The Iron Dames are an Italian-Swiss

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

and

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...

team founded by French businesswoman Deborah Mayer. They are based in

Zug Zug (Standard German: , Alemannic German: ; ; ; ; )Named in the 16th century. is the largest List of cities in Switzerland, town and capital of the Swiss canton of Zug. Zug is renowned as a hub for some of the wealthiest individuals in the wor ...

, Switzerland, and primarily participate in

sports car racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing that uses sports cars with two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be either purpose-built Sports prototype, sports prototypes, which are the highest level in sports car racing; or grand to ...

. They are a subsidiary of the ''DC Racing Solutions'' parent company, which runs motorsport teams

Prema Racing Prema Racing, previously known as Prema Powerteam, is an Italian motorsport team, owned and operated through the '' DC Racing Solutions'' parent company. Founded in 1983, the team is based in Grisignano di Zocco and currently operates out of It ...

and

Iron Lynx Iron Lynx Motorsport Lab is an Italian auto racing team founded by Andrea Piccini, Deborah Mayer, Claudio Schiavoni and Sergio Pianezzola. The team is based in Cesena, Emilia-Romagna. They primarily participate in sports car racing, and are a sis ...

Motorsport history

2018

Iron Dames was founded in 2018 by Deborah Mayer with the goal of supporting and promoting women in motorsport.

Rahel Frey Rahel Frey (born 23 February 1986 in Niederbipp, Canton of Bern) is a Swiss Audi factory racing driver. She has competed in such series as Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, International Formula Master and the German Formula Three Championship. ...

, Michelle Gatting, and Manuela Gostner became the projects' first drivers, competing in the 12 Hours of Dubai and placing second in the GT3 Pro-Am class (ninth overall).

2019

The team made their debut in the

European Le Mans Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the fo ...

, racing under the

Kessel Racing Loris Kessel (1 April 1950 – 15 May 2010) was a racing driver from Switzerland. Biography Kessel was born in Lugano. He participated in six Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 2 May 1976. He scored no championship points. ...

name. In the

, the #83 “Iron Dames” car placed 4th and the #60 "Iron Lynx" placed 6th, with both entries standing on the podium twice over the season. In the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

, the #83 placed 9th in class, and the #60 placed 13th in class.

2020

2020 marked the first year of the team competing under the Iron Lynx name. In the

they fielded the trio of

, Michelle Gatting, and Manuela Gostner for the #83 entry. Gatting and team owner Deborah Mayer teamed up for the Le Mans Cup, the first all-female pairing in the series, and were joined by reigning champions

Giacomo Piccini Giacomo Piccini (born 22 March 1985) is an Italian professional racing driver who most recently competed in the Michelin Le Mans Cup for Iron Lynx. Team Management On July 1, 2021, it was announced that Piccini would head the new joint project ...

and

Rino Mastronardi Rino Mastronardi (born 14 November 1969) is an Italian racing driver currently competing in the Asian Le Mans Series for Rinaldi Racing. Mastronardi has previously competed in several international touring car championships, most notably winning ...

. The team entered the Ferrari Challenge Europe for two rounds, under the name Iron Lynx – Scuderia Niki Hasler. Michelle Gatting competed in the Pro class, while Claudio Schiavoni competed in the Pro-Am class. The team entered a car in the

with the all-female line-up of Frey, Gatting, and Gostner, who placed 9th in the LMGTE Am class.

2021

European Le Mans Series

Former W Series driver Esmee Hawkey was announced alongside Frey and Gatting to contest the

2021 European Le Mans Series The 2021 European Le Mans Series was the eighteenth season of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest's (ACO) European Le Mans Series. The six-event season began at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on 18 April and finished at Algarve International Circuit o ...

in the LMGTE class, however the Briton was fired before the first round after her manager

Mark Blundell Mark Blundell (born 8 April 1966) is a British former racing driver and sports broadcasting, broadcaster, who competed in Formula One from to , and Championship Auto Racing Teams, IndyCar from 1996 PPG Indy Car World Series, 1996 to 2000 CAR ...

was discovered to have provided the incorrect licence grading to the team. Hawkey was initially replaced with Gostner before fellow W Series outcast Sarah Bovy finished the season after making her debut with the team in the Le Mans Cup. On November 20, 2021, Michelle Gatting became the first female champion of the

Ferrari Challenge The Ferrari Challenge is a One-Design, single-marque Auto racing, motorsport championship that was created in 1993, initially catering to owners of the 348 Challenge who wanted to race their cars. The first European season took place in 1993, ...

Italian F4

The team and

signed

Maya Weug Maya Martine Els Weug (born 1 June 2004) is a Dutch, Belgian and Spanish racing driver, who is currently competing in F1 Academy for MP Motorsport, having previously raced with Prema Racing in the 2024 F1 Academy season, 2024 season, finishing t ...

to compete in the

2021 Italian F4 Championship The 2021 Italian F4 Championship Powered by Abarth was the eighth season of the Italian F4 Championship. Teams and drivers Race calendar and results The calendar was revealed on 10 December 2020. Later on, the third round was postponed by ...

. Weug had a successful debut season with three podiums and finished the season 7th in the championship.

2022

On January 12, 2022, the Iron Dames announced that they would enter in the GTE Am class of the World Endurance Championship for

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

. They ran the Ferrari 488 GTE Evo, with

in the #85 Iron Dames entry. The Iron Dames began racing under their own license, fielding a team of Frey, Gatting, and Sarah Bovy in WEC, ELMS, and GTWC Europe Gold Cup. The team began supporting drivers in F4 and

karting Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on full-size motor ...

, with

representing the team and entering select ADAC F4 rounds, as well as a full season in Italian F4 alongside

Ivan Domingues Ivan Franco Domingues (born 5 May 2006) is a Portuguese people, Portuguese racing driver who competes in the 2025 FIA Formula 3 Championship with Van Amersfoort Racing. He most recently competed in the 2024 Formula Regional European Championship ...

and Nicola Lacorte. They entered a car in the LMGTE category of the

, with a best finish of 7th in class for the #85 Iron Dames car. Sarah Bovy became the first woman to claim a pole position in WEC history, qualifying first at both

Monza Monza (, ; ; , locally ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the Lambro, River Lambro, a tributary of the Po (river), River Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the province of Mo ...

and

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

. Three podiums in the series helped the Iron Dames clinch third place in the GTE Am category. The Iron Dames finished the GTWS Europe season in second in the Gold Cup, with a class victory at the

24 Hours of Spa The 24 Hours of Spa is an endurance racing event for cars held annually since 1924 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium. It is currently sponsored by CrowdStrike. History The Spa 24 Hours was conceived by Jules de Their and ...

and a pole position at the final race in Barcelona. In the

, the #85 took a class victory, and eventually finished third in the LMGTE teams championship. Doriane Pin took a dominant victory in the Ferrari Challenge, winning nine of fourteen races, with thirteen podiums, ten pole positions, and eleven fastest laps.

2023

At the 2023 8 Hours of Bahrain, Iron Dames became the final

LM GTE Grand Touring Endurance, shortened to GTE, was a set of regulations maintained by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and IMSA for grand tourer racing cars used in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 24 hours of Daytona GTLM, and its associated series. T ...

class race winning team in the

FIA World Endurance Championship The FIA World Endurance Championship, abbreviated as WEC, is a world championship for automobile endurance racing organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The se ...

. Their drivers – Sarah Bovy, Michelle Gatting, and

– became the first all-female lineup to win an FIA WEC race.

2024

WEC

For 2024, Iron Lynx became the ''de facto'' Lamborghini factory team in the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship – Iron Lynx campaigned a single Lamborghini SC63 in the Hypercar, whilst both programs fielded one Huracán GT3 Evo2 each in the LMGT3 class. Bovy and Gatting were retained, with Gatting promoted to Gold status, whilst Frey (demoted to Silver) was replaced with Pin – the Swiss saw her driving duties reduced as she took on a greater role within team management. Frey returned to the driving line-up after Pin suffered broken ribs in a cycling accident before

Spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa health treatments are known as balneotherapy. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters and hot springs goes back to pre ...

. Following a troublesome campaign for both entries in WEC, Iron Lynx and Lamborghini terminated their partnership at seasons' end.

Formula Regional

For 2024, the team entered into the 2024 Formula Regional European Championship with drivers

Doriane Pin Doriane Pin (born 6 January 2004) is a French List of female racing drivers, racing driver who is part of the Iron Dames programme and the Mercedes Junior Team. She is currently competing in 2025 F1 Academy season, F1 Academy and the 2025 Formul ...

and Marta García. The team finished eleventh in the teams' championship.

Rallying

For 2024, the Iron Dames expanded into rallying - Sarah Rumeau and Julie Amblard participated in the Rally4 class of the French Rally Championship with Sarrazin Motorsport. The partnership scored one top-five finish in both tarmac and gravel disciplines and finished in the top-five of the Asphalt championship.

2025

For 2025, the Iron Dames supported sixteen drivers across

endurance Endurance (also related to sufferance, forbearance, resilience, constitution, fortitude, persistence, tenacity, steadfastness, perseverance, stamina, and hardiness) is the ability of an organism to exert itself and remain active for a ...

single-seater An open-wheel car is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have their wheels below the body or inside fend ...

rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Political demonstration, a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a North American school or college sporting event Sport ...

and

competitions.

WEC

Following Iron Lynx' manufacturer split at the end of 2024, the Iron Dames project aligned with Porsche for the

2025 FIA World Endurance Championship The 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship is the thirteenth season of the FIA World Endurance Championship, an auto racing series organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The s ...

, partnering with Manthey Racing to campaign a 992-edition 911 GT3 R. This coincided with Porsche hiring Gatting as a factory driver.

Rally

The team expanded their rally program for 2025, with Sarah Rumeau and Julie Amblard joining the WRC2 Championship and continuing in the French Rally Championship having upgraded to Rally2 machinery.

Equestrian history

2024

In September 2023, Iron Dames announced an expansion into the world of

equestrian sports Equestrian sports are sports that use horses as a main part of the sport. This usually takes the form of the rider being on the horse's back, or the horses pulling some sort of horse-drawn vehicle. General * * * * * * * * * * * * * ...

, acquiring

Global Champions Tour The Longines Global Champions Tour (LGCT) is an annual pre-eminent individual show jumping series that comprises up to 15 rounds of competition hosted around the world. It brings together the top 30 riders in the FEI Jumping World Rankings. It was ...

team ''Cannes Stars'' to compete in the

show jumping Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrian events that also includes eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics. Sometimes shows ar ...

discipline for the 2024 season.

2025

For 2025, Iron Dames Equestrian doubled the size of their squad by acquiring the ''Monaco Comets'' outfit.

List of Iron Dames members

Motorsport

Current

Former

Equestrian

Current