Iron Dames fight for podium in 6H of São Paulo, claim best WEC result of 2025
- RACERS
- Jul 14, 2025
- 6 min read
Iron Dames secured their best FIA WEC result of the season to date at the 6 Hours of São Paulo, leading laps, and contending for the podium with remarkable stints from Célia Martin, Rahel Frey, and Michelle Gatting—ultimately finishing a hard-fought fourth.
The fifth round of the 2025 FIA WEC season at São Paulo, Brazil, marked a significant step forward for Iron Dames, after the all-female team secured its best starting position of the year and remained in contention for a podium throughout most of the race.
With impressive stints from Célia Martin and an outstanding middle portion by Rahel Frey, the team battled at the front. Michelle Gatting—racing with a broken foot—fought for second place before a penalty forced her to recover in a remarkable final stint, eventually finishing just shy of the podium in fourth. Nonetheless, it was Iron Dames’ best result of the 2025 WEC season to date.
It’s been a breakthrough moment for the team, which is running a new driver lineup in WEC this season. Bronze-rated Célia Martin has shown constant progress, culminating in the team’s best qualifying performance so far—securing a spot in the Hyperpole session for the first time this year.
While the team just missed out on a podium in the final minutes, the 6 Hours of São Paulo was by far their most competitive showing in WEC this season; after scoring their first points with an eighth-place finish at Imola, the team placed tenth at both Spa and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Their near-podium result at Interlagos represents a turning point in their campaign.
Iron Dames had entered the São Paulo round following a promising yet frustrating 4 Hours of Imola in the European Le Mans Series, where a rain-induced off in the gravel while leading cost them important points. They had tested at the historic Interlagos circuit—home of Brazilian motorsport—just before Le Mans and were aiming to bounce back strongly.
The team had shown speed at Interlagos in 2024 as well, securing pole position and leading most of the race before technical issues struck. Sarah Bovy—now silver-rated and contesting ELMS—still held the LMGT3 lap record at the circuit.
Michelle Gatting, injured during pit stop practice at the Le Mans test day and forced to miss the race, returned at Imola and was ready to tackle the São Paulo round. She and Rahel Frey were closely matched in practice, with Frey marginally faster in FP1. The team improved session by session, with Gatting clocking a 1:35.662 in FP2 and Martin placing the car P10 in FP3 ahead of qualifying.
Martin, as the bronze-rated driver, contested the first part of qualifying. She posted a 1:35.327 lap to go ninth fastest, aiming to secure a top-ten result and access to the Hyperpole session. After pitting and waiting, her time held up—advancing Iron Dames to their first Hyperpole appearance in 2025.
Silver-rated Rahel Frey took over for the Hyperpole session and initially set the sixth-fastest time with a 1:34.433. Despite a strong second attempt, she couldn’t quite improve and was bumped down to seventh as both United Autosports McLarens went faster. Still, it marked Iron Dames' best qualifying result of the year.
Starting from P7, Célia Martin lined up in the mid-pack of the LMGT3 field for the fifth edition of the 6 Hours of São Paulo, for the team's best starting position to date. All bronze-rated drivers contested the opening stint—except silver-rated Fran Rueda in the #60 Iron Lynx Mercedes.
Martin made a strong start, diving to the inside and nearly gaining positions, but was ran slightly wide on the kerb during the direction change, ultimately dropping back to eighth behind Tom Van Rompuy’s TF Sport Corvette. Running in a tight pack, Martin was quicker than the two cars ahead and began applying pressure. A three-wide battle ensued with the Corvette and the #59 United McLaren, and while the #61 Mercedes eventually found a gap and passed her, Célia held firm in ninth amid intense midfield fighting.
Martin stayed within one second of the cars ahead through the first 25 laps. She carefully managed hypercar traffic and patiently waited for her opportunity: on lap 29, she executed a perfect switchback move on Berry to reclaim P8 and immediately set her sights on James Cottingham’s McLaren.
Célia launched an attack, but Cottingham defended well. After the first pit window opened, Iron Dames pitted on lap 34 from sixth. Martin remained in the car and after a quick stop emerged in fourth place.
Although platinum driver Maxime Martin in the #61 Iron Lynx Mercedes soon passed her, Célia continued to run strongly and reeled Cottingham back in. She eventually made a stunning move into Turn 1 to retake fourth from the McLaren, now with clean air ahead and a chance to build rhythm.
Over the next half-hour, Martin pulled away from the other bronze-rated competitors. Platinum drivers like Farfus, Juncadella, and Van Der Linde began entering the mix, with teams began adjusting strategies in the clean, uninterruted first part of the race. Yet, Célia continued to run clean and fast, even quicker than the sister Manthey Porsche.
By lap 66, Célia was running second and top bronze driver, consistently lapping in the 1:38s before pitting around the 1h50m mark. After a strong opening double stint, Martin handed over to Rahel Frey for the central segment. The Swiss driver rejoined in sixth after a clean stop and immediately set the car’s fastest lap—breaking the 1:36 barrier with a 1:35.807.
Soon, Frey caught up to Ben Keating’s TF Sport Corvette. After multiple laps of close battle, Rahel pulled off a bold pass into Turn 1 to move up to fourth. With two more bronze drivers—Berry and Robin—around 11 seconds up the road, Frey resumed her charge.
Two hours into the race, the first Full Course Yellow was deployed for a kite landing on track. After a brief caution, Frey returned to pace, lapping in the 1:35.5s and quickly closing in on Berry. Just as she began applying pressure, another FCY was called after contact between Keating and the #50 Ferrari hypercar.
Restarting perfectly, Frey overtook Berry on lap 92 to move into third with a spectacular move at the green flag. The next target: the #78 Akkodis Lexus of Arnold Robin, seven seconds ahead.
As pit stops cycled, Frey stayed out and moved into the lead by lap 97. She pitted on lap 101 from the lead after a superb stint and remained in the car as the field transitioned to its pro drivers.
After the #87 Lexus was penalized for speeding in the pit lane, Frey again set the team's fastest lap, running consistent 1:35s and closing in on the leading Akkodis Lexuses. She gradually reduced the gap to Nakayama and, on lap 129, made a brilliant pass taking second place.
As the next stops approached, both Lexuses pitted, and Frey cycled back into the lead. She handed over to Michelle Gatting with 2h20m remaining.
Gatting, still nursing a broken foot, rejoined in third behind Nakayama but immediately settled into the 1:35s pace. She and the Japanese driver were evenly matched and stayed within one second of each other, even as traffic affected their rhythm. Meanwhile, Valentin Hasse-Clot in the #10 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin was closing in behind.
With 90 minutes to go, another FCY was deployed after another stray kite landed on track. At the restart, Gatting tried to catch Nakayama off guard but couldn’t find a way past. Soon after, Nakayama pitted, and Gatting enjoyed clean air—until she was handed a drive-through penalty for FCY procedure infringement.
After serving the penalty, she resumed in second but would have to stop again for fuel. The Dane logged great laps, extending the stint as the team attempted a different strategy. On lap 167, she eventually pitted again and rejoined in sixth, now needing to fight back after the setback of the penalty.
Gatting however soon caught and passed Saucy’s McLaren with a decisive move at Mergulho, climbing to fifth. With the final pit stops beginning around 45 minutes from the end, the Iron Dames cycled back up to second.
With 34 minutes to go, another FCY was announced, and Gatting—leading at the time—was not in the track positioning to stop before the caution was finally deployed. When she pitted under green on lap 200, the team minimized the stop by staying on used tyres and, needing less energy due to the extended previous stint, Gatting rejoined in second—just ahead of Charlie Eastwood in the #81 Corvette.
A tense final stint followed; Gatting defended expertly, but Eastwood eventually made it past on the fresher tyres. Eduardo Barrichello then passed Gehrsitz and began closing in. Under immense pressure, Gatting was eventually overtaken by Barrichello with two minutes left and crossed the line in P4—just shy of the podium.
Despite the heartbreak, it was Iron Dames' best performance in WEC this year, having been in contention for a leading position throughout.
“In the end, we got P4 which is our best result in WEC in 2025", Rahel Frey commented. "It’s bittersweet because we definitely had potential for more. Since Le Mans, we’ve definitely gained momentum and we had pace throughout the entire race but, unfortunately, we weren’t faultless."
"We’ll keep on working hard and keep on pushing. I’m happy with the team’s performance and we were so close to the podium. Next time, we’re going to make it.”
Iron Dames now sit 15th in the LMGT3 standings with 19 points. After the summer break, FIA WEC returns for Lone Star Le Mans at Circuit of the Americas on 7th September.
In the meantime, the team will aim to reclaim the top spot in ELMS at the 4 Hours of Spa on 24th August.
