Iron Dames

Iron Dames is an all-female motorsports team founded in 2018 by Deborah Mayer, proving that women belong on endurance racing’s biggest stages—and winning while doing it. With historic victories at the FIA World Endurance Championship and the 24 Hours of Spa, this crew has rewritten what’s possible when talent, grit, and Ferrari horsepower collide.

EARLY YEARS

Iron Dames roared to life in 2018, the brainchild of Deborah Mayer, who decided the motorsports world needed a shake-up. Her vision wasn’t just about putting women in race cars—it was about building an entire ecosystem where female drivers, engineers, and mechanics could compete at the highest levels of endurance racing. No tokenism, no half-measures. Just pure, unapologetic racing.

The team made its debut at the 12 Hours of Dubai with a lineup that would become Iron Dames royalty: Switzerland’s Rahel Frey, Denmark’s Michelle Gatting, and Italy’s Manuela Gostner. It was a statement race, a declaration that this wasn’t some publicity stunt—this was the real deal. From day one, the team operated under the Iron Lynx banner, leveraging the infrastructure of one of Europe’s most successful GT racing operations while carving out its own identity.

OTHER INTERESTS

The research gods have failed us here—apparently, when you’re busy making history on track, nobody bothers to ask what you do when you’re not strapped into a race car. Whether the Iron Dames spend their downtime knitting, skydiving, or plotting world domination remains a mystery.

EARLY SUCCESS

Iron Dames didn’t waste time proving they belonged. Early campaigns in the European Le Mans Series at Monza showed the team could hang with—and beat—the boys. By 2020, they’d graduated to the big leagues: the FIA World Endurance Championship’s LMGTE class, piloting a Ferrari 488 GTE Evo that looked as good as it performed.

That first WEC season delivered a fourth-place championship finish with 61 points, including podiums at Riccardo Paletti (third), Spa (eighth, though they showed speed), Le Castellet (third), Monza (third), and Portimão (sixth). Not bad for rookies in one of motorsport’s most brutal arenas. The 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans saw Frey, Gatting, and Gostner finish ninth in LMGTE Am—a result that hinted at the team’s ceiling while teaching them everything about endurance racing’s cruelest lessons.

The breakthrough moment came at Le Mans when Iron Dames became the first all-female WEC team to take class pole position in Hyperpole qualifying. It was poetic, really—the circuit where they’d run their first race together now hosted their statement lap. They weren’t just participants anymore; they were contenders.

NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS

• 2020: Fourth in WEC LMGTE championship (61 points) with podiums at Riccardo Paletti, Le Castellet, Monza, and Portimão.
• 2021: Competed in WEC LMGTE with Sarah Bovy joining the lineup mid-season, finishing seventh in championship (50 points) with podiums at Spa and Portimão.
• 2023: Won the 8 Hours of Bahrain in WEC LMGTE class—the first all-female lineup to win an FIA WEC race and the final LMGTE class victory in history (Sarah Bovy, Michelle Gatting, Rahel Frey).
• 2023: Won the 24 Hours of Spa Gold Cup—the first all-female lineup to win in the race’s GT era.
• 2023: Second overall in WEC championship across combined efforts in WEC, IMSA, and GT World Challenge (Bovy, Frey, Gatting).
• 2023: Led the 24 Hours of Le Mans for nearly 12 hours before a brake change dropped them to fourth in GTE-Am class, finishing five seconds off the podium.
• 2024: Competed in GT3 with Karen Gaillard and Célia Martin in a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2, finishing sixth in championship (43 points).
• 2025: Racing in WEC LMGT3, IMSA GTD, ELMS LMGT3, and Asian Le Mans GT with Porsche 911 GT3 R machinery across multiple lineups.

INSPIRATIONS

Again, the archives are silent. Whether Iron Dames draws inspiration from Michèle Mouton, their mothers, or vintage racing posters is anyone’s guess. What’s clear is they’re too busy creating inspiration for the next generation to stop and talk about their own heroes.

REPUTATION

After five years of racing, Iron Dames has earned something money can’t buy: respect. “In motorsport, it’s all about respect,” Deborah Mayer said, and she’s right. The team walked into a paddock that’s seen plenty of all-female lineups come and go, most treated as curiosities rather than competitors. Iron Dames changed that math through sheer performance.

The Bahrain victory in 2023 was the exclamation point. “One of the best moments of my life definitely,” one driver recalled. “All the lows were worth it for that one victory.” Those lows included the heartbreak of Le Mans 2023, where they led for nearly 12 hours before a brake change with just 40 minutes remaining obliterated their podium hopes. “We thought we could win. We almost did!” the team recounted. “Everyone was crying when we won Bahrain.”

The team’s philosophy cuts through the noise: “Being Iron Dame is an attitude—it’s not a question of gender.” That mindset has made them pioneers without becoming poster children. They’re the first all-female team to win a WEC race, claim Le Mans Hyperpole, and conquer Spa’s Gold Cup in the GT era. But ask them about it, and they’ll pivot to lap times and tire strategy faster than you can say “groundbreaking.”

Media coverage has been overwhelmingly positive, though that’s what happens when you actually win races. The growing partnership with Porsche Motorsport—including Michelle Gatting’s official Porsche driver status and the “Porsche X Iron Dames” young driver program—signals the industry’s belief in the project’s long-term viability. When Porsche writes checks and puts its name on something, respect has been earned.

FUTURE GOALS/PLANS

The 2025 season is Iron Dames’ most ambitious yet, fielding entries across four major championships simultaneously. In WEC LMGT3, Michelle Gatting, Rahel Frey, and Célia Martin will campaign a Porsche 911 GT3 R with Manthey, one of Porsche’s factory-backed operations. The same trio (swapping Frey for Sarah Bovy and adding Karen Gaillard for Daytona) will tackle IMSA’s GTD class and ELMS LMGT3 with Proton Competition. They’ll also race in the Asian Le Mans GT series, because apparently, sleep is for people without championship ambitions.

“2024 is going to be another busy season,” the team announced ahead of that campaign, understating things magnificently. “WEC, IMSA and RS championship, LMS with a Porsche. Keep growing stronger.” The switch to Porsche machinery represented a “dream come true” after years with Ferrari, opening doors to factory support and technical resources that make sustained championship runs possible.

The ELMS return carries particular weight. “ELMS was actually how we started,” the team reflected. “The championship where we learned all the things. Sweet and nostalgic.” Deborah Mayer’s approach remains unchanged: “When she has an idea, she goes in 100 per cent.” That philosophy has built something remarkable—a team that’s proven women can win at the highest levels while building pathways for the next generation of female racers, engineers, and mechanics to follow. Five years in, Iron Dames isn’t just racing. They’re rewriting the rulebook.

References:

Wikipedia – Iron Dames
Iron Dames Official Website – The Project
Porsche YouTube – Iron Dames 2024 Season (June 12, 2024)
Porsche Stories – Iron Dames Feature
StuttCars – Iron Dames 2025 Schedule and Partnerships
Lamborghini Motorsport – Iron Dames Project Overview
FortLoc – Iron Dames Le Mans Hyperpole Achievement