Bovy “As Ready as I Can Be” for Late Le Mans Callup

Sarah Bovy says she is ‘as ready as she can be’ to step into the Iron Dames LMGT3 lineup at late notice for this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, coming into replace the injured Michelle Gatting.

News broke on Monday that the Belgian racer would compete in this weekend’s French endurance classic after full season FIA World Endurance Championship driver Gatting suffered a foot injury during Sunday’s test day.

Bovy was a regular fixture in the Iron Dames WEC lineup in recent years until she was upgraded from Bronze to Silver, at which point she was replaced by Celia Martin.

The 36-year-old took on a management role with the all-female program but also remained active on track in the European Le Mans Series.

By her own admission, Bovy was en route to visit family when she received the call about racing at Le Mans, which will be her fifth time competing in the event.

Speaking to media gathered at the Circuit de La Sarthe on Wednesday, Bovy took a moment to declare her support for longtime co-driver Gatting and spoke about the task of replacing the Danish racer.

“She was ready, she deserved more than anybody to drive this car this weekend,” said Bovy

“And I could not believe it when she called me to tell me that she could not race.

“Filling in for her, replacing her is just impossible. She knows it, she knows that I know it. She’s a leader and she should be racing this weekend.

“It is what it is. And now that it’s like that, I will just try to bring the best version of Sarah Bovy I can bring.

“I will enjoy every single minute I will have on track because there are way too many drivers that dream of racing in Le Mans to not enjoy it.

“Obviously I will bring Michelle with me in the car and I think we all will. Let’s go and race Le Mans.”

After tackling previous editions of Le Mans with a variety of operational partners, including Iron Lynx and Proton Competition, this year’s race will be the first time Bovy will compete in a Manthey-operated car.

The German squad is coming into Le Mans as defending LMGT3 winner, having taken victory with Yasser Shahin, Morris Schuring and Richard Lietz last year.

“It’s going to help me a lot to fill in and to get used to the way they work as quickly as possible,” Bovy said of Manthey.

“I don’t have much time but I have some. In terms of confidence, I’m as ready as I can be. I’ve been training extremely hard myself this year.

“It’s my first season as a [Silver] driver and I wanted to deliver for all the other championships that we are doing with the Iron Dames. I know that my teammates did the same.

“So I think the team is ready, the lineup is ready. Yes, we took a hit in the face, but that’s okay.

“We were prepared for it and I’m extremely confident that everybody is going to give 100% of what they got.

“At the end of the day, if we all do this and we have a little bit of luck you will see us there at 4 o’clock on Sunday.”