Weekend to forget for Iron Dames at 4H of Spa

Iron Dames faced one of their most challenging weekends at the ELMS 4 Hours of Spa, but remain determined to quickly turn the page and bounce back stronger at the FIA WEC round in Austin.

Photo credits: FocusPackMedia - Marcel Wulf

There are weekends when things are just not meant to be, and the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, the fourth round of the European Le Mans Series, was one of those for the Iron Dames.

Motorsport is known for its highest highs, but it inevitably comes with some lows, which make the highs even more valuable. The ELMS 4 Hours of Spa was certainly one of those lows for the all-female team that has revolutionized sports car racing.

Coming off a remarkable win in early July, where Sarah Bovy, Rahel Frey, and Michelle Gatting battled until the final lap to score their first win in the European Le Mans Series since the 2022 season finale in Portimão, the three Dames were aiming to pick up where they left off before the summer break, building on this momentum to continue climbing the championship standings.

After an unfortunate DNF at Barcelona due to a technical issue during their final pit stop and an unlucky safety car timing at Paul Ricard that denied them a victory as well as a podium, the Iron Dames experienced the perfect race at Imola, where the entire team and strategy were flawless, allowing Bovy, Frey, and Gatting to climb to third in the LMGT3 standings.

However, at the beginning of the fourth race weekend, the enthusiasm was quickly dampened by tragic news: long-time Iron Dames and Iron Lynx team member and driver coach Luca Persiani, 40, had lost his life in a road accident in Italy.

The news was clearly a big shock for the entire team, which sported a message in his honor on the cars and aimed to dedicate a strong result to the highly-respected coach and former driver during the weekend.

Unfortunately, the race event got off to a very challenging start. In the first practice session, a big accident midway through the session forced the team to completely rebuild the car. Rahel Frey and the United Autosport LMP2 Oreca driven by Bijoy Garg collided on the Kemmel Straight, resulting in over an hour-long red flag interruption.

Luckily, Frey was unhurt and was released from the medical center after being assessed following the big impact.

The #85 pink Porsche 911 GT3 R was beyond repair, and the crew had to rebuild the car with a new chassis, causing Iron Dames to miss both the Bronze practice session and Saturday morning’s second practice.

After an impressive effort, the car was ready just in time for qualifying on Saturday afternoon.

Sarah Bovy’s first lap straight into the 15-minute qualifying session was also the first lap for the rebuilt car and her placed her P8.

Bovy built speed in the car nicely, moving to sixth on her second timed lap. On her third lap, she was pushing hard, clocking a great second sector and was likely heading for a second or third place, but she went deep into the Bus Stop chicane and had to settle for sixth. With Takeshi Kimura having a lap time deleted, Iron Dames were promoted to P5— a fine performance under the circumstances and an incredible effort to reward the team for its overnight work.

The #63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini driven by Hiroshi Hamaguchi sealed pole position, ahead of Formula Racing’s Johnny Laursen and Martin Berry’s Grid Motorsport Aston Martin.

However, Sarah Bovy would start from eighth place following a three-grid drop penalty.

Photo credits: Iron Dames

Race day on Sunday brought sunny conditions to Spa. After a positive qualifying, there was optimism for a recovery in the 4-hour race among the Italian squad.

Sarah Bovy indeed had a great getaway, moving from eighth to sixth on the first lap. She survived a few skirmishes and was immediately on a charge, moving up to fifth place with a great pass and setting the fastest lap in the LMGT3 class in the opening stages, before a safety car was deployed due to a big crash involving the #66 Ferrari at Turn 11, after contact with the #10 Vector and the #25 APR LMP2 Orecas.

The #63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini led the LMGT3 class over the #50 Formula Racing Ferrari and the #85 Dames Porsche at the restart. Bovy passed DeBoer right at the restart but then fell behind the Spirit of Race Ferrari driven by Griffin at Les Combes, although they switched back positions soon after.

Both overtook Johnny Laursen, with Sarah moving into second place and charging to catch Iron Lynx's Hiroshi Hamaguchi in the lead. Fifty minutes into the race, Bovy was in full attack mode.

Faster than Hamaguchi, Sarah went for a move at the end of Kemmel, but Griffin dived on the inside line to take second; the three made contact, and Sarah, unsettled by the kerb, bounced back into the path of the Spirit of Race Ferrari, with all three cars going off.

Sarah managed to rejoin but had damage, leading to a Virtual Safety Car; she pitted and after repair to the front bumper, she could rejoin in fourth place. The full Safety Car procedure followed, bunching up the pack.

At the restart, with 2 hours and 50 minutes to go, Bovy was in third and avoided a spun LMP2 car at the Bus Stop as she resumed her charge.

However, Hamaguchi had contact with an LMP3 car at La Source and picked up suspension damage. As the Japanese driver headed towards Eau Rouge without steering, Sarah Bovy found herself in the wrong place at the wrong time; the Iron Dames Porsche had nowhere to go and hit the bright yellow Lamborghini, causing race-ending damage to the front-right suspension.

“This week has been tough and obviously, we are very disappointed with how today’s race ended", Bovy commented. "I can only thank the team for the amazing work we have achieved over the week. The car was amazing to drive today, and that was because of them."

"It was a very intense race here in Spa, and I have to apologise to the #55 Ferrari crew who I made contact with at the beginning of the stint", the Belgian said in a classy statement. "I’m sorry that their race was over and I saw what happened – I lost the car and made contact with them. It was an intense fight and I take full responsibility."

"What happened with the sister Iron Lynx car was caused by contact that Hiroshi had with an LMP2 beforehand. He lost steering in Eau Rouge and I was just in the wrong place. We want to come back from this weekend, learn from it and as a team, we will come back stronger.”

Resuming their busy schedule, Iron Dames will now quickly turn the page and head to Austin, Texas, where they will contest the sixth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship at Circuit of the Americas on 1st September.