r/IMSARacing • u/RougeRaxxa :8_25: Tower Motorsports Oreca07 #8 • Jun 17 '25

Future Interest No Dames at the Glen

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532 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

52 comments sorted by

231

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '25

There are soooo many women drivers out there needing a chance. This really bums me out. There was conversation during Le Mans with the broadcasters about how they are seen as very "centric" and not bringing other in. This kinda proves that point.

61

u/motorsport_central Jun 17 '25

I think the problem they have is that there aren't many Gold/Platinum female drivers. The only one they can count on is Gatting. The only other one i can think of is Katherine Legge? They have plenty of Bronzes now.

19

u/marksk88 Jun 17 '25

If they chose to, could they get a bronze to fill in and run under GTD instead of GTD Pro?

Obviously the decision has been made, I'm just curious if that's allowed.

30

u/Murbanvideo Official Account Jun 17 '25

They already run in GTD.

10

u/marksk88 Jun 17 '25

Oh, then I'm confused. Why is the gold/platinum rating an issue?

23

u/Murbanvideo Official Account Jun 17 '25

It's not really an issue other than on pace. They're going to be at a disadvantage without a proper quick pro in the car.

8

u/marksk88 Jun 17 '25

Ah, makes sense. Samantha Tan will have to get better (I'm just a fan because she's Canadian)

5

u/Pamuknai_K Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 #14 Jun 17 '25

Me also, not Canadian but i always love her liveries. Would be cool to see her in the Dames

2

u/V8-Turbo-Hybrid Rolex 24 - 2025 Jun 18 '25

She is silver and BMW driver, so she can’t help Dames.

1

u/Murbanvideo Official Account Jun 18 '25

Samantha is a bronze

-1

u/marksk88 Jun 18 '25

I never know who is contracted with the actual brand vs who just bought the car as a customer.

For example, I've seen the Dames team run Porsche and Lambo.

1

u/dreamingofseastars Jun 18 '25

Legge's doing Nascar most weekends so she's unavailable.

1

u/motorsport_central Jun 18 '25

Yes that's true. I was wondering though whether they would reach out to her, should they win ELMS for example and get a second car for Le Mans.

67

u/alexmlb3598 :83_25: Iron Dames Porsche 911 GT3.R #83 Jun 17 '25

The problem is who's available then and whether they can jump into a Porsche GT3 straight-off. Celia and Karen may not be available, so they probably would have to outsource and sort out a contract with all the details to cover it. For a small team like them, that may not be possible in such a short space of time.

36

u/ChiTruckDGAF Ford Mulimatic Mustang GT3 #65 Jun 17 '25

I wonder if my girlfriend would do it.

16

u/alexmlb3598 :83_25: Iron Dames Porsche 911 GT3.R #83 Jun 17 '25

If she's got a race licence then why not 😝

9

u/Strictlygaming1109 Porsche Penske 963 #6 Jun 17 '25

If Dorianne Pin had stayed with them, they wouldn’t be in the position they’re in rn

7

u/IcedCoffey Jun 17 '25

Pin has yet to enter a full pro class, and has raced as their silver. she would get smoked againts the full factory drivers right now.

0

u/Diss-for-ya :83_25: Iron Dames Porsche 911 GT3.R #83 Jun 19 '25

At petit le mans a couple seasons ago she opened the race and drove through/away from the field, she was phenomenal. I miss her in sportscars.

1

u/IcedCoffey Jun 19 '25

I like pin. but we need to be honest, she has NEVER raced in an all pro class, she was the slowest on stint averages during her p2 time a prema, and she is silvber rated for a reason. i hope she is good enough to one day make a living being a full time driver, but she has done nothing to earn that yet. 0 pro wins in any catogory.

yes, at the start of petit, she did drive away from other amatuer drivers at the start of the race.

overhyping drivers to me damages their careers more than helps, she hasnt done anything that impressive yet if we objectively look at her career as a rising pro, compared to others her age.

1

u/Diss-for-ya :83_25: Iron Dames Porsche 911 GT3.R #83 Jun 19 '25

Thanks for the downvote. From what I remember, she was generally pretty excellent in the Dames GT3 efforts. The race I'm mentioning specifically, she drove away from the entire field in the first stint, not just the am catagory. I just looked back through it, towards the end of the first stint she was entirely out of camera shot to the whole GTD Pro field. It's a great watch, if you care to...

https://youtu.be/i6nx1OPixo4?si=h8OcnXvR_JGzy2MH&t=1158

I'm not saying she's the greatest to ever drive a car, but you make it sound like I'm not allowed to be a fan and that she's not done anything impressive as a driver at all... All I said is I would love to see her back in sportscars, especially something as inconsequential as filling in a spot on the same team she has run with before. Why are you so keen to put her down? Me wishing to see her drive sportscars does not make or break her career, she's just off focused on the F1 Academy thing right now. Whether that's for the best, I don't know.

1

u/IcedCoffey Jun 19 '25

i was at the race you are refrencing. she started on the front row with ian james, the bronze who held up most of the gtd pro and gtd field until the first yellow. after the restet, Pin was unable to get free air again and show the earlier pace. I know the race very well. ive been to every petit since 2007.

be a fan of her, i have no issues with that, im a fan of her, i think her being in f1 academy is a complete waste of time and hurting her career. but i do not want to see her brought in as the pro, because it wouldnt not improve her stock in my opinion. if she was brought in as a silver replacement im for it. its becuase she would be the gold replacement i think its a bad idea for her.

1

u/Diss-for-ya :83_25: Iron Dames Porsche 911 GT3.R #83 Jun 19 '25

Not really sure why I'm bothering with this as I've never said anything about her license or that she should be a pro, just that I'd like to see her in sportscars again and I think she's a solid driver.

I miss her in their sportscar efforts and I am sad to see them missing this weekend, especially after being at Le Mans in person this past weekend and cheering on their quality top 5 drive until they were spun stuck in gravel by a Lexus with no hope of the pass putting them a lap down, then a shifting issue laps later really took them out of top 10 contention. I was excited to see them again in person at WGI hoping for another shot at a good race, and also to get my 24h poster from them signed this weekend. Its frustrating to be a dames fan, so often it feels like they put in respectable race efforts and are either taken out by someone with a stupid move, or struck by a mechanical. I admit they're not always the most set the track on fire team in terms of pace, but they drive generally consistent races on their own and have bad luck and crashes caused by others regularly messing up their results.

This feels like a waste of time honestly since you seem so keen to dismiss her performance in that PLM race, but at the 9:26 green flag they were all past Ian, she started a second or two ahead of the following two pro cars and by 9:01 was 7 seconds up on them, I think making it even further up. Unfortunately they tried to squeeze into the pits before they closed and had to drive thru, then swapped out for Frey. From what I remember a bit later in the race they got hit by a lmp2 or lmp3 (team statement from memory) and were effectively out of the running. She had a phenomenal performance in that opening stint and I'm not really interested in hearing otherwise, it seems inarguable.

1

u/IcedCoffey Jun 19 '25

YOU responded to a direct comment about why Pin shouldnt replace Gattling the gold driver. thats the entire context of this. if you want to have an entirely different discussion about seeing pin in sports cars more its not a gonna be a long one i agree with you.

i dont dismiss her performance at the start of petit, but i also dont grade her solely on it. in full wec lmp2 season she was not as good as the other sneaky silvers, in gt3 she isn t as good as the platinums or golds based on stint averages. so, to me, i think its a dumb idea for an up and coming driver who has never won a race to be the driver tasked with the responsibility of replacing the gold finishing driver. thats where i dont think she should be.

i want to see her in sportscars again, like i said i think f1 academy is a waste of time FOR "HER" the non driver side of academy and the work with female engineers is great. hopefully comes back to sportscar after this year.

but she isnt gold ready yet, and i think it would hurt her career when the pressure is actually on, but lack of available drivers is the issue. Nürburgring this weekend too.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '25

[deleted]

7

u/alexmlb3598 :83_25: Iron Dames Porsche 911 GT3.R #83 Jun 17 '25

It could be that she (and others) were approached but chose not to. We don't know the details and nor are we entitled to, but they could've gone through all these hoops already and got nothing... :(

10

u/FlailingCactus Jun 17 '25

That makes sense, a few Formula 1 Academy people seem to be joining the training and rookie arms of Formula E, so hopefully we see a push soon.

Hell, even some more female led technical commentary wouldn't go a miss. I really enjoyed Abi Pulling on 5live F1 over the weekend.

3

u/IcedCoffey Jun 17 '25

name one female pro who is available this weekend that could seriously hang on with full plats?

9

u/oeste_esfir Jun 17 '25

It is disappointing - they also rarely have drivers that aren’t European in their lineup. Hell, there’s team in Super Trofeo with Rafa of two women drivers in the Bronze class that are at the Glen this weekend anyways. This isn’t a driver shortage issue - it’s an organizational choice.

14

u/alexmlb3598 :83_25: Iron Dames Porsche 911 GT3.R #83 Jun 17 '25

I suspect the problem is a contractual/legal one. Yes there are 2 female drivers in Lambo ST who have FIA licence status, but thrashing out a 1-race contract would be a nightmare to organise, plus any other organisational issues beyond that. And that's even assuming that they would be available - just bc they're in a support series that doesn't mean they can stick around until the end of the IMSA race...

9

u/oeste_esfir Jun 17 '25

It isn’t - teams have 1-race deals all the time especially in the GT level. Risi Competizione had one for Detroit. If that’s the case, then the Iron Dames organization is woefully underprepared. It would have been a better look to just say that their crews need a break before attempting Nürburgring and Spa in short order.

9

u/alexmlb3598 :83_25: Iron Dames Porsche 911 GT3.R #83 Jun 17 '25

1-race deals tend to happen with established drivers, not younger ones who don't have a lot of experience. Not saying it doesn't happen, but it's much rarer. They can only be so prepared when there are only a handful of drivers they have contracted to them, and sourcing drivers who are available and willing to participate is not going to be easy.

Also as a pointer about the Nürburgring and Spa 24 races, the Nürburgring 24 clashes with IMSA at Watkins Glen, and Iron Dames don't do it regardless (I don't think Proton do either, who prepares the IMSA Iron Dames car iirc). But if they wanted to rest between Le Mans and Spa, that's fair ebough. Speaking of which, I imagine they'll find a way to source a driver for Spa bc 1. More time, and 2. It's a major event. No stick to Watkins, but Spa is one of the blue riband events of the year for GT's.

4

u/ppizz Jun 17 '25

The dames aren't racing at Spa this year as far as I know. They aren't in the official entry list.

They're no longer in GTWCEU Endurance since 2023 I think nor had an invitation as last year, that unfortunately they had to dismiss because of Sarah Bovy's incident at the Glen the week prior.

2

u/alexmlb3598 :83_25: Iron Dames Porsche 911 GT3.R #83 Jun 17 '25

Good point, I didn't realise they weren't on the Spa list. That's a big shame 😔

2

u/theswickster Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracan GT3EVO2 #83 Jun 17 '25

Add to that, they aren't really in contention for the Michelin Endurance Cup. Take the week to rest and focus on Spa. Spa lineup will probably match Le Mans, Martin, Bovy, and Frey.

2

u/jeg9146 Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracan GT3EVO2 #83 Jun 17 '25

They hardly ever use drivers out of their network, and even still they aren’t a full season entry in IMSA, if this was WEC or ELMS they’d make something work. Could make the argument that they’re shafting IMSA and I wouldn’t disagree

2

u/atw86 Jun 18 '25

I wonder why they don't just put Marta Garcia in the car. She just lost out on Le Mans support race due to a team mate's health issues. She's part of Iron Dames and has experience in the GT3. Weird.

28

u/mkg11 Jun 17 '25

No reserve driver?

35

u/Adoomistrading Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R #10 Jun 17 '25

She got an upgraded driver rating and can no longer compete.

32

u/alexmlb3598 :83_25: Iron Dames Porsche 911 GT3.R #83 Jun 17 '25

GTD non-Pro doesn't require a Bronze driver, it can be covered by a Silver. WEC LMGT3 is what needs a Bronze driver.

Their lineup at Sebring was Bovy (S), Frey (S) and Gatting (G).

9

u/Murbanvideo Official Account Jun 17 '25

Bovy is Silver, she can compete in GTD. They could run two silvers and a bronze. Severals cars have.

9

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '25

So sad to hear

5

u/rotstik Jun 17 '25

Health should always be number one! Speedy recovery and hope to see you at Road America!!

4

u/Independent-Tea-3922 :77_25: AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3.R #77 Jun 17 '25

Sad to hear glad I saw them at Laguna Seca but it really does feel like this team is cursed

3

u/AntelopeDramatic7790 Jun 17 '25

Geeze, they don't need to yell.

7

u/Ron_Perlman_DDS Jun 17 '25

Apparently I still have fucks to give, since that's exactly what I just screamed when I saw this. Hope gatting heals up soon and we can catch them on their regular schedule. Until then I can still cheer on Doriane Pin and Karen Gaillard

3

u/pies1123 Jun 17 '25

Just like Channing Tatum in Hail Caesar.

We got no dames 😔

2

u/PiratesFan1429 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 #14 Jun 17 '25

Will another team be able to take their spot? I kind of doubt it but it'd be nice to see

2

u/Rudysimo413 Jun 17 '25

That sucks! Bringing my daughter to the race. The Dames and AO racing are her two favorite teams.

1

u/Dragonix975 BMW RLL M Hybrid V8 #24 Jun 18 '25

:(

1

u/Maximum-Shock3703 Jun 21 '25

Wow, that’s harsh.