Former W Series driver and experienced GT racer Sarah Bovy has accepted a late call to join the Iron Dames team, where she will partner with Doriane Pin in the upcoming Michelin Le Mans Cup.
The fully-female team created by Deborah Mayer and lined up by Iron Lynx under the banner of Iron Dames in the European Le Mans Series in the last 2 years has recently been expanded to WEC, Le Mans Cup and Ferrari Challenge, with new drivers joining the project for 2021.
The Iron Dames have tackled the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2019 and 2020 – bringing back an all-women line-up to La Sarthe for the first time since 2010 and claiming two top-10 finishes with Rahel Frey, Michelle Gatting and Manuela Gostner.
After a series of shuffles among its drivers, Iron Dames have now confirmed that the original trio will be back in the European Le Mans Series – which is set to kick off this weekend at Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona – with Katherine Legge joining the squad in their first World Endurance Championship campaign.
2020 Porsche Carrera Cup GB champion Esmee Hawkey was initially set to make her debut with the Italian team in ELMS, but a FIA driver categorization mishap prevented the British lady from joining Frey and Gatting. Due to ELMS regulations, in fact, teams in the GTE class must field a bronze-rated. One week before the season opener at Barcelona, Iron Lynx was forced to bring back Manuela Gostner to the #83 ELMS team. The Italian was supposed to step up to WEC and to contest the Michelin Le Mans Cup together with 17-year old French talent Doriane Pin.
Pin, one of the four finalists in the FIA Women In Motorsport supported program "Girls On Track - Rising Stars", will now share the #9 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo with Belgian driver Sarah Bovy, as the 31-year old former W Series racer has accepted a late call to enter the ELMS support series, marking her return to racing after 2019.
"I’m truly thrilled to announce I will be racing as an Iron Dame with Doriane Pin in the Le Mans Cup. This is gonna be an incredible experience and I can’t thank the team enough for their trust and warm welcome!" - she commented via social media.
"Now let’s race: round 1 - Barcelona - it’s on"
Bovy, a Lamborghini performance instructor, has extensive GT experience and entered selected rounds in the Ligier JS Cup France in 2020. She previously raced in the Lamborghini Supertrofeo, 24H Series, Blancpain GT Series. She was also among the reserve drivers for the inaugural W Series championship in 2019, but had the opportunity to get behind the wheel in four races (including the non-championship Assen race), claiming a 12th place finish at Misano.
Sarah – whose dream is to race in Le Mans – now has the opportunity to show that she indeed belongs to the top endurance championships, with a top team and with potential to move up the ranks. The Michelin Le Mans cup features a six-round calendar, starting from Barcelona (17th April) and then following ELMS at Paul Ricard, Monza, Spa Francorchamps and Portimao. It will also contest a double header round at Le Mans, in support of the 24 Hours race.
The first 2-hour race of the season will get underway on Saturday at 16:30 CEST.