IRON DAMES SECURE POLE POSITION FOR 4 HOURS OF SILVERSTONE

Iron Dames Michelle Gatting, Sarah Bovy, and Célia Martin will start the penultimate round of the 2025 European Le Mans Series, the 4 Hours of Silverstone, from pole position following a hard-fought Qualifying session at the British circuit.

Célia Martin represented the trio in Saturday’s Qualifying session which, due to rainfall in the lead up to the 15-minute grid decider, was marked by tricky and at times, challenging conditions.

From the outset, the French racer showed encouraging pace and after setting the sixth-fastest time in her first run, continued to improve her performance as Qualifying progressed.

With a 2:14.811 lap in her second run, Célia rocketed to the top of the timesheets and proceeded to go head-to-head with the #63 Iron Lynx crew, represented by Martin Berry, in the fight for pole position.

Following her penultimate lap, Célia was just 0.222-seconds adrift of the top spot but with the track drying out quickly, surged to the top with her final run, a 2:11.819, to take pole position at the flag.

By claiming pole position, the #85 crew scored one crucial bonus point to move into lead of the LMGT3 Teams’ and Drivers’ Championship ahead of Sunday’s four-hour endurance special which, due to weather warnings, will start one hour earlier than previously scheduled at 11:00 BST.

“I’m super happy! That’s finally my first pole position, and especially in the tricky conditions at Silverstone Circuit, it’s super cool. At the end, this was really a team effort. We managed the session very well. The conditions were changing lap by lap and it was all about finding the grip which, at the end, almost didn’t exist any more for the wet tyres. I’m super happy for the whole team and for the Iron Dames. We are back to P1 in the championship, or at least equal, so the fight keeps going and I’m really excited to go racing tomorrow!”

Célia Martin