Redemption at Barcelona: Iron Dames secure first win of the season at ELMS season opener
- MIKA BÖCKER
- 4 hours ago
- 5 min read
"I knew I was more in control than they were, and I could see where I was stronger" - it was redemption time at Barcelona, as the Iron Dames delivered a flawless performance in the ELMS season opener, with Célia Martin, Sarah Bovy, and Michelle Gatting securing a historic and emotional LMGT3 class victory in the #85 Porsche after a dominant 4-hour race.
The groundbreaking all-female Iron Dames team delivered a flawless performance in the Barcelona season opener of the European Le Mans Series, earning their first victory of the season.
In a historic day for women in motorsport, four women stood atop the ELMS podium at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya — three of whom were Iron Dames drivers: Célia Martin, making her series debut, Sarah Bovy, and Michelle Gatting. The trio piloted the #85 Porsche 911 GT3 R to the top of the LMGT3 class after a spectacular showing from each driver.
It was a true redemption moment for the team, who had retired from the Barcelona round last year after dominating the race, only to suffer a stuck wheel nut at the final pit stop with less than an hour remaining.
One year later, the trio returned with a revised driver lineup: Célia Martin stepping in as the new bronze-rated driver following her impressive progress since debuting with the team in the Asian Le Mans Series, and Sarah Bovy now classified as silver. Together, they completed a perfect race, supported by spot-on strategy from the team.
Their pace was clear early on, especially in the bronze collective test, where Martin topped the timesheets with a 1:42.403. The team went on to set the fourth-fastest time in final practice with Porsche factory driver Michelle Gatting behind the wheel.
Qualifying for the season opener got off to a hectic start, with GT3 teams rushing out of the pit lane and creating a traffic jam. But Célia Martin wasn’t fazed. On her first timed lap, she jumped to second place, just 0.222 seconds behind the leader. As lap times dropped across the board, Martin further improved and clocked the fastest time in the final sector. She ultimately secured second on the grid, only 0.178 seconds off pole — a remarkable performance on her ELMS debut.
Starting from the front row of the LMGT3 class, Martin made a stellar getaway, navigating the opening corners cleanly and taking the class lead on the first lap. Amid chaos in the prototype categories, she even held off several LMP3 cars before confidently extending her lead to six seconds within the first hour.
Even after the first pit stop cycle, Martin maintained a solid gap to her closest pursuer, the Iron Lynx Mercedes. Roughly 100 minutes into the race, her lead was impacted by a Virtual Safety Car and then a full Safety Car, triggered when the #66 Ferrari 296 GT3 spun into the gravel at Turn 3.
GT3 teams pitted under the VSC, but the Iron Dames retained the lead. A few prototypes were positioned between them and the second-place car after the restart, allowing Martin to rebuild her gap. She maintained a six-second cushion in the next stint, even after AF Corse replaced Iron Lynx as the main challenger.
After two hours and nine minutes, Martin pitted and handed over to Sarah Bovy, concluding an outstanding double stint in which she consistently outpaced her bronze-rated competitors while expertly managing tyre wear — a critical factor at Barcelona.
"I was super focused on keeping the tyres alive,“ she explained, "I was trying to manage the Iron Lynx car behind me, create a gap and manage the tyres. That was the game I was trying to play; to be consistent and stay in the zone."
"It was a completely different approach in the ALMS races last year and earlier in 2025. That was all to gain experience for this championship, and that helped me today—I really enjoyed my stints; the car was great.“ Martin would later be named as the most valuable LMGT3 driver of the race for the Goodyear Wingfoot Award.
Bovy quickly established her rhythm, setting the team's fastest laps to date. She was now under pressure from the sister Proton Porsche, which was then overtaken by the Iron Lynx Mercedes. Soon after, the race was again neutralized when the #12 WTR by Rinaldi LMP3 car spun into the gravel at the final corner.
Under the VSC, the Iron Dames Porsche made another pit stop, with Iron Lynx stopping a lap later. No driver changes were made at this point, as the remaining race time would exceed the maximum allowed driving time for the remaining drivers. As before, several prototypes sat between the front-running GT3s.
With under an hour remaining, the Iron Lynx Mercedes suffered a dramatic retirement when the throttle pedal got stuck, forcing the car to be pushed back into the garage.
Bovy completed her stint and pitted with 40 minutes to go, handing the car to Michelle Gatting. The Belgian had once again delivered an outstanding performance, running at the sharp end of the silver-ranked drivers while managing the gap brilliantly in one of her trademark world-class performances.
However, Bovy’s thoughts were also with her teammate Marta García, who had suffered a heavy crash the day before in the Le Mans Cup. "Firstly, we’ve all been very concerned for Marta [García] overnight, so it was amazing to arrive at the track today and hear she had no major injuries", she stated.
"We just want to tell her that we won for her today. My first race as a Silver was incredible. Célia did great, but when I got in the car, there was so much pressure. Michelle was there to keep me in the right mindset though; she helped me a lot with that. Today was about consistency and keeping the tires alive and I think we all did that really well.“
After the final round of stops, the Iron Dames briefly dropped to fourth but cycled back into the lead once all pit stops were complete. Soon after, the #11 Eurointernational LMP3 Ligier stopped on track, triggering a Full Course Yellow and setting up a tense final half hour.
Kessel Racing's Daniel Serra emerged as the new challenger in the #57 Ferrari, gradually closing in on Gatting. However she held her ground under increasing pressure, and with 18 minutes to go, another VSC was deployed when the second-placed #47 CLX Motorsport LMP2 car came to a halt.
The race resumed for just two green-flag laps. Under immense pressure, Gatting held off Serra to secure the Iron Dames' first ELMS win of the season in a flawless display of teamwork and strategy.
"Pressure seems to be quite good for me," Gatting smiled after the race. "Of course, it would’ve been nice to have more of a gap, but I knew the tyres would drop when they pushed too hard behind."
"I knew I was more in control than they were, and I could see where I was stronger. The job that Célia and Sarah did today was amazing. I’m very happy to start the year like this — because not scoring points in this race last season was one of the main reasons we missed out on the championship.”
With their first win now secured, the Iron Dames will head to Italy for the 6 Hours of Imola, the second round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, before resuming their ELMS campaign on 2–4 May at the 4 Hours of Le Castellet.
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