WEC: Iron Dames fight for the podium before contact in Lone Star Le Mans at COTA

"Obviously, it’s not fun to fight alone, but we tried to reach the finish line because that’s what we do" - Iron Dames faced another challenging race at COTA, battling for a podium throughout the first part of the race but ultimately finishing P13 after mid-race contact, nevertheless showcasing strong pace and unbreakable spirit despite setbacks.

Photo credits: Javier Jimenez / DPPI

Iron Dames faced a challenging yet promising race at the sixth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship at Circuit of the Americas, Austin, as Sarah Bovy, Rahel Frey and Michelle Gatting battled for podium positions in the Lone Star Le Mans six-hour race before a mid-race contact took them out of contention.

Nevertheless, the all female team returned to the track after repairs and completed the race in P13, fighting until the end and showcasing strong pace on a track that turned out to be unfavourable for Lamborghini, proving once again to make up for misfortunes with talent and fighting spirit.

Just a few days after a remarkably unlucky 4H of Spa Francorchamps in the European Le Mans Series, Iron Dames were aiming to turn the page and return to battle at the front in the FIA World Endurance Championship, where they previously secured two pole positions and two top-five finishes at Spa and Le Mans. They would need to bounce back from a mechanical retirement in Interlagos, when the trio were looking strong for a potential victory but were taken out in the first half of the race.

The 2024 season has in fact been an unbelievable streak of misfortunes for the Italian squad, which often saw big results slipping away for either mechanical issues or by getting caught in unfortunate incidents. The 2024 Lone Star Le Mans round at COTA was yet another chapter in this story, as Bovy, Frey and Gatting all showed strong pace in the race, even when running alone and a few laps down in the second half of the event.

The team worked tirelessly on the car during the build-up on Friday, making progress on the setup and building consistency in the practice sessions. Gatting clocked a 2:08.287 lap in the first practice session that placed the #85 Lamborghini in 17th position among the LMGT3 entries. Their 2:06.453 moved them up to eleventh in the second practice, again by the Danish racer.

In the 12-minute qualifying session on Saturday, Sarah Bovy took the wheel of the pink Lamborghini, aiming to continue her impressive qualifying record.

Her first timed lap placed her in P7, then with purple sectors on her second lap, she moved up to third, behind the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin of Ian James and the #81 TF Sport Corvette of Van Rompuy.

On her third lap, Sarah topped the timesheets in Q1 with a 2:06.009, one-tenth clear of James' Aston Martin. Despite fast sectors from competitors, Sarah had done enough to secure P1 in the first part of qualifying and advanced to Hyperpole.

Sarah set a good first lap in the session that sets the grid for the top ten, going straight to the top of the leaderboard with a 2:05.759 with purple sectors in two and three. It was a great lap, good enough to stay ahead of Malykhin and Cottingham, but ended up being 172 thousandths short of Ian James' fastest effort.

Unfortunately, a power steering failure forced Sarah to pit after her first run, and she had to settle for second. Iron Dames would start from the front row in the 6H Lone Star Le Mans at COTA—a great effort despite the technical issue that made the car barely drivable.

Photo credits; Julien Delfosse / DPPI

The Dames were looking for redemption after bad luck in the last few weekends. High temperatures on Sunday again proved to be testing on the cars.

The race got underway with Bovy starting second in LMGT3; the Belgian found herself on the outside line at Turn 1 and had to give way to Heriau in the Esses, slotting back into third in class, but the whole field had a clean getaway. Ian James kept the lead in the pole-winning #27 Aston Martin, with a close battle behind involving Heriau, Bovy, and Van Rompuy, all covered by a handful of tenths. Bovy made a good pass for second on lap 4, reclaiming her starting position.

While her Lamborghini struggled to keep up with the leading Aston on the straights, Sarah's trademark consistency helped the Iron Dames to maintain a small safe margin to the TF Sport Corvette and the Vista AF Corse Ferrari, with Ben Keating's Proton Mustang also not far behind.

Bovy kept improving her personal best laps, but the Heart of Racing Aston kept chipping away, despite Sarah's strong laps giving her a buffer to the cars behind.

However, 20 laps into the race, Bovy was able to slightly close the gap to James, bringing it down to around 3 seconds, where it stayed stable.

In the first round of pit stops, one hour into the race, Sarah brought the magenta Lamborghini Huracan in on lap 25 and stayed behind the wheel for a second stint. Quite a few teams switched to silver or even platinum-rated drivers, opting to give bronze drivers a break from the heat. Bovy kept second in class and continued to cut the gap to Ian James after the stop.

Bovy had an incredibly strong start to the second stint, reducing the gap to James to under two seconds and extending the gap to Van Rompuy and Malykhin with consistent good laps. With hypercar traffic, Sarah significantly closed in and had the pace to challenge the Aston Martin.

The Belgian followed James closely for most of the stint, keeping the pressure up and trying to sneak past during moments of hypercar traffic. The leading duo was caught by platinum-rated Maxime Martin, who took the lead of the LMGT3 class by lap 50.

A few minutes later, Bovy brought the #85 Lamborghini into the pits for the second stop, and Rahel Frey took over from third.

Daniel Mancinelli took over the #27 Heart of Racing Aston and immediately set the fastest lap of the race, reclaiming the lead once bronze-rated Ahmad Al-Harthy got behind the wheel of the #46 Team WRT BMW. Rahel Frey held third and clocked the new car's fastest lap in 2:07.314 as she chased the BMW M4 GT3 driven by the Omani driver ahead. However, she was demoted to fourth by Rui Andrade's Corvette, who had been running faster than all the frontrunners. Rahel passed Al Harthy one lap later, grabbing back third.

Photo credits; Julien Delfosse / DPPI

Frey started gaining a few tenths on Andrade and was back within a one-second range as she improved again on the car's best lap, 2:07.177. Behind her, Manthey's Joel Sturm overtook Al Harthy, but Frey's pace kept him at bay, almost 8 seconds behind.

Rahel clocked a 2:07.0 and engaged in a battle with Andrade, and, once a clear gap opened at turn 7, she went for a move. Andrade, however, shut the door late - which resulted in contact. The Lamborghini picked up rear suspension damage, forcing the car back into the garage on lap 67, with 3 hours and 30 minutes remaining.

The car returned to the track after repairs, now 4 laps down on the class leader and in P17.

The #81 Corvette of Andrade later received a 10-second penalty at the next pit stop for causing the contact.

With new tyres, Frey immediately set competitive times, clocking a 2:06.953, her first lap under 2:07, then stabilizing at a competitive low 2:07 pace. She moved up to P16 in LMGT3 when the D'Station Aston Martin hit trouble.

Rahel continued recording a couple of laps in the 2:06s, then pitted on lap 92, with 2 hours and 30 minutes to go, handing over to Michelle Gatting. Despite the collision, Frey's stint was fast and consistent, which would have likely kept the #85 Lamborghini in contention for a podium finish.

The Danish ace was immediately up to speed, clocking a 2:06.641, topping Rahel's best lap, and continued to run as one of the fastest cars in the LMGT3 class.

Despite running a lonely race, 2 laps behind the closest competitor, Michelle never gave up, matching the pace of some platinum drivers, showing her remarkable fighting spirit.

After a competitive stint, often at a 2:06 pace, Gatting pitted on lap 118 for fuel and remained behind the wheel for a second stint - despite a recurring power steering issue.

Michelle nevertheless had an equally strong run and gained a position on the #81 TF Sport Corvette when it was wheeled into the garage for repairs. She kept focus, managed a couple of full-course yellows, and moved up to P14 when the #88 Proton Competition Mustang of Dennis Olsen went off.

The Iron Dames Huracan completed its final scheduled pit stop with 38 minutes to go, with Michelle Gatting handing over to Rahel Frey for the final stint.

Despite being one lap behind the sister Iron Lynx car, Rahel pushed hard and topped the team's best lap with a 2:06.447. Unfortunately, she picked up a drive-through penalty for track limits, which did not cost her any track position.

When the #46 Team WRT BMW of Maxime Martin fell down the order, Rahel grabbed P13 with 20 minutes to go. Matching the pace of the frontrunners, Rahel clocked a 2:06.069 on the penultimate lap, further lowering the team's benchmark and crossing the finish line in P13.

Once again, the team faced bad luck, but Sarah, Rahel and Michelle showed the potential to battle at the front and never gave up despite all the setbacks. The intense heat continued to cause issues for the Huracan, which again suffered from power steering and AC problems during the race, making the stints very demanding for the three drivers.

“Unfortunately, shortly after I handed the car to Rahel, we had contact with another car", Sarah Bovy explained. "That car received a penalty for the incident, but we had a broken suspension out of it, which meant we lost three laps in the pits."

"Obviously, it’s not fun to fight alone, but we tried to reach the finish line because that’s what we do. We will try again in Fuji.”

Crucial experience and mileage were completed in challenging conditions, which could help the team collect valuable data for the next rounds.

The FIA WEC will return on September 15 for the seventh and penultimate round at Fuji Speedway in Japan, where Iron Dames have previous experience.