WEC: Iron Dames' charge through the field halted by technical issue in closing minutes at COTA
- RACERS
- 25 minutes ago
- 6 min read
After storming from last on the grid to the top five in torrential conditions and showing front-running pace through Frey’s stint, the Iron Dames’ 6-hours Lone Star Le Mans at COTA ended in heartbreak with a late retirement caused by overheating from a blocked air intake.
A weekend that started with great promise ended in an unfortunate DNF for the Iron Dames, after the all-female team charged through the field in the first half of the 6 Hours of COTA. Recovering from last on the grid to the top three in extremely wet conditions – amidst multiple safety cars and a red flag – the team remained in contention for a top-five finish thanks to a particularly strong middle stint from Rahel Frey. However, changeable weather and later rising engine temperatures caused by dirt blocking the air intake ultimately resulted in a heartbreaking retirement in the final minutes.
Coming off a highly positive round in São Paulo – where the trio of Célia Martin, Rahel Frey and Michelle Gatting brought the #85 Porsche operated by Manthey close to their first podium finish of the year in the series – it was clear that the Iron Dames had made a big step forward in their WEC campaign, despite a season marked by misfortune and issues outside of their control.
The Lone Star Le Mans weekend began strongly in practice. Gatting was immediately on pace in FP1, setting a 2:07.365 for fourth, just three tenths off the top. Both Gatting and Frey showed strong form, with Martin – on her first ever visit to Circuit of the Americas – also quickly got up to speed. FP2 brought even more encouragement, as Frey clocked a 2:06.635, only 0.090 off the #95 United Autosports McLaren that topped the times. Setup work continued in FP3, where Martin further improved ahead of qualifying.
After reaching Hyperpole for the first time at Interlagos, Martin aimed to repeat the feat at COTA. But conditions changed dramatically before qualifying: rain fell just before the LMGT3 session, leaving the track damp and drizzle still falling. Slicks were nevertheless the tyre of choice. Martin built confidence across her early laps, posting a 2:23.591 that placed her ninth – right on the cut line for Hyperpole.
Several cars improved and she responded with a 2:22.433, but that was only good enough for P14. On her final lap, traffic cost her time, and the lap was ultimately deleted for track limits. She was left P18, meaning the Iron Dames would have to charge from the back of the grid.
On Sunday, the race began in torrential rain, with the #85 Porsche lining up 17th in LMGT3 after a post-qualifying penalty for the #87 Lexus. Martin took the start behind the safety car in extremely poor visibility. Even Hypercars were sliding off in the rain, but Martin kept it clean and gained positions as others pitted and was up to P15 by lap 7. She pitted under safety car to top off fuel, then again after six more laps, filling the tank and waiting for conditions to improve. By the 30-minute mark she was P12, without a single lap under green.
As pit strategies cycled, Martin climbed as high as P7 after the first hour. Conditions remained barely drivable, forcing a red flag after 60 minutes. After a 40-minute delay, racing resumed behind the safety car, with Martin in seventh. On lap 21, with 4h11m to go, the race finally went green.
Despite a sea of waterspray and aquaplaning, Martin had a strong restart and immediately gained a position to run sixth in LMGT3, setting laps in the 2:24s. But soon after, the #36 Alpine Hypercar hit the Tecpro barriers at Turn 2, bringing out another safety car. Back under green with 3h46m left, Martin held P6 until lap 32, when she pitted from sixth and handed over to Rahel Frey.
Martin’s stint – her first ever at COTA – had been clean and consistent despite only completing two laps under green. From 18th on the grid she had brought the car into sixth, setting the stage for Frey.
Rahel immediately showed strong pace; she battled with Baud’s McLaren, which dived late into Turn 1 to get ahead with light contact, but Frey soon reclaimed sixth.
Running consistent laps in the 2:20s, she was the second fastest driver in class, climbing to fifth as the last bronze-rated drivers completed their stints. With the United Autosports McLarens ahead, Frey pressed on, overtaking Gelael for fourth with a clean move. She then set her personal best in 2:20.6 and began hunting down the #59 McLaren, just as the #99 Proton Hypercar spun into the gravel at Turn 17, bringing out a Virtual Safety Car.
On lap 44, Frey pitted for fuel and stayed in the car, rejoining in second place as the race reached its halfway mark. At the restart with 2h56m left, Frey slipped behind the McLarens again in extremely difficult conditions with heavy standing water. She then came under pressure from the sister Manthey Porsche of Pera, who found a way past at Turn 1, dropping Frey to seventh. Her pace soon stabilized, however, as she pressured Pera again. Both gained a spot when the #61 Mercedes fell back, and by lap 65 Frey was consistently back in the 2:21s before returning to the 2:20s with purple sectors.
With two hours left, the #7 Toyota Hypercar spun into the gravel, triggering another Virtual Safety Car. Frey pitted on lap 69, handing over to Michelle Gatting, before a full safety car bunched up the field. From fifth, Gatting chased the #59 McLaren now driven by Gregoire Saucy, while also defending from Dennis Olsen in the #88 Mustang. When the #87 Lexus spun and hit the barriers at Turn 20, the safety car was deployed again.
At the restart, Olsen got a run on Gatting and passed, with the #61 Mercedes and #54 Ferrari also slipping through in the following laps, dropping her to eighth. Gatting then recovered two places when Olsen and Hodenius collided just ahead, bringing out a full course yellow on lap 86. She was back in seventh and soon dipped under 2:20s for the first time with a 2:19.7 as the track started to dramatically improve.
With one hour left, Gatting was pressuring the #21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari of Rovera, while also cycling back up into fifth before pitting on lap 100, with 35 minutes to go. The team made a bold call, switching to slicks on a drying but still tricky track. As others did the same, the FCY was deployed to recover the stopped #007 Aston Martin at pit exit.
On slicks, Gatting initially struggled to bring tyres up to temperature, losing places to the #31 and #46 BMWs. But once up to speed, she was rapid: on lap 104 she set her first 2:18s, then dropped into the 2:11s with 20 minutes left, passing Rovera’s Ferrari for ninth while defending from The Heart of Racing Aston Martin.
At the front, the #77 Mustang and #92 Porsche had gambled on wets for the final stint, but with Gatting and others on slicks lapping over 5 seconds quicker, they fell out of podium contention in the final 10 minutes. Gatting was therefore closing fast on them as well, but with just minutes remaining, dirt blocking the Porsche’s air intake caused temperatures to spike and the Danish driver was forced to pit, retiring with two laps to go while on course for points.
“Our Porsche was strong all weekend", Rahel Frey explained. "Unfortunately, after a disappointing qualifying we had to start from far back. Under those circumstances, only bold decisions can get you forward, so we gambled on tire choice and pressures. Sadly, that didn’t work out. In the end we had to retire due to overheating caused by dirt blocking the cooling intakes – a real pity. Now we want to turn our clear potential into a good result at Fuji.”
It was a disappointing conclusion to a race where the Iron Dames had climbed from last on the grid to the top five, with Frey’s stint particularly impressive as she ran among the fastest in class. Gatting managed well the late switch to slicks, but the team was denied a strong result by the technical issues.
Despite the setback, the Iron Dames once again made more progress in WEC and will aim to bounce back at Fuji on 27–28 September, with the next outing being the ELMS round at Silverstone in a week’s time.