Iron Dames' Marta García and Vanina Ickx dominate Le Mans Cup finale, miss out on victory to penalty
- RACERS
- 2 days ago
- 6 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
Marta García and Vanina Ickx dominated the Michelin Le Mans Cup finale at Portimão, leading most of the race and setting the pace before a late pit-exit penalty cost them victory — but they still secured fifth on the road, to wrap up a remarkable GT3 debut season for the Spaniard.
Iron Dames’ Marta García and Vanina Ickx ended their debut Michelin Le Mans Cup campaign with another exceptional performance at the season finale in Portimão. The duo led almost the entire race with commanding pace, only for an unfortunate pit-exit infringement to deny them a deserved victory. Despite the heartbreak, they concluded their rookie season with a fifth-place finish, securing fifth in the final championship standings despite missing a round.
In their first year in the Michelin Le Mans Cup, García and Ickx had formed a new all-female GT3 line-up for the Iron Dames, pairing Marta’s rapid rise from single-seaters with Vanina’s extensive experience in endurance racing. The season had begun with promise but also several setbacks: at Barcelona, García’s debut ended dramatically when she was hit while leading the GT3 class and sent heavily into the barriers — her Porsche catching fire in a major crash from which she thankfully escaped unharmed. At Paul Ricard, Ickx impressed in qualifying with a front-row start, but early contact dropped the team back before García recovered to finish fourth.
The duo then suffered their toughest moment at Le Mans, where Ickx was forced to withdraw due to illness, leading to the team’s absence from the prestigious round. Returning at Spa-Francorchamps, they finally converted pace into results with a hard-fought third-place finish, the first podium of the year for the line-up, and García’s maiden GT3 podium.
At Silverstone, they continued their upward trend, securing pole position and converting it into a historic first Michelin Le Mans Cup victory. After Ickx led the opening stint, García recovered from being spun around to claim the win by over 40 seconds, marking Iron Dames’ first victory at every level of ACO racing.
The pair arrived at Portimão’s Autódromo Internacional do Algarve eager to end the season on a high.
After running in the top three in every practice sessions, Friday's qualifying saw Vanina Ickx progressively build pace; she was sixth fastest after the first runs but managed to find over a second on her final flying lap to clock a time of 1:45.942, putting the #83 Iron Dames Porsche 911 GT3 R third on the grid for Saturday’s two-hour finale. The #91 Blackthorn Aston Martin claimed pole ahead of the #11 Code Racing Development Aston, with Ickx right behind.
When the race got underway, Vanina Ickx took the start from third position and launched superbly off the line, overtaking both front-row Aston Martins and even passing four LMP3 cars in the opening corners to seize the GT3 lead. She went side-by-side with Alex Martin’s Blackthorn Aston Martin at Turn 11, making light contact at Turn 13 but holding firm. After crossing the line side-by-side at the end of Lap 1, the Belgian driver retained first place. The following lap brought another close fight as the pair almost touched again at Turn 3, but Ickx managed to pull clear and consolidate her advantage.
A safety car was soon deployed on Lap 2 for Lemoine, who had gone off into the gravel at Turn 7. Ickx led the field ahead of Martin, De Castro — the only silver-rated driver forced to start, as Ebimotors had missed qualifying — and Pascal Huteau’s Code Racing Development Aston. The race restarted with 1 hour and 47 minutes remaining, and Ickx held her lead, but only a lap later a Full Course Yellow was called for debris from Lemoine’s car.
As cars slowed for the FCY, chaos ensued on the main straight: a huge multi-car crash involved Stone and Romano Ricci, with a separate incident for Aust and Gudmundsson. All four cars were eliminated on the spot, bringing out the safety car once again. Ickx remained in P1, leading the GT3 field through the neutralization. The race was then red-flagged for cleanup.
Once the damaged cars were cleared, the clock was paused and the race resumed behind the safety car, with 1 hour and 39 minutes left. The green flag waved again with 1 hour and 33 minutes to go, and Ickx immediately went on the attack, setting the fastest first sector and managing to pull a small gap from Martin and De Castro behind. On Lap 12, she put a LMP3 car between herself and her nearest class rivals, expertly using traffic to build a buffer.
Martin and De Castro gradually began to close the gap, but Ickx’s rhythm remained clean and consistent. With 1 hour and 25 minutes remaining, another Full Course Yellow was deployed for debris in multiple sections of the circuit. The fight between Martin and De Castro continued to help Ickx stay ahead, though both were slowly gaining once again.
On Lap 20, a dramatic three-way battle for the lead developed, with Ickx, Martin, and De Castro running nearly three-wide into Turn 1 — but Ickx held her ground and emerged still in front. Moments later, Provost suffered an issue, and Mayola spun and was collected by Imbourg, forcing both cars into retirement. Another safety car was deployed to clear the incident, with Ickx still leading.
During this safety car, most GT3 teams elected to pit, but the Iron Dames opted to stay out, as did De Castro’s Ebimotors Porsche. One lap later, on Lap 23, Ickx came into the pits to hand over to Marta García. However, disaster struck at pit exit: just as García was released, the light turned red; in a split-second moment, she crossed the line — an infraction that would later prove decisive.
García rejoined in the lead after the pit cycle. The pass-around procedure was then initiated, allowing lapped cars to rejoin the lead lap — meaning five GT3 cars were now behind García on the same lap. Broggi, who had exited the pits just behind García but had stopped correctly at the red light, was trapped a lap down. Had García stopped for the red light, she too would have lost a lap due to the timing of the stop.
The race restarted with 48 minutes to go, and García immediately held onto the lead while negotiating heavy LMP3 traffic. Her pace was outstanding: she set the fastest lap of the race on Lap 32 with a 1:44.514, then went even quicker two laps later with a 1:43.765. García’s first sector times were especially strong.
With 30 minutes remaining, the Spaniard maintained a 2–3 second gap over David Fumanelli’s Ferrari and Eliseo Donno’s Ferrari, while Kullmann trailed another seven seconds behind. The Iron Dames Porsche looked set for a dominant win, but with 25 minutes left, the team was eventually handed a drive-through penalty for the pit-exit red light violation. García served it promptly and rejoined in fifth — still the last car on the lead lap.
Determined to recover, she began closing the gap to Andrea Belicchi’s Kessel Ferrari ahead, gaining roughly a second per lap. On Lap 48, however, she lost time while navigating through slower traffic, reducing her momentum. With 11 minutes left, she had closed the gap to 3.7 seconds on Belicchi and 5.5 seconds on Kullmann, still pushing relentlessly.
In the final five minutes, García caught Belicchi and launched an attack at Turn 5, overtaking him briefly but having to give the place back after completing the pass off track. She continued to apply pressure in the final laps but ultimately crossed the line in fifth, just half a second behind Belicchi after an extraordinary drive.
Although the Iron Dames finished P5, the pair had clearly been the class of the field for most of the race, leading nearly every lap, setting fastest laps, and demonstrating front-running pace throughout. It was an emotional but proud end to a stellar first Michelin Le Mans Cup season for the team. Despite missing the Le Mans round and suffering setbacks earlier in the year, they finished fifth in the championship with 63 points, a remarkable result given the adversities faced.
For Vanina Ickx, the return to competitive racing after more than a decade was a successful one. Her strong qualifying performances and opening stints consistently placed the Iron Dames among the leaders; for Marta García, the transition from single-seaters to GT3 machinery was perfectly timed. Her quick adatability and race-winning pace made the Spaniard one of the highlights of the series.
“Smiles, sweat and tears in Portimão this weekend", Vanina Ickx summed up the weekend with heartfelt words. "Marta and I virtually won the last race of the Michelin Le Mans Cup season — at least in our hearts. Strong start, strong pace. But we were stopped by a penalty. We gave it all through the season. Being Iron Dames and Making our team proud. We will not return home without a tear in the eye.”
The pair’s campaign blended youth and experience to race at the front of one of Europe’s most competitive GT3 fields, in a crucial program for Iron Dames as the team prepares its next generation of drivers. While García’s 2026 program remains unconfirmed, her rookie GT3 season proved that she has what it takes for a successful career in endurance racing.
