Michelle Gatting

Michelle Gatting is a Danish driver who has won races in single-seaters and saloons. In 2019, she entered Le Mans for the first time.

She began racing in 2011, after winning two Danish karting titles. A Formula Ford was her first senior racing car and she wasted no time in getting on the pace, finishing fourth in her first race. During the second half of the season, she was a constant presence on the podium and won her first race at Sturup. She was third in the championship.

In 2012, she moved to the VW Scirocco-R Cup in Germany, supported by the FIA Women in Motorsport commission. This was the first of two seasons in the series. She was eleventh in her first year, and fourth in the Junior standings after one class win. She also drove a Scirocco in the Merdeka Endurance Race in Malaysia, but did not finish.

Her second season was much more successful and she became one of the championship’s quickest drivers, managing four podium finishes. These were a third and three seconds early in the season. She was fifth overall.

In 2014, she moved into sportscar racing, and raced in the Porsche Carrera Cup in Germany. Her best result was 15th, in Oschersleben. Towards the end of the season, she did two rounds of the International GT Open. She was eleventh in one race at Spa in an Audi R8 LMS Ultra.

She did not race competitively in 2015, but she did test a Thundersports car, with a view to entering the championship in 2016. Her debut Thundersports season in 2016 was a good one; she scored one win, at Bellahoj, as well as two second places, finishing eighth in the championship. Her car was a Dodge Challenger.

2017 was another strong season, with seven podium finishes and seventh in the Thundersports championship.

In 2018, she raced a BMW in Supertourisme in Denmark, continuing her good run of form. She was third in the championship with three wins, at Rudsborg and Padskogen.  

Later in the season, she joined the Kessel team for the Gulf 12 Hours, having proven her mettle in big-engined, powerful cars. Kessel was running an all-female team. They were second in class and sixth overall. This led to an offer of a drive in Europe with Kessel, including the Le Mans 24 Hours. The team, consisting of Michelle, Rahel Frey and Manuela Gostner, is supported by the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission.

The FIA WiM also supported Michelle in joining another all-female team for the Sepang round of the Asian Le Mans Series, in a Ligier LMP3 car. Her team-mates were Margot Laffite and Katherine Legge. They were running as part of Keiko Ihara’s R24 team, which had two female-crewed cars in the race. Michelle’s team was eighth in the LMP3 class.

Michelle was initially named as a candidate for the inaugural W Series women’s Formula 3 championship, but dropped out in favour of joining the Kessel team and racing at Le Mans. She was one of the Kessel "Iron Dames" with Rahel Frey and Manuela Gostner. They scored the first finish for an all-female team at Le Mans itself for about ten years, ahead of the "sister" Iron Lynx car of their male team-mates. Although the Dames were troubled by their share of car-related difficulties in the European Le Mans Series, they still managed second places in class at Silverstone and Paul Ricard, leaving them fourth in the GTE class overall.

The Iron Dames entered the Gulf 12 Hours again in 2019 and were closing on third place with Michelle in the car. A collision with a backmarker who did not let the faster car through in time put them out of the race.

Driving solo, Michelle did some rounds of the Denmark Super GT championship, driving an Oreca-powered prototype. She won twice at Bellahoj and also picked up a fourth at the same track.

The Iron Dames returned in 2020. They entered the ELMS and although it was not an easy season, they were fifth in the GTE class with three third places at Paul Ricard and Monza. Once more they out-scored their Iron Lynx "brothers".

The three Dames were 34th overall when Le Mans finally ran in September and were eleventh in the LMGTE Am class. This was a second straight finish for the team.

By herself but still part of the "Iron" setup, Michelle did part of the European Ferrari Challenge in Italy. She won the Trofeo Pirelli at Misano and was second at Misano and Imola. Despite only doing half of the season, she was sixth overall.

She also tried out touring cars in the Danish TCR series, driving a 309 for the Peugeot team. Unfortunately she did not finish her two races at Jyllandsringen.

2021 was her best year yet. The Iron Dames ran her in WEC, ELMS and the Ferrari Challenge. Driving an Iron Lynx "Scuderia Niki" 488, she won the first round of the Ferrari Challenge at Monza. Two more wins and a long string of pole positions and podiums meant that she won the championship outright.

Her three WEC outings included a class 13th place at Le Mans with Rahel Frey and Sarah Bovy, 36th overall. They also competed in the Portimao and Monza rounds. The Iron Dames team was ninth in the ELMS LMGTE championship after two third places at Portimao and Spa, with Michelle at the wheel.

She also made some appearances in the FIA Endurance Trophy, in the Iron Dames Ferrari.

The Dames stayed together in 2022. Michelle did five of the six rounds of the WEC for the team, with Doriane Pin and Christina Nielsen subbing for her and Sarah Bovy at Spa. Their best finishes in the large GTE class were two seventh places at Monza and Fuji and they were 14th overall. 

The season included Le Mans itself. It was far from an easy race for Michelle, Rahel and Sarah, but they were the leading Iron Lynx Ferrari crew and finished 40th, seventh in the GTE Am class. 

It was in the European Le Mans Series GTE Trophy where they really shone. The season began with a fourth a Paul Ricard that was almost a debut podium. They were second in the fifth round at Spa, then won the final race at Portimao, their first win. The Dames were third in the championship.

They went one better in the Gold Cup section of the Fanatec GT World Challenge, finishing second. This time, they were second at Paul Ricard and won at Spa.

The three main Dames stayed together for 2023, helped out by Doriane Pin. The established team had a pair of new cars: a Porsche 911 for WEC and a Lamborghini Huracan for IMSA and the Fanatec GT World Challenge. WEC and the Porsche proved to be the best combination, winning the LMGTE Am class at Bahrain at the end of the season. A third at Portimao earlier and some solid fourth places helped them to second in the class championship, in the final season of LMGTE competition. They were fourth in class at Le Mans after running much higher for much of the race but losing ground in the last few hours.

The Dames's IMSA season was limited to four rounds. Michelle and Rahel were 18th in the Daytona 24 Hours and eleventh at Sebring. They also raced at Watkins Glen and Road Atlanta, in commons with many other GTD teams who did not run the full season. Sebring remained their best finish. 

Their GT Wold Challenge season was affected by an early retirement from the Spa 24 Hours, which counted for three of the six point-scoring rounds. Their best result was 28th place overall at Monza, the first race of the season.

Michelle is set for another WEC season in 2024.

(Image copyright Kessel Racing)