IRON DAMES BACK ON THE ELMS PODIUM AT 4 HOURS OF PORTIMÃO

Michelle Gatting, Sarah Bovy, and Célia Martin concluded their 2025 European Le Mans Series title fight at the 4 Hours of Portimão, with the trio resuming their pursuit of the LMGT3 crown at the season finale.

Célia represented the Dames in Qualifying and showed encouraging pace but was left to start from sixth when the session was red flagged with less than two minutes remaining following a spin in Turn 7 for the #51 AF Corse Ferrari.

When the race got underway on Saturday afternoon, Célia continued to showcase her speed, and after a measured handful of laps spent holding sixth, soon sprang into action, fighting her way into the podium positions after only 35 minutes of running.

At the start of the second hour, Célia made a crucial overtake to take second place away from the #59 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin and continued to hold the position over the next 60 minutes.

When the next round of pitstops opened at mid-race distance, Célia briefly moved into the lead before handing the car over to Sarah with an hour and 45 minutes remaining.

Sarah resumed the race in fifth but with clinical and consistent pace, cycled into the podium places during the penultimate hour. She boxed from second for the final pitstop of the day with just 52 minutes to go as Michelle stepped into the cockpit.

With everything to play for, the Dane rejoined the 4 Hours of Portimão in fourth place and didn’t stop fighting. She took third with 37 minutes of racing remaining and continued to close the gap to first to ultimately claim a hard-fought podium finish.

By scoring 15 points across the season finale, Michelle, Sarah and Célia secured fourth in the ELMS LMGT3 standings, ending the season with an unforgettable victory at the 4 Hours of Barcelona and one further podium.

RESULTS

Michelle, Sarah and Celia: 3rd (LMGT3)

“We finished this season with a podium, just as we started it on the podium with a win in Barcelona. We wanted to achieve more today, and coming away with fourth in the championship was not our goal. The season has been very up and down. Sometimes we’ve been unlucky and sometimes we’ve made mistakes, but I think today was one of our best races of the year. From my side, I want to thank the whole Iron Dames team and give a big thank you to Sarah for supporting me all season, to Michelle for being a rocket in the car, and to all of our mechanics and engineers who always encourage us! It’s been an emotional debut ELMS season for me, but I’ll remember this one for a long time to come.”

Célia Martin

Stay up to date with all our latest events and results by subscribing to our newsletter mailing list!