Tough Break

Michelle Gatting had her foot and heart broken on Le Mans test day. But as she showed just four weeks later, racers race.

Michelle Gatting, custom-wrapped crutches, broken foot at all, at Le Mans. (Photo: DPPI)

Finishing ninth in a 13-car class isn't usually cause for a driver to celebrate.

But Michelle Gatting's effort in round three of European Le Mans Series (ELMS) at Imola July 6 was no ordinary endurance race outing. Race week started three and a half weeks after suffering a broken foot that doctors said would need at least four weeks to heal.

The doctors were right, but Gatting was not deterred.

"Bones haven’t healed," she told DailySportscar (DSC) shortly after being cleared to race at Imola. "I’m still on crutches. I’m still in the boot, but I can drive the car.”

The injury alone was bad enough. That it came during preparation for the 24 Hours of Le Mans made it exponentially worse.

Gatting was hurt in a freak June 8 test-day pit road incident during what was supposed to be a routine driver change. But a crowded pit lane meant the Manthey Racing crew had to put its No. 85 Iron Dames Porsche 911 on skates to reposition it in the pit box, then activate its air jacks to perform routine service. Gatting hopped out before the car was back down on the ground.

"I jump out, and I'm ready for a driver change, but I don't see Rahel [Frey], and she's always next to me, ready for the driver change," Gatting told the FIA WEC's social media team. "But because the car was in the air, she was not there because it was too early. I turn around, I look for her, and in that moment, they drop the car ...and my feet are unfortunately under the car."

The low ride-height setup for Le Mans didn't leave much room between the Porsche chassis and the hard pit lane surface. The car’s drop from the air jacks ensured the tiny gap disappeared for an instant, with Gatting's right foot caught in between.

She went down immediately, and could not get up.

"In the moment that I couldn't stand, I knew that that was it," she said.

‘I just want to leave’

The resulting pain stemmed from more than Gatting’s multiple foot fractures. She was knocked out of her first 24 Hours of Le Mans as a Porsche factory driver before a single lap of practice, let alone race day.

In an instant, unbridled anticipation was replaced by unfathomable disappointment.

"If I have to be straight up honest, I just want to leave," she said in the WEC interview days before the race. "But I'm not going to, because at the end of the day...I want to support them."

Replaced in the driver lineup by Iron Dames veteran Sarah Bovy and relegated to a support role, Gatting watched co-drivers Frey, Bovy Célia Martin and the team salvage a 16th place LMGT3 class finish after a tough 24 hours that included both on-track and technical troubles.

While nothing tops Le Mans--"It's so much bigger than a 24-hour race," Gatting said--Imola was a big deal in its own right. The Iron Dames came to Italy as the ELMS LMGT3 points leaders on the strength of a season-opening win at Barcelona.

Gatting knew getting back into the car for Le Mans or a planned trip to the U.S. for IMSA's Six Hours of the Glen June 22 was too much to ask. (With Gatting unavailable, the Dames withdrew from Watkins Glen.)

But with a season-long title at stake, Imola was a must.

"My [doctor] is like yeah, bones need four weeks to heal. And I'm like, Yeah, but I am in Imola in three and a half weeks, that's for sure. I have to be there because we have to win a championship."

Just need to hop around

Gatting was there—boot, custom-wrapped crutches (courtesy of her WEC Manthey teammates), and all.

Driving required taping her injured foot "in a very specific way," she told DSC. Bovy would not just co-drive but be nearby on driver changes "to catch me if I fall," Gatting said.

"I can get in and out of the car ok," she added. "I just need to hop around on one foot.”

She didn't need any pain medicine.

The weekend started off well. Martin qualified third and quickly moved up to second when the green flag fell. But Martin was spun by the No. 50 AF Corse Ferrari in the sixth minute.

She rallied and inherited the lead during a safety car. But a rain-assisted spin sent Martin from the front to ninth at the 95-minute mark.

When Gatting got in for her lone, 45-minute stint to close the race, the Iron Dames were eighth in class. She brought the No. 85 Porsche home ninth.

“A difficult race at Imola," Gatting said. "In the end, there wasn’t much to fight for because the gap was too big. We crossed the finish line, which is the most important thing, and we need to stay positive for the next round at Spa.”

The Iron Dames head to August 24's round four at Spa tied for second in ELMS LMGT3 team points with the No. 82 TF Sport Ferrari 296, six back of the No. 55 Spirit of Race Ferrari.

Barring more bad luck, Gatting will be there to serve as the team's closer.

"Getting back into the car [so soon] after breaking my foot is not the easiest thing I've done in my life," Gatting said. "But I did it."

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References

Cleared to race at Imola: https://www.dailysportscar.com/2025/07/04/gatting-back-behind-the-wheel-ready-to-resume-lmgt3-title-fight.html