Iron Dames show promise in ELMS at Imola

Michelle Gatting, Sarah Bovy, and Célia Martin returned to the cockpit for the third round of the 2025 European Le Mans Series, while Doriane Pin was also in action at the Hungaroring for the fourth race weekend of the 2025 Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine.

Elsewhere, Iron Dames Young Talents, Angelina Simons and Vicky Farfus, took to Jesolo, Italy, for Round 3 of the Champions of the Future Academy (COTFA) karting series.

ELMS: A promising outing at Imola

In the European Le Mans Series, Michelle Gatting, Sarah Bovy, and Célia Martin were back in action, contesting the 4 Hours of Imola.

The trio were a commanding presence across the weekend, with Célia placing third in Qualifying after narrowly missing out on pole position. When the action got underway, the French racer immediately snatched second place but fell to sixth after being tipped into a spin only six minutes into the race.

Over the next 30 minutes, Célia put in a clinical stint to move back into the podium positions and cycled into the lead by pitting behind the Safety Car. After opening an eight-second advantage but with track conditions rapidly deteriorating due to rainfall, Célia unfortunately spun from the head of the LMGT3 field and fell to ninth at the 95-minute mark.

She handed the car over to Sarah Bovy at the start of the third hour, and the Belgian worked her way up to eighth before Michelle took the wheel for the 65 minutes. The Dane, who returned to the cockpit with grit and determination after sustaining foot fractures ahead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, took the #85 Porsche 911 GT3 R to the chequered flag and finished ninth.

Results

Michelle, Sarah and Celia: 9th (LMGT3)

“A difficult race at Imola. It was looking very good from the start, but then some mistakes happened and we lost the lead that Célia built up. She did extremely well, but we lost a lot of points towards the championship. But mistakes happen. We kept cool, Sarah got into the car in tricky conditions, and she did everything that she could and so did I, but in the end, there wasn’t much to fight for because the gap was too big. But again, we showed that we never give up and we keep fighting until the end. We crossed the finish line, which is the most important thing, and we need to stay positive for the next round at Spa.”

Michelle Gatting

FRECA: Doriane resumes 2025 campaign in Hungary

At the Hungaroring, Doriane Pin resumed her 2025 Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine (FRECA) campaign, fresh from tasting recent success in F1 Academy where she secured her third victory of the year in Montreal.

Doriane started Race 1 from 17th but finished 19th after navigating a challenging start-stop race on Saturday which was marked by two Safety Car periods. She entered Sunday with renewed energy and made good progress but ultimately finished 17th.

Her campaign in FRECA will continue on 19-20 July at the Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet, France.

Results

Race 1: 19th
Race 2: 17th

“It was a challenging weekend, but we have to take the positive out of it. I think the pace was decent, even if I didn’t put everything together in the qualifying. We are getting there, and performance is getting better. We have to keep improving the racecraft, and we are looking forward to the French race in Le Castellet. We will continue working, and I think we can deliver something good there.”

Doriane Pin

COTFA: Angelina Simons on the podium

In the third round of the Champions of the Future Academy (COTFA), Angelina Simons and Vicky Farfus headed to Jesolo and enjoyed a successful weekend in north-eastern Italy.

On Saturday, Vicky was unfortunately disqualified from Qualifying but recovered well to finish seventh overall. Angelina, meanwhile, soared from sixth to finish third in the Final to secure a landmark podium finish – her first of the year.

The duo maintained their form across Sunday, with Vicky making good progress in the Final for Race 2 by battling forward from 17th to finish 12th. Angelina, too, delivered a set of impressive performances with back-to-back top three finishes in both heats before taking fourth in the Final.

After three weekends, Angie holds seventh in the Drivers’ Championship – the lead female driver – while Vicky is ninth in the 41-strong field.

Results

VICKY FARFUS

Race 1: 7th

Race 2: 12th

ANGELINA SIMONS

Race 1: 3rd

Race 2: 4th