Spa Class Win Feels Like “Just The Beginning” for Iron Dames

Iron Dames’ breakthrough class victory in the TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa feels like “just the beginning” for the program according to Rahel Frey, who believes the past four years of work paid off on Sunday.

Frey, along with Sarah Boy, Michelle Gatting and Doriane Pin, took the No. 83 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 to Gold Cup honors in the Belgian endurance classic by finishing 18th overall and well clear of the second-placed No. 33 WRT Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II.

It was the first-ever victory for the all-female squad in an endurance race since the Iron Lynx-led program was first set up in 2019.

Frey, who has been with the team since its early days, feels like Sunday’s class win was the culmination of its years of work and also a springboard to further success.

“Absolutely,” Frey told Sportscar365. “For me, everything needs time and it’s always a question of time.

“The project now is in its fourth year. We needed time to grow together as a team, then we had to find the right engineering team around us.

“Everything needed time and now it feels like we are just ready. The last couple of years has paid off.

“It feels like this is just the beginning and [we look forward] to the next step we can take with our Iron Dames project.”

The team’s maiden victory came not long after Frey, Bovy and Gatting narrowly missed out on a GTE-Am class win during the FIA World Endurance Championship round at Monza last month.

In retrospect, Frey reckoned that the Monza near miss probably worked in the team’s favor at Spa.

“Honestly speaking in the first moment after Monza we were disappointed because we were so close, we had the chance for the [GTE-Am] win,” she said.

“But maybe now looking back it might have been healthy for us. Maybe the expectations had been even higher then.

“Everything happens for a reason. We took that second place, we took that first podium in WEC and now we are a class winner at the 24 Hours of Spa.”

The Swiss driver expressed disbelief at the result in the immediate aftermath of the race, hinting that it came as a surprise even to her.

“We never, ever would have expected this if someone would have told us, ‘Hey you could win that race.’

“Now we did it and this is a milestone achievement for the entire project. I’m very proud of all the members within our crew.”

Frey was also particularly impressed with her significantly younger co-driver, Doriane Pin.

While Bovy, Gatting and Frey have all taken part in multiple 24-hour races, the 18-year-old French racer made her maiden start in the Belgian endurance classic.

“It’s crazy,” Frey exclaimed. “Her first 24-hour race and you can win the class? I would have taken that when I was her age!

“It took me a little longer. It’s a different time with different expectation and she has to learn… All the drivers have to learn very quickly today.”

Team Needed Time to Feel Comfortable

The pink Ferrari did not play a part in proceedings in the Gold Cup for much of the opening portion of the race.

It then managed to fight its way into contention after the halfway point and was a consistent presence in the class top three for the remainder of the race after that.

Frey explained that the relatively slow start was the result of a combination of a lowly grid position and a conservative approach in the early exchanges.

“We didn’t feel so good doing practice and qualifying,” she said. “We were missing speed. Then in the end we ended up qualifying in P50 or something like that.

“If you have to start P50, we needed some time to basically fight in the back.

“We took the decision to play it safe in the race, with a little bit more aero just to feel confident in the car.

“Then we knew we could always make our way through. This is exactly what happened. The first 12 hours was just to get ready and comfortable with the car.

“Then suddenly we gained speed. We understood how to drive the car faster from then on it was a bit easier.”