Iron Dames: Karen on the way to Le Mans 🎥
FUTURE A career made to measure. Karen Gaillard (22) only started karting at the age of 15. For the new season, she has taken a big step towards Le Mans by joining the Iron Dames team. It will be interesting to see.
For Karen Gaillard, Easter and Christmas took place in February for once. Born in Fribourg, she is a new driver for Iron Dames in the Michelin Le Mans Cup. In the team founded by Deborah Mayer in 2018, she will meet Rahel Frey, among others, who will retire as a racing driver in 2024, but is more in demand than ever in her role as team manager.
Iron Dames has a total of nine female riders under contract. Gaillard is the second Swiss driver alongside Frey. In addition to motorsport, Mayer is also active in equestrian sport. There, seven other female show jumpers fly the Iron Dames flag.
24-hour classic a dream
For Gaillard, the switch to Iron Dames is a further step towards Le Mans. The French-speaking Swiss driver, who turns 23 in June, has been dreaming of the 24-hour classic at the Sarthe for years. Partly because she realized early on that the path via formula racing was not financially viable. The late bloomer (Gaillard only started karting at the age of 15, center gallery) took her first steps in motorsport in the Cupra Young Driver Challenge, which she won in 2019 as the last sponsored driver (right gallery).
After a year in TCR, Gaillard switched to endurance racing in 2021. At the time, she was part of the La Filière Endurance racing school in Le Mans. Her career came to a standstill in 2022. The French GT sprint competition Mitjet 2L was not necessarily a step forward. But Gaillard fought on and finished second in the prototypes of the Ultimate Cup Series the previous year alongside Grégory de Sybourg, the grandson of Swiss racing legend Jo Siffert.
First assignment in Barcelona in April
She will now race in the Michelin Le Mans Cup in 2024. Gaillard starts on April 13 with the first race in Barcelona. A total of six races with a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 are on the program (gallery on the left). The highlight of the season is, of course, the 24-hour race in mid-June. It will probably be a while before Gaillard is allowed to contest the 24 Hours of Le Mans. But she is in the right place at Iron Dames. Now it just has to be the right time
Photos: Iron Dames, Delien/Ultimate Cup Series, Archive
Source: Car Sport Switzerland
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