Iron Dames’ Michelle Gatting has questioned the driving standards of some Hypercar drivers, saying the driving and the moves some of the Hypercars were making in qualifying on Wednesday, for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, was “shocking”,
She added that Hypercar drivers need to give more respect to the GT3s during the race at Le Mans, which takes place this weekend.
“Also, during qualifying yesterday was a little bit shocking, to see some of the moves from the hypercars, and you cannot do much in a GT car,” Gatting told select media including Motorsport Week.
“Respect between the drivers is something that I still believe is missing from some of the Hypercar drivers,”
“There are three different races going on between LMP2, LMGT3 and Hypercars.
“I do believe that more respect from the Hypercar drivers could be needed towards us.”
This year’s FIA World Endurance Championship has seen multiple incidents occur between Hypercars and LMGT3 machines as the faster prototypes seek to navigate traffic.
Kevin Estre in the #6 Porsche 963 fired the #87 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus RC F LMGT3 of Takeshi Kimura off the circuit during the season-opener at Qatar – albeit in an incident the stewards surprisingly blamed Kimura for.
As well as this, Earl Bamber in the #2 Cadillac V-Series.R triggered a red flag in the penultimate hour of the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. Whilst attempting an overtaking manoeuvre on Neel Jani, in the #99 Proton Competition Porsche, he collected Sean Gelael’s #31 WRT BMW M4 GT3, causing the Caddy and BMW to retire in a huge impact.
Managing traffic and avoiding issues will be of paramount importance at Le Mans this weekend, with the Hypercar field having grown to 23 entries and 16 LMP2 machines joining the 23-strong LMGT3 field.
After observing Hypercars during the Le Mans test session and practice, Gatting argues that some drivers in the premier class need to be more careful.
“Because they can be extremely aggressive and sometimes some of the moves they make, I don’t know what they think, but they believe that we can disappear in the middle of nowhere.
“Which we basically cannot, even though we really try not to be in their way.”
Gatting argued that “the beauty of the endurance sport is that we are all on track together and we should all be able to be on track together without trying to crash too much into each other and disrespect each other too much.”
The Iron Dames driver continued by saying manoeuvres by some Hypercar drivers in qualifying were “shocking,” and reiterated the need for respect.
“You cannot do much in a GT car except going on the radio shouting to get the anger out,” the Iron Dames driver said.
“A bit more respect I think could be needed for some specific Hypercars.”
Gatting’s Iron Dames team-mate Rahel Frey noted that the issue comes when Hypercars come back onto the racing line too quickly in braking zones, but added that several tools are in place to help the LMGT3 drivers manage traffic.
“Every team has a brilliant camera system,” Frey said. “Every team has an extra spotter.
“A driver is not only supported for visualisation, but we also get traffic information in the audio where we chat a lot so we can really focus on driving.
“I would say in Le Mans luckily you have a lot of straight lines, you still have a lot of room to [pass traffic] well, and when you respect each other then it shouldn’t be a big issue.”
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