Rahel Frey's new Le Mans: Watching a racer become a leader
- RACERS
- 21 minutes ago
- 8 min read
From pioneering racer to Sporting Director, Rahel Frey experienced her first 24 Hours of Le Mans in her new role from the Team WRT pit wall, bringing the same determination and leadership that defined her driving career. We caught up with the Swiss, reflecting on her adaptation to the new exciting chapter in senior management.
Reporters are not supposed to have favourites. At least, that is what we're told; in reality, motorsport is ultimately a sport built around people, and after spending years in paddocks across Europe, there are inevitably some individuals whose careers you follow more closely than others.
Not because they win the most races or collect the most trophies, but because there is something about the way they approach their passion that leaves a lasting impression. Sometimes it is their personality, sometimes it is the way they carry themselves when things are going wrong rather than when everything is going right.
For me, Rahel Frey has always been one of those people. Long before she became one of the most recognizable figures in international endurance racing, before the podiums in the FIA World Endurance Championship, before the victories with Iron Dames and before she became one of the faces of the project, I first watched her race in the days of International Formula Masters, at a time when women's representation in professional motorsport looked very different from today.
There were no major development programmes, no F1 Academy, no initiatives specifically designed to support female talent. There were only a handful of women competing and carving their way through, aiming to be professional racing drivers. Rahel Frey would eventually reach that goal.
Over the years, her résumé became one of the most impressive in modern motorsport: she won races in Formula Renault and German Formula 3, proving her speed long before she became known as a GT and endurance specialist. She raced in DTM between 2011 and 2013 as an Audi factory driver, competing in one of the most competitive touring car championships in the world. She became a two-time race winner in ADAC GT Masters, won her class at the Nürburgring 24 Hours and established herself as one of the leading female GT drivers of a generation.
Frey has also been one of the very few women to hold a FIA Gold rating between 2022 and 2023, a status reserved for drivers competing at the highest professional level.
As one of the founding members of the Iron Dames project, Frey became part of an initiative that would change the landscape for women in endurance racing. Alongside Michelle Gatting and Manuela Gostner first, then Sarah Bovy - she helped transform what many initially might have viewed as a symbolic programme into one capable of competing for victories at the highest level of the sport.
Together they would win the Gold Cup class at the 24 Hours of Spa, one of the greatest achievements in the project's history. Her racing records continued to grow: a victory in the FIA World Endurance Championship in Bahrain in 2023, five WEC podiums, nine podium finishes in the European Le Mans Series, including victory at Imola in 2024. Four starts at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, eight appearances at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with a best finish of fourth in class and two top-five results.
By any objective measure, Rahel Frey had already secured her place in motorsport history. Yet, what always impressed me most about her were not her racing records alone, because the truth is that Frey's greatness extends beyond race wins, podiums or championship standings. Few people understand performance the way she does - not simply in the driving seat, but performance in its broadest sense: team performance, personal performance, the endless stream of details that can mean success in such a highly competitive environment.
Work ethic and leadership are phrases that get thrown around constantly in corporate settings and mission statements, often to the point where they lose meaning. But anyone that has met Rahel Frey realizes that she genuinely embodies both concepts.
She has always carried herself with a sense of responsibility and accountability that is not always common from elite athletes - whether speaking about a disappointing result or a successful one, whether discussing her own performance or that of the team around her, there was always ownership of what she could have done better.
I first met her in person when she was racing in the Audi R8 Cup; at the time, I had only recently started focusing my coverage on women in motorsport. Like many reporters, I would occasionally walk around the paddock hoping to catch drivers for a few comments after the sessions.
Over time those interactions became more frequent during her years with Iron Dames. They were rarely long conversations; a quick chat outside the hospitality, or a short discussion while walking through the paddock. But she always found time to help me understand with a quick post-race debrief in her busy schedule.
Rahel Frey has never been a person for small talk; she is approachable, kind and generous with her time, but also direct. After races, she is often the best person to speak with because she can summarize an entire weekend in just a few sentences. What worked, what didn't, what needed to improve, what could be learned. And, also most importantly, what comes next - as the analysis is always accompanied by an immediate focus on how to use that learning opportunity to move forward.
Looking back now, it feels almost inevitable that she would eventually move into management, precisely for that ability to evaluate performance objectively, communicate clearly and inspire confidence which made her a natural leader long before she held a formal title.
As the Iron Dames project grew, Frey increasingly became involved in talent development and programme management alongside her racing commitments. She helped identify and support young drivers, contributed to the development of future talent and gradually took on responsibilities that extended beyond her own cockpit. All this while still competing at the highest levels of endurance racing herself.
I had another one of our chats last weekend, during the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans. For the first time in many years, she was not there as a driver. Instead, she was at Circuit de la Sarthe as Sporting Director of Team BMW WRT, a new role which she started at the beginning of 2026.
Ironically, it was also a return of sorts, as back in 2013, she had raced for the Belgian squad in the Blancpain Endurance Series. More than a decade later, she returned to the organisation in an entirely different capacity.
When we sat down after the race, the conversation was no longer about her own lap times, but rather about experiencing the world's greatest endurance race from the other side of the pit wall.
"It was intense," she admitted immediately. "It was tiring, clearly. Not to sleep at all.""You know, as a driver, you can always quickly disappear. It's a different fatigue. You're not physically tired, but you're mentally very tired, because the focus is always very high."
"You always need to be on standby", she continued, explaining how different the experience had been, compared to competing as a driver. "Basically, you always need to give the team an immediate answer when they have questions."
The job description felt like something Rahel had prepared for years: always focused, always prepared., always carrying responsibility.
"To experience the race from the pit wall was super nice", she adds, "but clearly super intense".
Unfortunately, the race itself did not produce the result that BMW WRT had hoped for for its LMGT3 entries. After starting fifth and sixth, only one of the BMW M4 GT3 saw the chequered flag, the #32 driven by Leung/Gelael/Farfus, in seventh place, while the #69 was forced out of the race with gearbox issues with less than three hours to go after both had run as high as second and third in the early stages before the night.
However the team's #20 Hypercar came close to delivering BMW's first overall victory at Le Mans since 1999, ultimately settling for second place after an otherwise really strong effort.
For Frey, however, the focus immediately shifted toward understanding the reasons why the outcome had fallen short of expectations.
"Unfortunately, for both cars, it was not a good race", she says. "For several reasons, we definitely expected more, but now we need to analyse and simply understand and hopefully come back stronger."
It was a classic Rahel Frey answer - an honest assessment followed by a commitment to improvement.
When I asked her how she had adapted to the role during her first season as Sporting Director, her answer reinforced the impression that this transition had been years in the making.
"It happened very naturally, because I've done motorsport for so many years, so in the end I know what I'm talking about."
"I have seen it already from a driver's perspective, which helps a lot, especially coming into management. As a sporting director, you already understand the procedures, so you can transfer and transmit the experience into, let's say, the other side of the job, which helps a lot", she outlines.
"Therefore, it's very natural."
And she does indeed show the confidence of someone who has spent two decades building this expertise, comfortable in the role in the sense of belonging."I got very well accepted, I was warmly welcomed", the Swiss adds. "Honestly, it feels like I'm doing this already for long."
Surely, leadership was never something she would suddenly discover after retiring from full-time racing, but it was always there: the title simply arrived later.And yet, as happy as I am to see her in this new role, there remains an undeniable sense of bittersweetness. Anyone who follows a sport for long enough eventually experiences it: the athletes you admire move on. Careers evolve and new chapters begin. No matter how inevitable those transitions may be, yet they are never entirely easy to accept.
Part of me would still love to see Rahel Frey climbing into a race car at Le Mans. Endurance racing remains a discipline where experience, intelligence and consistency are often just as important as outright speed, and deep down I know Rahel still possesses those qualities to the same degree.
When I asked whether we might ever see her return to a driving role, her answer was rather decisive; once she takes a decision, she commits to it.
And perhaps that is exactly why her new chapter feels so exciting.
Rahel Frey belongs to a generation of women who reached the top without many of the opportunities available today; she emerged in an era before dedicated development pathways existed, before manufacturers started to invest in academies and with Iron Dames she demonstrated what could be achieved when opportunities were created.
She helped create those opportunities and actively worked to open doors for others.
Now, at 40 years old, she has the opportunity to combine everything she learned as a professional racing driver with the leadership qualities she has demonstrated throughout her career. The competitive mindset remains, as well as the Swiss-attention to detail and the relentless pursuit of improvement. Only the role has changed.
As we said goodbye, both tested by over-36 uninterrupted hours of work, I found myself reflecting on how strange yet familiar the situation felt at the same time. Strange because, for the first time, we were not discussing her own race. Familiar because it was exactly the same determined and ambitious Rahel I had been speaking to in paddocks for years.
Walking away from the BMW WRT hospitality, I was left with the impression that Rahel Frey has not lost an inch of the passion for the sport that she has shown for almost three decades since setting foot in a go kart - and she certainly has not lost the desire to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans. She is simply pursuing that dream from a different side of the pit wall now, and if there is one thing her career has proven, it is that when Rahel Frey commits to a challenge, she will find a way to succeed. Perhaps one day she will stand on the top step at Le Mans after all. Just not wearing a helmet.