The first season of LMGT3 in the European Le Mans Series certainly promised action and excitement ahead of the first race in Barcelona and the new category lived up to the billing at each and every race in 2024.
Ahead of the season finale in Portimão no less than nine of the eleven entries were still in contention, with the top two cars tied on 64-points and eventual champions Iron Lynx in 4th on 51-points. There were five different winners in the six races, with only the no57 Kessel Racing Ferrari taking two wins in 2024.
At the end of the 4 Hours of Portimão the no63 Lamborghini Huracan not only secured the first win of the season to take the title by just two points, it was also the first ever ELMS win for the Italian manufacturer and the drivers – Hiroshi Hamaguchi, Axcil Jefferies and Andrea Calderelli – became the first driver crew from three different continents (Asia, Africa, Europe) to win an ELMS title.
The season started well in Barcelona with a podium finish in Spain, taking the chequered flag in third, 45 seconds behind the winning no50 Formula Racing Ferrari and just 0.354s ahead of the no60 Proton Competition Porsche.
At Le Castellet the no63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini finished on the podium again, this time is was a second place finish behind the no55 Spirit of Race Ferrari, with the no59 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin completing the top three finishing line up.
It was three podiums from three starts at the end of the 4 Hours of Imola, with the no63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini taking another third placed finish on the first of two trips to Italy. Andrea Calderelli had taken the chequered flag in 5th but penalties for the no86 GR Racing Ferrari and the no97 Grid Motorsport by TF Aston Martin promoted the no63 Lamborghini into third place and another 15 points was added to their tally.
The LMGT3 victory in Imola went to the no85 Iron Dames Porsche, with Michelle Gatting taking the chequered flag just 0.771s ahead of the no59 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin.
The 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps saw the only DNF for the no63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan.
After starting from pole position, Hiroshi Hamaguchi had been leading the category and was being challenged by the no85 Iron Dames Porsche driven by Sarah Bovy. The Belgian driver touched the back of Hamaguchi’s car at Les Combes putting the Porsche into a spin and colliding with the no50 Formula Racing Ferrari and the no55 Spirit of Race Ferrari. The two Ferraris retired but the Porsche was able to continue.
Later in the race Hamaguchi was being passed by an LMP2 car at La Source, contact forcing the Japanese driver onto the grass. As he went down the hill towards Eau Rouge the recovering Sarah Bovy was able to get alongside the Lamborghini, but the Huracan’s steering was damaged in the earlier collision and Hamaguchi speared off the track straight into the side of the Porsche, with both cars retiring on the spot.
Victory went to the no57 Kessel Racing Ferrari, the first of two wins for the Swiss team.
The 4 Hours of Mugello was also one to forget for the Iron Lynx team after the LMP2 Pro/Am no83 AF Corse Oreca-Gibson put Hiroshi Hamaguchi in the gravel, which Alessio Rovera was later given a drive through penalty later in the race. The Lamborghini was recovered and the team continued but a lowly 9th place finish meant they headed to Portimão with a 13-point deficit in the championship standings.
If the phrase ‘Grandstand Finish’ had to applied to just one race then the LMGT3 category in the 4 Hours of Portimão would be a worthy contender for the accolade.
The no85 Iron Dames Porsche led from pole, with Sarah Bovy handing over to Rahel Frey and then Michelle Gatting.
The calculations for the title were complicated early on when the championship leading cars – the no57 Kessel Racing Ferrari and the no59 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin hit problems and were languishing towards the back of the field in 8th and 9th places.
As the race entered the final stages the no85 Iron Dames Porsche had the no63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini of Andrea Calderelli pushing them hard.
In the meantime, Daniel Serra had pushed the no57 Kessel Racing Ferrari up the order to 5th, which meant they would take the championship on countback if Michelle Gatting crossed the line in first place. owever, Serra needed to finish in 4th place if the Iron Lynx Lamborghini won the race.
As the race entered the final lap the Lamborghini was right behind the leading Porsche, with Calderelli looking to force a mistake from Gatting. Gatting soaked up the pressure but at T14 on the run through the final corner Calderelli pounced and got alongside the Porsche to take the lead and take the chequered flag.
The Iron Lynx Lamborghini secured the title by just 0.195 seconds, with the no60 Proton Competition Porsche in third crossing the line 0.986s behind the Huracan.
Andrea Piccini, Iron Lynx Team Principal & CEO: "I can't believe we did it! If you remember that we had been leading the championship from the beginning, then with two very bad races to unlucky contact with LMP2s, we thought we were finished. When we came here, we tried our best from the beginning. But, as the race was progressing, we started to believe more and more that we could do it. And at the end, it was just between us and the Iron Dames, and we were able to make it happen. This is an incredible achievement for everyone in the Iron Lynx family to celebrate and is a great reward for all of the hard work which has been put in by all of us this year after many ups and downs."
