IRON DAMES SHOWCASE RESILIENCE AND POTENTIAL ACROSS EUROPE

The new wave of Iron Dames drivers were in action this weekend, with a total of six representatives across Europe, from the Rally of Corsica to FRECA at Spa, as well as karting in Italy. 

Sarah Rumeau and Julie Amblard once again proved their skill with a third consecutive top 10 finish. At Spa, Doriane Pin and Marta Garcia confirmed their potential in this highly competitive championship, despite a shortened weekend for Doriane. In karting, Vicky Farfus and Mia Oger, still in the early stages of their development, continued to show their potential in ROK Cup at Lonato.

French Rally Championship

As the championship moved to Corsica, Iron Dames Sarah Rumeau and Julie Amblard overcame a spin, damage and technical issues to score a third consecutive top 10 finish in the French Gravel Rally Championship with a ninth place at the Rallye Terre d’Aléria. 

The opening stage of the rally was one to forget, with a stall that cost the pair around ten seconds. On the back foot and lower down the order than expected, a push was required on the following stages to make up lost time. 

Two positions gained on the following stage were a good start to the recovery, and a time on the third stage good enough for 10th moved them into 11th overall, bringing a positive end to the morning loop. 

That speed was matched on the first stage of the afternoon loop, but a spin followed by an impact over a jump and resulting damage on the penultimate stage of day one caused some time loss and dropped them to 14th. 

Water entering the air intake on the final stage caused an intermittent throttle issue, but the pair made it to the end of the stage and retained their position overnight. 

Saturday morning started with the longest stage of the event (23.87km), and Sarah and Julie were immediately on the pace. They set another top 10 time and with it, moved up a position in the standings.

They matched that progress on the second, shorter stage of the day, and moved up again to 12th as they returned to service.  

The afternoon’s two stages were re-runs from the morning and having found a good rhythm on the first pass, the Iron Dames pushed to improve their position further. On the second pass of the longest stage, they climbed three positions on the leaderboard to break into the top 10 overall. 

With a larger gap ahead to eighth, the aim on the final stage turned to consolidating their ninth place, and with a seventh fastest stage time, they achieved just that. 

The Iron Dames’ next rally is in just under a month’s time, as they return to asphalt at the Rallye Vosges Grand-Est. 

Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine

The Iron Dames had a rollercoaster weekend at Spa-Francorchamps, home to the second round of the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine. Changeable weather conditions set the tone in practice and the first qualifying session, leaving the drivers with little running on a representative track. 

While the pace improved for both Marta Garcia and Doriane Pin throughout Qualifying 1 and Race 1, the French racer was forced to withdraw from the event due to pain following an earlier flu-like condition. On Sunday, Garcia kept making great steps and battled fiercely in a competitive field to secure 15th in Race 2.

ROK Cup

Vicky Farfus and Mia Oger, aged just 12, took on the tough challenge of the ROK Cup in Lonato with a grid of 52 drivers. The Iron Dames duo showed admirable fighting spirit whilst battling in such substantial and competitive fields. 

With an event highlight of third in the second heat, Vicky eventually finished 12th in the all-important Final, while Mia made it into the top 10 in Heat 2 and ended the weekend with 15th in the last race. Overall, both drivers displayed impressive pace throughout the event and will carry plenty of learnings into the next race. 

Ultimately, this isn’t the result we were hoping for, but this event has very specific terrain and we lacked a bit of experience compared to the regulars in this championship. The team did a fantastic job, and we can be proud of bringing the Ford Fiesta back into the top 10 after some difficult stages.

Another highlight is bringing back the trophy for the longest jump; that is our way of thanking the Iron Dames team for their support. It’s an honour to wear the colours of such a wonderful project and represent the Iron Dames in rallying.

SARAH RUMEAU AND JULIE AMBLARD 

An interesting weekend here in Spa. We had a bit of a problem in the first qualifying because it was mixed conditions, and the set-up wasn’t ideal. We started the first race 27th and we ended up 21st so we made some good overtakes.

We knew in the dry we could do better, so we focused on Race 2, we qualified 10th in our group which meant we started the race in 19th. That was also a bit of a shame as we knew we could’ve been 14th if we were just half a tenth faster. The start was quite good, we got up to 15th and from there I was fighting for that position for the rest of the race. We’re improving more and more with each event, so we just need to keep up that progression. We’ll see if we can replicate this performance in Zandvoort or do even better.

MARTA GARCIA