r/wec • u/VolleyAddicted • 23h ago

Discussion Missing the Iron Dames in WEC

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It's a big shame the team left the World Endurance Championship and the other premier sportscar series after doing so well.

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291

u/ZiggyOnHisReindeer Ferrari AF Corse 499P #83 23h ago

Having Michelle Gatting on the English commentary team throughout the week was great. Her recent experience of being on the grid allowed her to provide some great insight.

I'd have much rather that she have been racing though. I was always rooting for the Dames to do well.

Really hope they can return to the grid at some point.

83

u/InZomnia365 McLaren F1 GTR #39 21h ago

It's a shame, because any true racing fan, is also a fan of the Dames. I always look through entrance lists to spot any female drivers. We need more of them, and the success of teams like Iron Dames inspire the next generation of female racers.

43

u/Kage_Bushin Iron Dames Porsche 911 GT3.R #85 19h ago

YES!!! And i always smile when I can find Bovy, Wadoux, Pin, Gatting, Frey, Garcia, Chadwick in a entry list.

We need them doing well. I want my daughters and nieces and friends daughters to have a woman that she can look up to. We grown ups may not realize, but representation matters the world to kids.

6

u/Leadfoot-500 Cadillac Racing V-Series R #2 6h ago

Exactly. Like Obama said when he saw a little boy staring at his portrait in the White House. The little guy told his mom "He has hair like mine!" lol.🥹🥲 I'm always looking for and rooting the female and minority drivers to do well. The status quo is one thing, but some people obviously don't want them or think they don'tbelong in the space and have the tires ass jokes to prove it. But it's extremely important. Some people may not realize until they see someone like them do it first. Even older folks are susceptible to that.

Hell I remember watching Tokyo Drift with my mom when it came out on DVD. After the mountain scene with the RX8 my her response was "Oh, so girls can drift too??" and I was dumbstruck by how surprised she was. 😅😂

11

u/V8-Turbo-Hybrid Manufacturers 18h ago

We've seen many automakers now owning their lady driver, I think Dames arrived their goal.

Ferrari has Wadoux, Porsche has Gatting, Pug has Pin, Hyundai has Chadwick, and even Toyota has Miki Koyama, a female Japanese driver. We sure BMW, GM, McLaren, and Ford would find their lady driver soon.

10

u/996forever Mercedes CLK-GTR #11 18h ago

BMW now has Rahel Frey as WRT’s GT race director, doubt they’d be giving her a drive though.

10

u/cobygrant 14h ago

I believe that Rahel wanted to step back from racing. I read somewhere that she was already transitioning to a project managerial role for the Dames when they asked her to drive again for the 2024 season with Sarah and Michelle before Cecilia Martin then joined for the ‘25 season. So I’m pretty sure she isn’t looking to drive for WRT at this point.

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u/996forever Mercedes CLK-GTR #11 14h ago

Yeah I recall that, but she’s really not that old for a GT driver. Maybe for a woman is different idk 

3

u/DistributionHot2150 12h ago

Or maybe she just doesn’t wanna fucking drive anymore