Iron Dames concluded their first participation in the Asian Le Mans Series with a seventh-place finish in Round 5 at Yas Marina Circuit, marking their second top-ten result in the championship following strong recovery drives in both races.
Iron Dames concluded their first participation in the Asian Le Mans Series with a seventh-place finish in Round 5 at Yas Marina Circuit, marking their second top-ten result in the championship.
The series provided the perfect opportunity for new bronze-rated driver Célia Martin to gain valuable experience within the main Iron Dames lineup. The final two four-hour races took place in Abu Dhabi, where the all-female team fought their way up the order in both rounds, gaining nine positions on both Saturday and Sunday.
The Abu Dhabi doubleheader marked a step forward compared to the previous week's 4 Hours of Dubai, where Martin, Bovy, and Gatting endured challenging races despite showing top-ten pace. A fueling issue in the closing minutes of Race 1 denied them a strong result, while a first-lap incident in Race 2 took them out of contention. Despite a brilliant effort by the team's mechanics to repair the car quickly and get it back on track, they ultimately finished P23.
Returning to Abu Dhabi—where the team previously competed in the Gulf 12 Hours in 2019—offered the team an opportunity to end the 2024/2025 Asian Le Mans Series on a high at a circuit that better suited their car compared to the low-grip Dubai Autodrome.
This was evident during the pre-event test, where Iron Dames ran closer to the top ten in the highly competitive 30-car GT class.
Further progress was made in car setup during official practice, with the team finishing eleventh in FP2, as Michelle Gatting set their best lap at 1:53.853.
On Saturday morning, Célia Martin took over qualifying duties for her third qualifying session as part of the main Iron Dames lineup. After a few laps of tyre preparation, her first timed lap of 1:56.7 placed her 17th. However, a spin at the final corner by the #42 Prime Speed Sport Lamborghini brought out a red flag with eight minutes remaining. This put drivers in a difficult position, limiting their chances to set two quick laps to determine starting positions for both races.
When the session resumed with five minutes left, it was immediately halted again due to debris on track after the #87 Origine Motorsport Porsche collided with the #27 Optimum McLaren. With only three minutes remaining, Yuan Bo in the #87 Porsche spun again, bringing out yet another red flag. The session was not resumed, leaving Célia Martin in P17 for Race 1, then promoted to 16th. However the second-best 2:11.672 lap resulted in a P22 for the grid of Sunday's season finale.
RACE 1
The first race of the weekend at Yas Marina Circuit started at 3 PM local time, with Célia Martin lining up in P16. Turn 1 was extremely busy, with multiple cars vying for positions; a major crash involving the #46 QMMF by Herberth Porsche and the #79 Tsunami RT Porsche brought out a red flag at the end of the opening lap.
Martin had taken the outside line at Turn 1, avoiding the chaos and slotting into 15th before the race was neutralized and all cars returned to the main straight during the stoppage.
After over an hour of red flag conditions for barrier repairs, the race was extended by 30 minutes. It resumed behind the safety car with 3 hours and 4 minutes remaining, and the green flag was waved shortly after.
Célia Martin held her position at the restart before beginning to make up ground in the opening laps. By Lap 6, she had moved up to P13 and set her sights on Takeshi Kimura in the #57 Car Guy Ferrari.
Just as the race began to settle into a rhythm, a spin at the final corner by the #35 Ultimate LMP3 resulted in a high-speed collision with the stationary prototype by the #81 Winward Mercedes of Salikhov—the championship leader in the GT class. The accident scattered debris across the track, prompting another safety car period.
The race went green again on Lap 11, with Martin advancing to 12th after the 2Seas Motorsport Mercedes suffered a puncture. She continued chasing the #57 Ferrari, which was holding her up on pace.
On Lap 13, Martin made a decisive move around the outside at Turn 11, grabbing P11 and immediately pulling away at over a second per lap. Once in clean air, she broke into the 1:57s, eventually setting a 1:56.4 as she aimed to close the gap to the Car Collection Motorsport Porsche.
A brief full-course yellow was required after an overoptimistic move by the #98 EBM Aston Martin eliminated the Car Guy Kessel Ferrari.
At the restart, Martin briefly lost 11th to the #74 Kessel Ferrari of Blattner but regained the position after Bashar Mardini was handed a drive-through penalty for track limits violations.
She then improved her personal best to 1:55.8—making her the second-fastest driver in class on that lap. She continued to follow Blattner closely and eventually broke into the top ten on Lap 23 as the race neared the halfway mark.
Maintaining a competitive pace, Martin stayed in the car longer while the first round of GT pit stops began. She cycled up to ninth before pitting on Lap 28, with two hours remaining, handing over to Sarah Bovy. Bovy rejoined in P23, but as the pit stops played out, the Iron Dames Porsche climbed back to seventh—showcasing a well-executed strategy.
Bovy had a superb start to her stint, making up positions and running as high as fifth. She later settled into sixth place, closely following Joel Sturm in the #10 Manthey Porsche after he seized an opportunity to pass her while she was navigating LMP2 traffic.
Bovy then significantly closed in on the #9 GetSpeed Mercedes of Anthony Bartone, setting up a battle for fifth. Temperatures dropped and the sun set; Bovy fell to P8 but remained right behind Bartone’s Mercedes. She eventually reclaimed seventh place as the race entered its final hour, skillfully avoiding a spinning prototype just in front of her.
After completing her stint, Bovy handed the car over to Michelle Gatting, who rejoined in ninth and immediately pushed forward. Gatting maintained a consistent 1:55 pace and climbed into eighth. On Lap 71, she set her personal best with a 1:54.974—the first sub-1:55 lap of the race for Iron Dames. She continued closing the gap to Conrad Laursen’s AF Corse Ferrari.
A full-course yellow was deployed with 26 minutes to go due to debris from a wing mirror in the hotel section. When the race went green, Gatting had a three-second gap to the car ahead and behind.
Another FCY for debris followed, and with just over 10 minutes remaining, Alfred Renauer closed in after the green flag waved again. However, Gatting quickly regained her pace and held him off. In the final minutes, she defended well and crossed the finish line in seventh place—just shy of Iron Dames’ best result in the Asian Le Mans Series, a sixth-place finish in Sepang.
It was a strong run for the #85 Porsche, particularly from rookie Célia Martin, as the team recovered from starting deep in the field. A clean race secured their second top-ten finish in the championship on a circuit that suited their car better, setting up a promising outlook for the final race on Sunday.
RACE 2
Sunday afternoon hosted the final round of the 2025 Asian Le Mans Series, also marking the first title-deciding race of the endurance racing season. Iron Dames, coming off a strong first race on Saturday where the #85 pink Porsche recovered nine positions to finish in the top ten, collected valuable data and demonstrated clear progress as a newly formed trio this year.
For Race 2, Célia Martin lined up in P22, facing another recovery drive but with another chance to showcase the team's improvements.
At the green flag, the #25 Algarve Pro LMP2 Oreca was spun around at Turn 1, while an unrelated incident saw the #42 Prime Speed Sport Lamborghini suffer a heavy impact. This resulted in Rene Malmezac crashing into the inside barriers at high speed, bringing out the safety car immediately.
Martin had a clean getaway, once again taking the outside line and gaining two positions before the race was neutralized. However, with the armco barrier requiring repairs—similar to the previous day—the safety car period soon turned into a red flag.
Fortunately, the stoppage was shorter than on Saturday, and the race resumed behind the safety car with the clock reset to four hours. When the race went green, Martin held P19 and quickly settled into competitive lap times, running in 1:57.5 and gaining half a second on the #12 Car Collection Motorsport Porsche. However, another crash—this time involving the #96 2Seas Motorsport Mercedes—scattered debris across the track, triggering a Virtual Safety Car and temporarily halting Martin’s progress.
Several GT3 teams opted to pit under caution, while Iron Dames stayed out, allowing Martin to climb to P14 before pitting one lap later. A full safety car was then deployed, and Iron Dames rejoined in 19th place, 30 minutes into the race.
As the race restarted, Martin aimed to find her rhythm. Intense midfield battles saw her caught in a group of cars, fighting hard to defend against Ralf Bohn, who eventually got past. Determined to regain ground, Martin managed to hold onto P17 and climbed to P16 as cars ahead pitted. She pursued the #98 EBM Aston Martin but found herself continuously stuck behind traffic. She also survived a light contact with the Algarve Pro Oreca but continued without damage.
While Martin had strong pace in clean air, she struggled to maintain rhythm in heavy traffic. Nevertheless, she pushed her way up to P14 as the race reached the one-hour mark.
Cycling up to P10 before her pit stop, Martin, unfortunately, received a drive-through penalty for track limits, which she served on Lap 37.
She then pitted again one lap later, handing over to Sarah Bovy from P24 with 2 hours and 34 minutes remaining. It was a more challenging start for Martin on Sunday, as her race was hampered by the many disruptions in the opening stages.
Bovy rejoined in P22 as other cars pitted for driver changes. With much of the GT3 field stopping in the following laps, the Belgian driver climbed back into the top 20.
On Lap 43, Bovy made another pit stop, taking the opportunity just before another safety car was deployed, which caused the pit lane to close. The strategy aligned with several other GT3 teams.
After the pass-around procedure, Bovy found herself in 20th place before the restart.
Once the race went green, she gained a position on the #19 Blackthorn Aston Martin, moving up to P19. She then avoided further chaos as multiple cars collided at Turn 6, allowing her to advance to P16.
With fierce battles unfolding in GT3, Bovy briefly dropped back to P19 amid another series of full-course yellows caused by debris, which continued to disrupt the race's rhythm.
She then overtook Manuel Franco’s AF Corse Ferrari for P18, though the #28 Ferrari fought back. Bovy ultimately secured the position.
As the race finally settled, she clocked a 1:55.4—the team’s best lap at that point—before gaining another position. Her pace was notably stronger than on Saturday, as she ran competitively against several front-running cars.
With multiple contacts occurring in GT3, several cars were handed drive-through penalties, including the #12 Car Collection Porsche, which allowed Bovy to move up to P14 by Lap 69.
After a strong stint, Bovy pitted again on Lap 73 but remained behind the wheel of the #85 Porsche. She rejoined in seventh place in the GT class at the end of the fourth round of pit stops, though she would need to stop once more.
She engaged in a tough battle with the #89 EBM Aston Martin of Jamie Day for sixth place. After some side-by-side contact, she had to back off. One lap later, Bovy made her final pit stop, handing the car over to Michelle Gatting for the final hour of racing. Gatting rejoined in P20.
With her head down, Gatting pushed forward, and by the end of the pit cycle, she had climbed to P16. She improved the team's benchmark lap time to 1:55.1 before breaking into the 1:54s with a 1:54.897 just 15 minutes into her stint.
Gatting remained consistent in the 1:55 range, slowly closing the gap to the #51 AF Corse Ferrari of Sbirrazuoli, who was nearly 10 seconds ahead.
Another full-course yellow was deployed with 30 minutes to go due to debris. Once back to green, Gatting had reduced the gap to six seconds and was chasing a top-15 finish in the final race of the Asian Le Mans Series season.
Sbirrazuoli then received a stop-and-go penalty for causing a collision, promoting Gatting to P15 with 20 minutes remaining. She moved up to P14 when the #87 Origine Motorsport Porsche pitted after receiving a technical flag. Gatting continued to deliver a super-consistent stint in the 1:55s—not quite front-running pace, but solid enough to keep progressing.
With several cars pitting for fuel in the final 10 minutes, the Dane advanced to P13.
After a tough and highly strategic race, Michelle Gatting crossed the finish line in 13th place, completing the 2024-2025 Asian Le Mans Series season for Iron Dames. Though not quite the result they deserved, it was still a strong recovery in her final stint.
“So, that’s ALMS done with the last two races here in Abu Dhabi", Michelle Gatting said. "We got seventh yesterday and 13th today so a difficult weekend - we were working hard to find a good setup for the races which we felt we did."
"In the end I think we were lacking some pace compared to the other cars which was tough, but I think we’ve all taken a lot of learnings away from this", the Danish driver added.
"Célia is gaining more and more experience. This is one of the toughest GT championships so we’re learning the hard way, but hopefully when we race in Qatar in two weeks the result will be better.”
Despite the challenges, the Asian season proved to be a valuable opportunity for Célia Martin to gain experience at this level of competition. Her steady progression in every session and race will be crucial for the team’s upcoming programs in the FIA WEC and ELMS.
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