Le Mans Cup: Célia Martin and Karen Gaillard step on the podium in Le Castellet

On only their second race in GT3 machinery and as part of the Iron Dames team, Célia Martin and Karen Gaillard claimed their first pole position as well as first podium in Michelin Le Mans Cup, securing a second place finish at Circuit Paul Ricard after an outstanding run in the 1 hour and 50 minute second round of the championship.

Photo credits: Iron Dames

On only their second race in GT3 machinery and as part of the Iron Dames team, Célia Martin and Karen Gaillard claimed their first pole position as well as first podium in Michelin Le Mans Cup, securing a second place finish at Circuit Paul Ricard after an outstanding run in the 1 hour and 50 minute second round of the championship.

Martin and Gaillard joined the all-female project earlier this year, graduating respectively from ADAC GT4 and Ultimate Cup. On Le Mans Cup debut, the duo immediately showed big potential at the wheel of the #83 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2, showing enough speed to contend for podium positions. After a stellar qualifying at the season opener in Barcelona, the new Dames dropped out of contention for a podium following a pit penalty and a spin, but their performance was highly promising.

And at the second round at Le Castellet, in the South of France, Martin and Gaillard delivered brilliantly, securing the team's first ever pole position in the series and brought home a hard-earned second place after leading a sizable part of the race.

The French circuit soon proved to be a friendly ground for Iron Dames: Karen Gaillard was less than a second away from the top in FP1, then Martin set the fastest lap in the practice session dedicated to bronze-rated drivers, with a 1:57.079 that proved that she would have a good chance in qualifying.

Célia in fact got behind the wheel for her second qualifying in the series on Saturday in the early afternoon, after the whole team clearly made a step forward from the Barcelona season opener. The French driver set the early pace and she put over a second in between the second-placed car - the #24 Steller Audi. Martin, though, lost the lap to track limits - but she soon made up for it, reclaiming the top spot with a 1:56.843.

The #51 AF Corse Ferrari of Matthew Kurzejewski managed to find two tenths and moved up into provisional pole; Martin, though, continued to push and, with an outstanding final lap, she outpaced the AF Corse Ferrari 296 of Kurzejewski by 0.156 of a second, earning the first pole position for Iron Dames in Le Mans Cup.

Photo credits: FocusPackMedia - Marcel Wulf

The #83 pink Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2 therefore lined up on pole positions for the second round of the 2024 Michelin Le Mans Cup championship and Célia Martin led the pack into turn 1 for the first time this season. With almost 30 LMP3 cars, the first lap was a hectic one with contacts and spins at most of the corners.

Martin had a strong start and mingled with the LMP3 class, although she had to avoid cars all over the place and Matthew Kurzejewski found a way past on the first lap for the class lead. Célia, though, soon fought back and reclaimed her first position one lap later.

The #83 Iron Dames Lamborghini and the #51 AF Corse Ferrari managed to break away from the rest of the GT3 pack but continued to run in slower LMP3 traffic. Martin set the early fastest lap of the race - and kept her rival half a second behind, while at the same time she managed traffic. Despite plenty of contact and spins by both GT3 and LMP3 cars, the race could remain green throughout the first ten minutes of the race.

Martin and Kurzejewski were the only drivers to lap under the 1m58, almost two seconds per lap faster than the rest of the GT3 field. Unfortunately their run was interrupted by a full course yellow on lap 7, when the #23 Biogas Motorsport Ferrari grinded to a halt and the #59 Team Virage LMP3 of Oscar Bittar had to retire with a hole in the radiator. Martin had a brilliant restart and smartly put a LMP3 car in between her Lamborghini and Kurzejewski's Ferrari, which gained her a few crucial tenths. The Frenchwoman kept chipping away and set a new streak of fastest laps that gave her more breathing space - and brought the new benchmark below the 1m57.

The Iron Dame built a gap with great consistency: by lap 18, she further lowered her own fastest lap by a few hundredths of a second and brought her margin up to over 10 seconds. Two separate LMP3 accidents on the following lap required the second Full Course Yellow. Unfortunately, Iron Dames were handed a 10 second penalty to be served at the pit stop for a starting infraction: Martin would have to push as much as possible to extend her lead ahead of the driver change.

Kurzejewski pitted on lap 22, together with most of the GT3 field; Martin extended her stint by two laps and pitted from the class lead and 19th overall, almost a lap clear of the closest GT3 rival. After serving the penalty, the Iron Dames Lamborghini had to be moved for Karen Gaillard to restart, having been boxed in by a LMP3 car in the pit slot ahead. At the same time, Alessandro Balzan immediately set the new fastest lap and claimed the lead of the race after the pit cycle.

Now second, Gaillard improved the car's best lap but it wasn't quite enough to close in on Alessandro Balzan's Ferrari. Nevertheless, Karen continued to set personal best laps and settled on a competitive 1:56.0 that allowed her to retain a safe margin to third placed Scott Malvern.

Photo credits: FocusPackMedia - Marcel Wulf

With 30 minutes to go, the Swiss driver had found her rhythm and she was lapping on par with the car ahead and the car behind. A close battle between Malvern and Riccardo Agostini saw the AF Corse Ferrari trading positions with the High Class Racing Porsche, now 20 seconds behind the Iron Dames Ferrari.

Gaillard continued to log good laps and kept the gap stable - and capitalized on the battle for third when Kessel Racing's Fran Rueda also joined the party.

After 53 laps of extremely intense racing, Karen Gaillard took the chequered flag 19 seconds behind the #51 AF Corse Ferrari, claiming a remarkable second place finish which represents Gaillard and Martin's first podium for Iron Dames - at both drivers' second ever race in GT3.

It was a big statement from Iron Dames, who returned to the series after last competing in 2021. Célia Martin was the best performing bronze driver in the championship and proved great qualifying skills. Gaillard made an important step forward after Barcelona and was among the fastest silver drivers - at times matching the pace of much more experienced gold-rated racers.

The 19 points collected at Paul Ricard promoted the Iron Dames to third place in the GT3 class championship standings, just 7 points behind the Kessel Racing duo of Andrew Gilbert and Fran Rueda, who were third after a post-race penalty for the #88 AF Corse Ferrari.

Célia Martin and Karen Gaillard are set to return to the Michelin Le Mans Cup for the biggest round of the calendar: the "Road to Le Mans" at Circuit de la Sarthe, where the series will host a double 55-minute race on the support program of the 24 Hours of Le Mans on 14-15 June.