Iron Dame, Michelle Gatting, becomes the first female racer to be crowned champion of Ferrari Challenge Europe Trofeo Pirelli
Racing in Mugello, Italy, Michelle brought car #83 home in P4 claiming the title with still one race left to go in the season
Iron Dames is a special project designed to support women in motorsport whether as drivers, mechanics, engineers or management

Michelle Gatting, part of the Iron Dames project, has written her name into the history books today, becoming the first female to be crowned the overall champion of Ferrari Challenge Europe Trofeo Pirelli.

Starting the race with a 29-point lead, Gatting managed to battle through a challenging race, much of it under safety car conditions, to bring her Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo home in P4 securing the championship despite the fact that there’s still one race left in the series this season.

Commenting on today’s victory, Iron Dames project leader, Deborah Mayer, said: “Michelle has driven impressively and consistently throughout the season.

“This is not only a major victory for Michelle and the Iron Dames, but it also marks a significant milestone for women in motorsport as this is the first time a woman has won this championship. Iron Dames are women driven by dreams and if you work hard it pays off, as demonstrated by Michelle with today’s achievement.”

Commenting on her title Michelle Gatting said: “I am over-the-moon at today’s result, we are the champions. I am super pleased with how the car and the team have performed throughout the whole season and I am of course humbled to be the first female driver to be champion of the series.

I think this is a very important step for women in motorsport. The race itself was a bit disappointing due to the number of times the safety car was out but it was important that we brought the car home today. Tomorrow we are going to go for it, and I am going full attack without doubt.”