Iron Dames return to the top 10 in WEC at Imola

Five Iron Dames were in action across the weekend, with Michelle Gatting, Rahel Frey and Célia Martin taking on the FIA World Endurance Championship’s Six Hours of Imola, while Doriane Pin returned to F1 Academy for the second round of the 2025 season in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

At the Circuit Paul Armagnac, meanwhile, Lisa Billard kick-started her 2025 French F4 Championship season.

WEC: RETURNING TO THE TOP 10

For the second round of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship, Célia Martin qualified 14th and started the six-hour race by working her way up the order, running as high as 12th before receiving a drive-through penalty following early contact.

After dropping to the rear of the field, the French racer recovered to 10th before handing over to Rahel Frey during the second hour. Rahel, who resumed the race in 15th, spent the next two hours progressing through the field and moved into the top 10 by the end of the fourth hour.

When the Virtual Safety Car was deployed after a collision in the LMGT3 field, Michelle Gatting stepped into the cockpit with two hours remaining. By putting in a clinical final stint, the Dane battled back into the top 10 to claim a hard-fought eighth at the line.

RESULTS

Michelle, Sarah and Celia: 8th (LMGT3)

Eighth place today, and our first points in WEC this season. This is definitely a good step in the right direction. The sister Porsche car won the LMGT3 race today, and I want to congratulate them. It is a big achievement and shows the potential of the team and the car, but it also means that we have simply made too many mistakes today – mistakes we cannot make at this level. That is something we must work on, but we will be back stronger in Spa where we will fight back.

Rahel Frey

F1 ACADEMY: BACK ON THE PODIUM

In F1 Academy, Iron Dame, Doriane Pin, entered the second round of the 2025 season at the head of the Drivers’ Championship after a strong showing at the Shanghai International Circuit in March.

Doriane maintained her current form in Jeddah by securing second place in Qualifying and continued to deliver across the weekend, firstly by finishing fourth in the Reverse Grid race on Saturday.

In Race 2, she continued to show promise and was at the heart of the battle for victory from the outset. After duelling with Chloe Chambers and Maya Weug, Doriane claimed third at the line to claim her second podium of the season.

With 52 points, Doriane holds second in the standings and will be back in action at the Miami International Autodrome for the third round of the season on 2-4 May.

RESULTS

Race 1: 4th

Race 2: 3rd

Overall a decent weekend, not perfect obviously. Race 2 was a bit tough but the pace was good until Saturday while on Sunday we were missing a bit. We need to analyse the situation but I have a really good team around me. We are good workers and we can bring good improvements. I look forward to coming back to America and I’m not too worried, it’s only the beginning of the season.

Doriane Pin

French F4: 2025 Season Underway

At the Circuit Paul Armagnac in southwestern France, 15-year-old Lisa Billard got her 2025 French F4 season underway and showed clear potential throughout her debut weekend in the series.

In the opening race of the campaign, Lisa was a persistent threat inside the top 10 and after starting from ninth, was constantly fighting for the points-paying positions.

Unfortunately, contact late on relegated her to 26th while an off-track moment in extreme wet conditions left her classified 23rd in Race 2.

In Race 3, Lisa started from 14th and fought up the order throughout a challenging stop-start race to complete the weekend in 11th. Her season will resume on 9-11 May at Dijon.

RESULTS

Race 1: 26th

Race 2: 23rd

Race 3: 11th