Iron Dames finished seventh in the 4 Hours of Mugello after leading much of the race, but a series of setbacks, including a penalty for a collision, dashed their podium hopes despite showcasing strong pace throughout.
Iron Dames completed the first-ever Mugello 4 Hours in seventh place in the LMGT3 class, following a troubled race that nevertheless once again showed potential for a top-three finish.
Sarah Bovy, Rahel Frey, and Michelle Gatting led most of the first half of the race, before a badly timed safety car dropped the #85 magenta Porsche to third midway through the race, when they had to stop twice for fuel and the first driver change. But the biggest setback came when a misunderstanding on the main straight saw Frey and the sister Proton Porsche make contact, sending the #60 machine hard into the wall.
Despite an impressive final stint by Michelle Gatting—who held off gold-rated drivers to finish fifth on track—a post-race penalty for the unfortunate accident demoted the team to seventh, still returning to the point-scoring positions after their unlucky 4 Hours of Spa in August.
The fifth and penultimate round of the European Le Mans Series championship started positively, with the team aiming to bounce back from an equally unfortunate 6-hour race at Indianapolis in IMSA, where an exploding brake disc took the Iron Dames' Lamborghini out of contention.
The all-female trio has so far claimed their only win of the season in ELMS in a flawless 4H of Imola in July. However, despite showing impressive speed in most rounds of WEC, ELMS, and IMSA, they have rarely been able to capitalize on this pace.
At the demanding Tuscan circuit of Mugello, hosting the series for the first time, Bovy, Frey, and Gatting aimed to return to the podium. The team made a significant step forward from practice to qualifying, suggesting that the #85 Porsche would be indeed in contention for top positions in the LMGT3 class.
In FP1, Rahel Frey was the fastest of the trio, clocking a 1:47.581 that placed the Iron Dames sixth fastest. Sarah Bovy then topped the practice reserved for bronze-rated drivers in a wet session, leading five Ferraris. On Saturday morning, the team worked on the race setup and continued making improvements ahead of qualifying in the afternoon.
As always, Sarah Bovy took over driving duties for qualifying in the #85 pink Porsche, a car that has suited the three drivers well this year and has given Bovy pole positions in the first three rounds.
Derek DeBoer’s Aston Martin set the early pace, followed by the #97 Aston of Martin Berry. Bovy’s first lap, a 1:51.558, put Iron Dames in P8, but her next attempt was much closer, just 0.016 seconds shy of pole. With two minutes to go, Bovy set a 1:48.015 to take pole, only for DeBoer to regain the top spot by two-tenths in his final run. Despite Bovy’s strong effort, Iron Dames qualified second for the race.
Race day saw sunny but cool weather in the Tuscan hills for the first-ever 4H of Mugello.
Bovy made a clean start, briefly dropping to P3, but she soon reclaimed second place after a fierce battle with Martin Berry in the #97 Aston Martin. She then set her sights on DeBoer, who was struggling through LMP3 traffic.
Bovy made an incredible pass around the outside of San Donato on lap 4, taking the lead. Once in front, the Belgian driver immediately set the fastest lap of the race, extending her lead by over a second within the first 10 minutes, as Berry and DeBoer battled behind her.
Just as Bovy began to extend her usual gap at the front, the #3 DKR Engineering LMP2 car went off, triggering the first safety car, which erased her margin. After the pass-around procedure, Bovy retained the lead at the restart and quickly built a gap again, gaining over half a second per lap on the chasing pack.
The Iron Dames made their first pit stop 47 minutes into the race for new tyres and fuel, making Bovy the first LMGT3 driver to pit. She rejoined in P10, but quickly climbed back up the order as other cars made their stops. Once the #51 AF Corse Ferrari pitted on lap 29, Bovy was back in the lead. By this time, the closest pursuer was the #97 Aston Martin of Martin Berry, trailing by just over 3 seconds.
The #63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini had moved into third place after the stops, while the Racing Spirit of Leman Aston dropped to fourth. Bovy continued to run an incredibly consistent pace, stretching her lead to 12 seconds by lap 40. However, the race was interrupted again when Duncan Cameron in the #55 Spirit of Racing Ferrari collided with the #28 IDEC LMP2 Oreca, causing terminal damage to both cars.
This brought out another safety car, which was unfortunate timing for Iron Dames, as they were unable to pit before the neutralization. Needing to refuel, the team had to make an emergency stop, but this would require a second stop shortly after for the driver change.
The full-course caution was called again for an accident between the #83 AF Corse LMP2 and the #63 Lamborghini. Bovy pitted for the driver change, handing the car over to Rahel Frey, who rejoined in third place in LMGT3.
Frey quickly cleared the LMP3 cars between her and the closest GT3 car, but while attempting to pass the #60 Proton Porsche driven by Claudio Schiavoni, Frey clipped the back of the car, sending it into the wall at full speed. Schiavoni luckily walked away unharmed, but the race was red-flagged to clear the debris.
Following a 20-minute stoppage, Frey resumed the race from fourth place, though she was under investigation for the incident. She then engaged in a tough battle with Casper Stevenson in the Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin, but was later involved in another minor incident with the #59 Aston Martin during a virtual safety car period. This contact was deemed a racing incident.
The race resumed for the final hour, and Frey set the team’s fastest lap of the race on lap 76 with a 1:49.509. She handed the car over to Michelle Gatting with the Iron Dames in fifth place.
Gatting immediately set personal bests and pushed to keep the #85 Porsche ahead of the chasing Aston Martin of Valentin Hasse Clot, whom she had held off for a full stint at Imola earlier in the season.
Gatting managed traffic well and set a personal best of 1:49.341 on lap 91, creating a buffer of 3 seconds and maintaining her fifth-place position after a brilliant final stint by the Danish racer.
However, a post-race penalty for the incident with the #60 car saw the team handed a 30-second time penalty, demoting them to seventh in the final classification.
According to the stewards’ report, Claudio Schiavoni expected Frey to overtake at the exit of turn 15, the final corner. Both drivers acknowledged a misunderstanding, although Frey was found predominantly responsible for the collision, leading to a penalty.
Despite another round of bad luck, the Iron Dames once again showed their speed, leading most of the race and performing strongly in qualifying. Their ELMS season has been marked by misfortune, but the Porsche 911 GT3 R has consistently displayed podium-worthy pace.
The team will now look to end the season on a high as they head to the ELMS finale at Portimão, Portugal, on October 18-19. Before that, they will tackle the Motul Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta, the final round of the IMSA Endurance Cup.
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