Absolutely unmistakable in their visually striking pink hued steeds, in recent years the Iron Dames have certainly been making waves as the only all-female team competing at endurance GT racing’s most elite level in the form of the World Endurance Championship. Their perseverance and unbreakable determination even against the odds have certainly paid off, first with an LMGTE Am class win at the 2023 8 Hours of Bahrain, and now an official partnership with Porsche Motorsport.
Things weren’t always like this, especially in the beginning when the Dames still had some way to go in proving themselves capable of winning both races and championships – even more so given their fairer gendered line up. Speaking to The Race about the team she started driving at in 2018 with Michelle Gatting and Manuela Gostner, which was founded by racing driver and former FIA Women in Motorsport Commission President Deborah Mayer with a vision to bring more women into motorsport, Rahel Frey said, “It was a really long way for a female to have to push, and in the end that I got this far makes me even prouder. Our business, our sport has got more open-minded about female participation. Twenty years ago, we did not have the role models. There were no females here except Michelle Mouton in rallying but not really anyone in single-seaters or sportscars – and teams were not open or keen to take females apart from marketing opportunities. Time has changed and we have to move with the change. I’m very happy for the next generation as it stands but we have to keep pushing and proving with results.”
Michelle Gatting added honestly, “I didn’t feel respected in the paddock at first. Often I felt like I was walking around knowing the faces of the drivers but people were never saying hello to us really. They were not expecting to see us there the year after, let’s say. Now, women are proving that even on the highest level of endurance racing they can compete on the same level as guys. It was a tough beginning though because people expected nothing from us. There was the sense that we were just another line-up that’s going to try and achieve something but were not really to be taken that seriously.
Yet, they did begin to garner some respect thanks to consistent points finishes in their 2021 WEC debut season, with Sarah Bovy joining the team and taking opportunities to prove herself. “I’m not coming from a family that has a lot of money, so it was very difficult from the beginning. But when they saw that my passion and my determination was there we worked quite hard to find solutions and get me into a car as early as possible. From there I’ve been able to make a career but it’s been hard-earned with lots of challenges.”
By 2022 the Dames began to find their true pace, with Bovy scoring the team’s maiden pole position followed by their first podium finish with a strong second placing in Monza. More qualifying poles and podium finishes quickly followed at Fuji & Bahrain, and respect soon turned into acclamation.
This drove them to further successes through 2023 with the Porsche 911 RSR-19, most notably a 4th place LMGTE Am class finish at that year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans before the first class win as an all-female team in Bahrain helped them see off the RSR in fine style for its final race, after which the GTE category was retired in favor of a somewhat more affordable and accessible LMGT3 class. “We knew from the first time we drove the Porsche 911 RSR that it was an instant match between drivers and car. We love driving the RSR, it was really an honor to drive it in the last year of the GTE cars,” Michelle later added with Porsche Newsroom.
In line with this development, come December 2024, an official partnership with long-reaching goals was announced between Porsche Motorsport and the Iron Dames. France’s Célia Martin will join the existing driver line-up to drive the 992 911 GT3 R in 2025’s FIA WEC season that includes the 24 Hours of Le Mans, while Michelle Gatting receives the promotion to be an officially contracted Porsche driver.
With this new alliance set to continue over several years, plans are already afoot to interlink the Dames more closely with the German manufacturer’s successful junior driver development pyramid. Ideally intended to create a pathway from karting to top level professional motorsport for young drivers, the recently introduced “Iron Dames Young Talents” initiative will see further cooperation with Porsche’s one-make national support Cups and Porsche Motorsport’s central Junior Program.
Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President Porsche Motorsport explained, “Porsche stands for a culture of equal opportunities and diversity. Encouraging women to get involved in motorsport and then supporting them in open competition is something we value highly. In this context, we’ve seen that the Iron Dames project is well-structured and was very successful in recent years. Since our customer teams have already celebrated victories with the Iron Dames, we’re now taking the next logical step. We’re very confident that the collaboration in all series will reap excellent results and we can highlight our contribution to supporting female racing drivers with victories and podium finishes.”
Founder Deborah Mayer added, “It’s an honour to join forces with such a renowned brand as Porsche Motorsport, who share the same goal of leaving a lasting legacy in motorsport while driving forward progress. The Iron Dames Project has always been rooted in the power of dreams to overcome barriers. Our journey is not just about competing at the highest level, but also about proving that the door to the racing world is open to everyone with passion and determination. From 2025, we aim to set new benchmarks together, to empower women in endurance racing, support upcoming female drivers, change perceptions and inspire the next generation. ‘Porsche X Iron Dames’ provides more than a fresh impetus for women in motorsport, it sends a powerful message that every dream is worth pursuing, no matter how ambitious. I look forward to seeing Célia, Michelle, Rahel and Sarah racing Porsche cars all over the world again and to seeing the ‘Every Dream Matters’ movement flourish with them.”
Michelle Gatting also feels incredible pride, both at being an officially contracted Porsche driver and the journey she has shared with her fellow drivers from being a young team with everything to prove, to now being a globally known name that inspires young people. “When the Iron Dames project started five years ago people expected us to fail. But with Deborah it doesn’t work that way. When she has an idea, she goes in 100 per cent. Now, after five years of being around the paddock, the respect we have from the other teams and drivers has grown exponentially. In motorsport, it’s all about respect. That can sometimes be difficult, especially when you’re a female driver. From when I started in karting until now, gaining respect from others is what has taken the longest, for me. But we kept coming back year after year and people were like, wow, this is really a serious project, and they are fighting,” she had said previously.
Having worked hard for many years to develop both her professional driving skills as well as the right personal team mentality needed to pursue a factory endurance racing contract, Michelle added, “I’m really happy that Porsche is giving me the opportunity because I really think I deserve it and it has given me an extra boost that I needed, it’s given me an extra kick of motivation because that was really a milestone that I wanted to achieve. I think it’s really important for the project, I am the first Iron Dame in the project to sign a Porsche contract and this is exactly what we want to achieve with our next generation of drivers, that we can build drivers to go in that direction. I cannot think of any brand that is better at developing talent than Porsche Motorsport. It’s not just because we have made a great partnership with them, it’s because it is the reality.”
