshi Koizumi and Martin Berry—on wets—gained over ten seconds per lap. The team chose to keep her out until the scheduled fuel stop, and Martin eventually pitted at the 45-minute mark for wet tyres. She rejoined in 12th, but with a strategy stop already complete.
Unfortunately, another safety car was deployed when the #37 CLX LMP2 (Malykhin) hit the wall. After the pass-around, the Iron Dames Porsche found itself a lap down from the LMGT3 leaders. Racing resumed with 2h55m to go.
Despite the setback, Martin continued her charge, showing strong pace in the 2:25s. She picked off rivals to climb back to ninth, then gained another place when the #74 Kessel Ferrari of Andrew Gilbert hit the barriers.
As the second round of pit stops approached, Martin cycled back up to sixth—maintaining a quick pace even as Pro drivers began to take over other cars. On lap 48, she brought the #85 Porsche in for the second stop, ending a strong double stint that was especially impressive in the wet. Sarah Bovy climbed aboard and rejoined in 10th on slicks, as the track had begun to dry.
Bovy struggled initially on the still-slippery track but soon found her rhythm. She set the team’s fastest lap at 2:15.5, then improved to 2:10.2 by lap 57. The Iron Dames however trailed the #82 TF Sport Corvette by around 50 seconds at that point.
During her stint, Bovy climbed to eighth. A dramatic sequence followed: the #9 Iron Lynx Proton LMP2 of Matteo Cairoli lost a wheel, and shortly after, a collision between Intereuropol’s Luca Ghiotto and IDEC’s Job van Uitert brought out another safety car.
This neutralization worked in Iron Dames’ favor, bringing them back onto the lead lap after the pass-around. The race restarted with 1h08m remaining. Bovy was now running well and clocked a 2:06.1 lap—quicker than many cars ahead. She closed the gap to the TF Sport Corvette and completed her 23-lap stint before pitting from eighth. Michelle Gatting got in for the final 55 minutes.
Michelle immediately set a new fastest lap for the car with a 2:05.448 and continued to push, eventually dipping under the 2:05 mark with a 2:04.900. As the final round of pit stops cycled through, she climbed to seventh.
Gatting reduced the gap to Valentin Hasse-Clot in sixth to just seven seconds but couldn’t get closer before the checkered flag, and she crossed the line in seventh—a solid points finish in a highly strategic race where some gambles paid off and others didn’t.
“We were in the points, which was our main target this weekend", summarized Célia Martin. "My stint was the first time I’d driven in those conditions in a GT3 and I’m very happy with the experience I gained. I was apprehensive about slicks in wet conditions, but I ended up liking it a lot. It was still difficult, but I managed to bring the car back without any problems."
"The only issue I had was the contact on Lap 1, which meant we were coming back from last—costing us time. We’ll take the points and move onto Imola.”
ELMS returns to action on 6th July at Imola for Round 3. In the meantime, Iron Dames head to Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, for the 6 Hours of Spa—the third round of the FIA World Endurance Championship.