Deborah Mayer.
In 2018, Deborah Mayer decided to start an all-female racing team.
Iron-Lynx-Dames-Ferrari-WEC-2021.
As part of the Iron Lynx team, she founded the Iron Dames with a view to showing that – given the right equipment and backing – women could compete on equal terms with male drivers.
In 2019 – branded the Iron Dames – the team entered its first full season of competition with the Iron Lynx team. They were backed by the FiA, with the aim of qualifying a team with a female driver line up for the Le Mans 24 Hours race. Their first season was an entry into the European Le Mans Series, starting with their original line up of Michelle Gatting, Manuele Gostner and Rahel Frey.
Sarah Bovey.
They were joined Sarah Bovey by in 2021.
This “women in motorsport” initiative was different from the other attempts, like W series. It wasn’t so much an attempt to find “THE ONE” female driver who could take on Formula One. It was a project to normalise women in motorsport.
They took existing female racing drivers and gave them an equal opportunity to compete alongside the Iron Lynx team. As the seasons went on, the Iron Dames made their way up the grid into what must surely go down as their breakthrough year: 2022.
Deborah Mayer, a Ferrari Ambassador and GT3 racer, sent her team out liveried in striking bright pink. They were unmissable on the track and in 2022, they were unstoppable.
Sarah Bovy, Michelle Gatting and Rahel Frey are entering an all-female team in Le Mans in 2022. Picture: Stefano Arcari / Iron Lynx via AFP.
The team members of Gatting, Bovey and Frey in the WEC and ELMS series were joined in the Ferrari Challenge by 18 year old Dorian Pin, the French Karting champion of 2019.
The ELMS team took to the track in a Ferrari 488 GTE car. They started with their core line up with Pin replacing Frey for the final 3 races of the season. The team finished 3rd in the LMGTE Championship.
Sarah Bovey enjoying the sun of Punta Cana.
The highlights of the season were the first pole position by a female driver in the series when Sarah Bovey achieved the top of the timings in the Portimao 4 Hours race.
Iron Lynx and its all-female line-up, dubbed the Iron Dames, wrapped up their European Le Mans Series season in style with a historic win in the LMGTE class at the 4 Hours of Portimão.
This was backed up by the team of Bovey, Gatting and Pin taking the win. This was the first all-female driver line up to win in the series. The team also entered the GTE Am category of the World Endurance Championship. Their Le Mans 24 Hour challenge saw Frey, Gatting and Bovey become the first all-female driver team to make the Hyper Pole in qualifying. The team brought their pink Ferrari home in 7th place, their best result in the classic race so far. Super Qualifier, Sarah Bovey went on to become the first female driver to take the class pole position at the Monza 6 hour. The team backed this up with their first WEC podium, finishing in 2nd place. They took another 2nd place in the Fuji 8 Hours in Japan before heading to Bahrain for the season finale. Bovey again put their pink Ferrari on pole position. The team crossed the finish line 8 hours later, 3rd place on the track and in 3rd place in the championship.
Dorian Pin.
In the meantime, Dorian Pin had dominated the Ferrari Challenge Euro Trofeo Pirelli championship. After a brilliant season where she scored 9 wins and 13 podiums, Pin was crowned champion. Her dominance of the series was best illustrated by her points total of 213 being 55 points ahead of the championship runner up. Perhaps the standout result in a breakthrough year was the Spa 24 Hours. Part of The GT World Challenge Cup Europe, the Spa 24 Hours is a classic GT endurance race. The Iron Dames entered their Ferrari with the full line up of Bovey, Pin, Gatting and Frey. On their debut, and making the headlines all around the world, the Iron Dames took the Gold Cup class win. In a season full of silverware, the Spa Gold Cup win was an outstanding achievement.
The Iron Dames project set out to show that given a real opportunity, female drivers could compete and win in international competition. Their 2022 results would have been an achievement for any team of 5 years standing and Deborah Mayer and her drivers have clearly proved their point. The team doesn’t just promote female drivers. Many of the crew are also female, including team manager, Alice Menin. Deborah Mayer’s project shows that women can achieve results against male drivers, fairly and under the rules. The final achievement of 2022 was the appointment of Mayer to the position of President of the FIA ‘s Women in Motorsport Commission. She has put together one of the most successful programmes for female drivers that motorsport has seen and she is an excellent choice for this role.
For all of their achievements in 2022, perhaps the biggest is that it became noticeable during the season that commentators stopped constantly referring to them as the “the all female team” and just referred to them by their name – the Iron Dames. They stopped being seen as a novelty and were taken seriously as a competitor.
Whilst Deborah Mayer and the Iron Dames are going from strength to strength, sadly they have retired their pink Ferraris. In 2023 the team will be competing with Lamborghini and Porsche race cars.
© MPS Agency / Laurent Cartalade.
This boundary breaking team will surely go on to greater triumphs, but their 2022 season will go down as historic and their pink Ferraris will always be part of that history.
By Clare Topic
· ELMS team and Le Mans and Spa 24 hours
· Dorian Pin – Ferrari Challenge
· Deborah Mayer as FIA Women in Motorsport head
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