Iron Dames conclude 2025 ELMS season with podium at Portimão
- RACERS
- 9 hours ago
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Iron Dames concluded the 2025 European Le Mans Series with one of their strongest drives of the season, finishing third in the 4 Hours of Portimão to claim their second podium of the year, thanks to solid performances from Célia Martin, Sarah Bovy and Michelle Gatting.
Iron Dames concluded the 2025 European Le Mans Series with one of their strongest drives of the season, finishing third in the 4 Hours of Portimão to claim their second podium of the year. With a solid performance from Célia Martin, Sarah Bovy and Michelle Gatting, the #85 Iron Dames Porsche 911 GT3 R completed the campaign fourth in the LMGT3 championship standings, ending a season that began with victory at Barcelona and featured consistent frontrunning pace throughout.
Heading into the season finale at Circuito do Algarve, the team remained mathematically in contention for the LMGT3 title, 13 points behind the leaders, and knew they would need a perfect weekend to keep their hopes alive.
Portimão has long been a strong venue for the Iron Dames — the site of their first ELMS win — and the team was immediately on form. The #85 Porsche proved competitive from the opening sessions, with Gatting setting the second-fastest time in FP1 with a 1:49.139, only a tenth off the benchmark. In the Bronze test, Célia Martin topped the timesheets with a commanding 1:43.424, three tenths clear of the next competitor.
Martin continued her strong pace into qualifying, taking charge of the session as the bronze-rated driver. She was on course for a potential front-row start when a red flag with less than two minutes remaining, triggered by a spin for the #51 AF Corse Ferrari at Turn 7, prematurely ended proceedings. Her best lap of 1:43.915 placed the Iron Dames sixth on the grid for Saturday’s four-hour race.
Martin took the start and immediately made progress at lights out, moving from sixth to fourth on the opening lap in a combative start that saw her battling with Berry and Laursen. Although she slipped back to sixth when Laursen found a way past, Martin’s pace was excellent and she set the overall fastest lap on lap four and continued to pressure the cars ahead.
A Full Course Yellow on lap nine briefly neutralised the action for debris, and when the race resumed, Martin immediately attacked, overtaking Berry for fifth and then Birch for fourth just one lap later. Holding position behind Laursen, she continued to match the leaders’ pace.
A Virtual Safety Car was deployed on lap 17 after Pedersen went off, and Iron Dames made an early pit stop under the neutralisation with Martin remaining in the car as her minimum drive time was not yet complete.
When the race went back to green, she found herself running third behind Koizumi and Mateu. A brief Safety Car for Maldonado’s stranded car followed, and upon the next restart, Martin resumed her charge: engaging in a close fight with Mateu, she executed a decisive move on lap 30 to take second place, while Koizumi maintained a narrow advantage out front.
Another Virtual Safety Car period soon followed when Cullen beached his car in the gravel, and Iron Dames took advantage to pit again. Once the race resumed, Martin was back up to third, with Gilbert — who had not yet pitted — leading. Gilbert’s subsequent drive-through penalty promoted Martin to second once again. Through the midpoint of the race, she continued to deliver a stellar performance, holding a steady gap to those behind and keeping Koizumi within striking distance.
At lap 61, Koizumi pitted, and Martin briefly inherited the lead before coming in on lap 64 for the Iron Dames’ first driver change: Sarah Bovy took over for the middle stint, rejoining fifth after losing a few seconds during the stop.
Despite the setback, Bovy immediately found her rhythm, setting the car’s new personal best lap and quickly establishing herself as one of the fastest LMGT3 drivers on track. She reduced the gap to the Corvette ahead to under ten seconds and held off the chasing Aston Martin while steadily reeling in Patterson’s McLaren.
As Agostini and Fleming pitted ahead, Bovy climbed to third, maintaining relentless pace and good consistency. Her stint was one of the most impressive of the race, with lap times consistently among the class leaders. Avoiding a potential neutralisation when the Inter Europol car briefly stopped on track, Bovy continued to close the gap to the front-running pack until the final round of stops.
With just over 50 minutes remaining, Bovy handed over to Michelle Gatting for the closing stages. The Iron Dames’ final pit stop was executed cleanly, allowing Gatting to gain around eight seconds on Eastwood’s Aston Martin and jump ahead of the McLaren during the pit cycle. Boyd soon responded with a series of quick laps, but Gatting fought back immediately with her own personal bests.
Running fourth on the road, effectively second once alternate strategies played out, Gatting began chasing Pera’s Porsche and Boyd’s McLaren, while Wadoux’s Ferrari and Pera still owed pit stops.
In a thrilling sequence on lap 99, the trio went three-wide into Turn 1, with Boyd managing to pass both, but Gatting also overtook Pera in the process to move into third place.
Boyd began to pull away in the United Autosport McLaren, but Gatting held firm, extending a comfortable margin over the cars behind while gradually closing the gap to Eastwood ahead. In the final minutes, the Dane continued to push, setting competitive lap times to secure the team’s place on the podium.
After four hours of racing, the Iron Dames crossed the line in third position, just 4.1 seconds behind the race-winning TF Sport Aston Martin, completing the ELMS season with a well-deserved return to the rostrum. The result marked the team’s second podium of 2025, following their victory in the season opener at Barcelona.
The consistent performances across the year earned the Iron Dames fourth place in the LMGT3 championship standings with 62 points. Despite challenging rounds at Le Castellet, Imola, Spa, and Silverstone — where they had taken a brilliant pole and early lead before contact and weather disruptions ended their podium hopes — the team remained competitive and in the title fight until the finale.
“We finished this season with a podium, just as we started it on the podium with a win in Barcelona", summarized Célia Martin, reflecting on the race. "We wanted to achieve more today, and coming away with fourth in the championship was not our goal. The season has been very up and down. Sometimes we’ve been unlucky and sometimes we’ve made mistakes, but I think today was one of our best races of the year."
"From my side, I want to thank the whole Iron Dames team and give a big thank you to Sarah for supporting me all season, to Michelle for being a rocket in the car, and to all of our mechanics and engineers who always encourage us! It’s been an emotional debut ELMS season for me, but I’ll remember this one for a long time to come.”
The Iron Dames will now turn their focus to the FIA World Endurance Championship finale in Bahrain in two weeks’ time, where they will look to conclude their 2025 campaign on another high note.
Additional reporting: Liam Redford