In the first weekend of September, the Iron Dames were in action across the motorsport world. At the Circuit of the Americas, Rahel Frey, Michelle Gatting, and Célia Martin returned to the cockpit for the fifth round of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship, Lone Star Le Mans, while in Europe, Sarah Rumeau and Julie Amblard took on Mont Blanc in the French Rally Championship. Elsewhere, in Kristianstad, Sweden, Angelina Simons and Luna Fluxa returned to the Champions of the Future grid for a busy weekend of wheel-to-wheel karting action.
Heartbreak in tempestuous Texas
Rahel Frey, Michelle Gatting, and Célia Martin kick-started the second half of their FIA World Endurance Championship season in Austin, Texas, for the 2025 edition of the six-hour Lone Star Le Mans at the Circuit of the Americas. Célia represented the trio in a wet Qualifying session on Saturday and showed clear pace but was forced to start from 17th in the LMGT3 class due to an ill-timed yellow flag and track limits violation during her final push lap of the session.
The rain continued into Sunday, and Célia started the race, which, due to extreme conditions, got underway behind the Safety Car. The caution period ran over the opening 60 minutes of the race before the Red Flag was shown, just before the start of the second hour. Due to different refuelling strategies in the LMGT3 field, Célia resumed the race in seventh when running recommenced behind the Safety Car, 40 minutes on from the start of the Red Flag, but when the green flag waved, she immediately made progress to take sixth.
Debris on track caused the Safety Car to make a brief reappearance, and following the restart, Célia pitted to hand the car over to Rahel who rejoined the race in 11th at the start of the third hour. Over the next 30 minutes, the Swiss racer drove an impressive stint to work her way into the podium positions, although when the rain worsened in the fourth hour, she started to slip down the order to fifth.
The penultimate hour started under Virtual Safety Car and full Safety Car conditions, and Rahel took advantage of the pause to pit, with Michelle stepping into the cockpit for the final run to the flag. The Dane resumed the race in fifth and was a consistent presence inside the top five. With the track drying rapidly during the closing hour, Michelle decided to pit for slick tyres with just 34 minutes remaining.
Unfortunately, rain and debris on track from earlier in the race caused a blockage in the radiator of the #85 car, resulting in a sharp rise in engine temperature. Michelle tried to finish the race but was forced to stop two laps before the end for safety reasons.
Results: Rahel, Michelle and Célia: DNF (LMGT3)
Célia Martin
“Unfortunately, it was a DNF at Lone Star Le Mans. We started well, and we had a very good strategy despite the rain, the Safety Cars, and the Red Flag. We were fighting inside the top five for a long time but towards the end, we experienced some cooling issues because debris had blocked our radiator. This meant that we were unable to cool our engine, and it was painful to retire so close to the end. The sister car had more luck, which is great, but today hurts because we were there for a top five. But this is how it is, this is racing, and now our focus goes onto the next one.”
Racing to the Stars
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A daring comeback at Mont Blanc
Sarah Rumeau and Julie Amblard staged a strong recovery drive in the penultimate round of the 2025 French Rally Championship, the challenging Mont-Blanc Morzine. Winding deep into the Alps through technical mountain passes, a puncture on their Citroen C3 Rally2 on just the second stage set the duo back early in the rally, although the pair dug in deep to press forward. Despite contending with tricky conditions across the weekend, Sarah and Julie staged a bold, daring and impressive comeback, carving their way from 52nd on the opening day to finish 15th at the event’s end.
Results: Sarah and Julie: 15th
Sarah Rumeau
“A great recovery and some lessons to learn following a weekend that got off to a very poor start with a puncture on SS2. Fortunately, we managed to re-mobilise to continue to enjoy Mont Blanc’s amazing stages. That’s to our team, Iron Dames, and our gravel crew. We’re looking forward to our next rally at the Coeur de France.”
A challenging outing in Sweden
In Kristianstad, Sweden, Iron Dames Angelina Simons and Luna Fluxa returned to the highly competitive Champions Of The Future karting series, and showed encouraging pace in what was, at times, a challenging weekend.
In Qualifying, Angelina placed 55th overall in the 101-strong field and 19th in her group, but had a difficult start to the event, retiring from Heat 1 after being involved in an unavoidable first lap accident before finishing 24th in the second heat due to an engine issue.
Angelina secured her best result of the weekend in Heat 4, in which she narrowly missed out on a top 10 finish in 11th, and started her Superheat from 32nd, finishing 25th.
Luna, meanwhile, placed 51st in Qualifying overall and, thanks to a consistent performance throughout the heats, was ranked 33rd. In the Superheat, she staged a strong comeback to battle forward from 16th to ninth and was classified 26th in the Final.
Results
Angelina Simons:
Qualifying: 55th (overall)
Heat 1: DNF
Heat 2: 24th
Heat 3: 22nd
Heat 4: 11th
Heat 5: 15th
Pre-Final: 25th
Luna Fluxa:
Qualifying: 51st (overall)
Heat 1: 14th
Heat 2: 9th
Heat 3: 11th
Heat 4: 19th
Heat 5: 14th
Pre-Final: 9th
Final: 26th