The Iron Dames crew of Manuela Gostner, Rahel Frey and Michelle Gatting will once again team up for their second season-long assault on the European Le Mans Series in a Ferrari 488 in the LMGTE category, this year driving for the Iron Lynx team. The trio finished an impressive fourth of the 20 registered crews last season and will once again be supported by the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission as they aim for more podium placings and another step up the leaderboard.

Last year Gostner, Frey and Gatting climbed the podium twice with two second positions in Le Castellet and Silverstone, and finished fourth on another two occasions during the six-round series. With a year of experience racing together, and behind the wheel of a 488 GTE Ferrari, the crew is focused on raising their game even further and targeting an invitation to the greatest endurance race of them all, the 24 Heures du Mans.

“It is excellent news that Manuela, Rahel and Michelle can build on their experience from last year and put all that knowledge into a serious assault on the series,” said Michèle Mouton, President of the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission. “A lot of the initial learning curve is now behind them and having consistency in a race programme obviously helps enormously.

“It is really exciting to have two successful podium-fighting all-female crews on the grid at each ELMS race,” added Mouton, referring to the Richard Mille Racing Team’s entry spearheaded by Katherine Legge in the LMP2 category. “I don’t remember a time when this has happened and it is evidence of the progress being made for, and by women in our sport.”

This renewed participation has been possible thanks to Iron Dames project leader Deborah Mayer, entrepreneur and GT driver and a great supporter of women in the sport. She will join Gatting in a second Ferrari for the Michelin Le Mans Cup. The 2020 European Le Mans series kicks off with pre-season testing in Barcelona on 30/31 March before the contenders take on six events at some of Europe’s most iconic circuits:

· 4 Hours of Barcelona - 5 April
· 4 Hours of Monza - 10 May
· 4 Hours of Le Castellet - 19 July
· 4 Hours of Silverstone - 6 September
· 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps - 20 September
· 4 Hours of Portimão - 18 October