More progress, top-10 for Iron Dames in Asian Le Mans Series round 2

Iron Dames' Célia Martin, Sarah Bovy, and Michelle Gatting showed significant improvement in the second round of the Asian Le Mans Series at Sepang, climbing from a P20 start to finish seventh in challenging mixed conditions with stronger stints and good strategy calls.

Photo credits: Asian Le Mans Series

The new Iron Dames line up, composed of Célia Martin, Sarah Bovy, and Michelle Gatting, made more progress in the second round of the Asian Le Mans Series in Sepang, building on an encouraging debut on Saturday where they finished not far from the top ten in the GT3 class, to fight for the top five on Sunday, which hosted the second 4-hour race of the series.

At the demanding Sepang International Circuit, the all-female trio had made their first-ever start in the series on Saturday, with French bronze-rated Célia Martin making her debut in the main lineup after a rookie season in GT3 machinery in the Michelin Le Mans Cup.

After the trio made steady improvement in testing and official practice, Martin took on driving duties for qualifying on Saturday morning. However, the session proved to be tricky, with the team struggling to find a good balance for the #85 Porsche 911 GT3, which couldn’t extract peak performance from the tyres during the short qualifying session.

As a result, the Iron Dames Porsche would have to start the first race from P21. With a 2:07.909 lap as her second-best time, Martin secured a spot in the top 20 for Race 2's starting grid.

The first race turned out to be chaotic in the opening stages, with several safety car interruptions making Martin's debut more nerve-wracking. Nevertheless, the team's new bronze-rated driver kept her cool and managed her one-hour stint well, recovering positions.

Bovy and Gatting showed very promising pace, consistently closing in on the top ten and eventually crossing the finish line in an encouraging 13th place.

On Sunday, the all-female team aimed to build on their first outing and continue working cohesively. Four more hours of racing gave the Iron Dames a second chance to gain valuable experience in the Asian Le Mans Series, a crucial opportunity for their future programs this year.

Photo credits: Asian Le Mans Series

At the green flag, Célia Martin, starting 20th on the grid in the GT3 class, made an excellent start, driving more aggressively and gaining six positions by the end of the first lap. She climbed to P14, clearing Johannes Zelger's Tsunami RT Porsche and skillfully avoiding the spun #77 McLaren at Turn 10.

Martin quickly found a strong rhythm, catching the #12 Car Collection Motorsport Porsche driven by Mardini. Both drivers gained two positions at the final corner on lap three when the 2Seas Motorsport Mercedes spun the Car Guy Porsche just ahead.

Now 12th in class, Martin improved her lap times, setting a 2:09.1 and lapping faster than several cars ahead. However, silver-rated Yannick Mettler, advancing through the field with a different strategy for the #21 Porsche, soon loomed in her mirrors.

A major incident unfolded at the final corner when Uchida’s Car Guy Ferrari collided with the #42 Prime Speed Sport Lamborghini driven by Malmezac. Despite heavy damage, both cars managed to limp back to the pits, avoiding an immediate safety car.

Martin promptly avoided debris from the incident, which later caused the first full-course yellow nearly 30 minutes into the race. Running P13 after Mettler overtook her, Célia settled back into her rhythm after the restart.

The race found a steady pace with Martin consistently running in P13 as the first pit stops approached. Under pressure from Ryan Hardwick's Manthey Porsche, Martin avoided unnecessary risks.

One hour into the race, Martin was still comfortably in P13, maintaining a healthy gap to the cars behind as the sky began to darken. Teams prepared wet tyres in anticipation of rain.

The first GT3 pit stops followed shortly after, with Martin climbing the order and pitting on lap 29 from ninth. She handed the car to Sarah Bovy after a strong one-hour-and-five-minute stint, marking a very positive run for the Frenchwoman.

The experienced Belgian immediately set a 2:08 pace, clocking the team’s best lap in 2:08.8. Bovy quickly picked up two places in two laps, overtaking Wei's Climax Racing Mercedes and Hardwick’s Manthey Porsche to take P11 on lap 32.

Bovy continued her charge, leveraging her pace while many bronze drivers remained in their cars. A few laps later, she broke into the top ten and soon climbed to ninth.

With a 2:07.8 best lap, Bovy kept improving and reached P8, demonstrating impressive speed in sweltering temperatures that tested the drivers' endurance.

After her first stint, Bovy pitted on lap 55 and stayed behind the wheel. Following the second round of pit stops, she advanced to seventh.

A virtual safety car was deployed with 1 hour and 45 minutes remaining for debris on the track, and rain soon began falling.

Photo credits: Iron Dames

Most teams pitted for wet tyres, but the Iron Dames opted to stay out, moving Bovy into sixth as the safety car was deployed.

The restart on a damp but drying track saw Bovy facing silver- and gold-rated drivers with gaps neutralized. Although she briefly dropped to seventh, she heroically climbed back to fourth with exceptionally fast lap times on slicks, as the track wasn’t yet fully wet.

As rain intensified, Bovy finally pitted on lap 75 for wets, handing over to Michelle Gatting.

Gatting rejoined in seventh place, but worsening conditions and a safety car brought the field back together. After several laps under caution, the race was red-flagged as heavy rain and fading light rendered the conditions unsafe.

The cars were parked on the main straight before the decision to stop the race was made, leaving Gatting unable to fully showcase her potential in her short run. Nevertheless, the Iron Dames finished in seventh place, a significant step forward from the start of the weekend.

After a solid debut on Saturday, the new Iron Dames trio demonstrated considerable improvement on Sunday. Célia Martin’s opening stint was more confident and featured decisive moves that highlighted her potential.

"It is over unfortunately under a Red Flag, so I think we lost some chances to be close to a podium, but that is racing and we can learn from it", Martin commented. "I made a good start and climbed positions, but I struggled a lot with the heat so this is something to work on in the future. I'm happy that Sarah took over and did an amazing job, especially in tricky conditions when the rain came. She made some great calls."

Sarah Bovy's outstanding second stint, paired with some great strategy calls by the team, allowed Iron Dames to climb almost in contention for the top five, with Bovy showcasing impressive pace in damp conditions also among higher-rated drivers.

"I think there are a lot of positives to take out of it", Bovy said, in her last race as officially bronze driver before her new silver categorization comes into play in 2025. "The first race was very difficult for different reasons, in terms of strategy and incidents."

"In the second race, the weather made it tricky", the Belgian star continued. "At the end of the day, we climbed up the ranking in both races, especially on Sunday when we started P20 and ended P7. It was a really good effort from all the team. We could see that the drivers improved their performance throughout the week."

After a very positive double-header in Sepang, the Iron Dames will return to the Asian Le Mans Series on February 8-9 for the 4 Hours of Dubai.