The Iron Dames achieved their highest finish in an IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship event to date, with a sixth-place finish in the GTD category during last weekend’s Daytona 24 Hours.
Drivers Rahel Frey, Michelle Gatting, Sarah Bovy and Dorianne Pin contested the Florida-based enduro in the #83 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo 2 machine, starting in 13th place in the GTD category out of 23 entries.
The four-strong squad made up a large portion of a record nine female drivers competing in the race.
A notoriously tough 24-hour sprint, with more hours under the cover of darkness than daylight, the 62nd Running of the Daytona 24 Hours was as demanding as ever.
As the #83 crew gradually made their way up the order and rivals hit technical and mechanical trouble, the Dames were able to navigate their way onto the lead lap in the final hour of the race, when a full course caution made way for a half hour dash to the chequered flag and Frey, Gatting, Bovy and Pin survived to claim sixth position in GTD and 25th overall.
“The 24 Hours of Daytona is done with our best IMSA finish so far and we came home as the top Lamborghini which makes me very proud being part of the pink Iron Dames #83 car,” said Frey.
“Our crew did very well, strong strategy, strong mechanics without any mistakes.
“To start the season on a high is important as it gives us extra motivation for the upcoming races.
“Compared to last year, we made a very big step forward.
“Let us keep working hard to do even better next time.”
Gatting added that “Sixth at Daytona is a very good way to start the season and definitely a huge improvement from last year,” after the Dames finished 46th overall in 2023.
“Thanks to our mechanics, our engineers, our strategy guys, our spotters without whom that result would not have been possible.
“Besides that, we showed that the Lamborghini has potential to be at the top.
“The podium was only few steps away.
“I am pretty confident for the future and hopefully our first IMSA podium is just around the corner.”
Bovy too felt it was “a great result to start the season with,” and was happy with the team’s year-on-year progress.
“When we compared this to where we were last year, we did a very consistent and very solid race with no mistakes,” she said.
“The competition was very strong in the GTD class with 23 cars and we finished on the leader’s lap and not too far off the podium.
“It is very encouraging for the future and I looking forward to coming back even stronger.”
Pin, who missed out on the Roar Before the 24 three-day test event a week prior to the race thanks to conflicting duties in the F4 UAE championship, called the team’s sixth-place finish “a great achievement” and echoed her teammates thoughts regarding running a clean race.
“We were strong, with no mistakes, and finished on the lap of the leader,” Pin said.
“We learned a lot as a team and I cannot wait to continue work hard and achieve even more results with the Iron Dames in the future.”
The Iron Dames will contest the remainder of the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup Rounds starting with the second event, the 12 Hours of Sebring on March 13 – 16.
Discussion about this post