• Twelfth place for Ryan Hardwick, Richard Lietz and Riccardo Pera in the Manthey 1st Phorm Porsche (#92)
• Iron Dames car number 85 with Rahel Frey, Michelle Gatting and Célia Martin finished the ten-hour race in 13th place
• This means a point-less championship result in the season-opening race for Manthey

Lusail. Manthey started its second FIA WEC season in the LMGT3 class at the Lusail International Circuit under difficult conditions. The number 85 and 92 Iron Dames and Manthey 1st Phorm Porsche 911 GT3 R finished the season opener in 13th and 12th place respectively. This means that both crews go home empty-handed from the one-and-a-half times points race in the teams' and drivers' standings. After winning the debut race in Qatar and the Endurance Trophy last year, these results do not meet the expectations the team had set for the opening race.

The first race of the new FIA WEC season began in 15th and 11th place for bronze drivers Célia Martin (France) and Ryan Hardwick (USA). In the GT field, the two 911s immediately lost positions and had to start an arduous chase from places 14 (# 92) and 16 (# 85) after the first few laps due to a lack of top speed. This undertaking was further complicated by the nature of the 1812-kilometre race, which was characterised by numerous full-course yellow (FCY) and safety car phases. Nevertheless, the driver pairings deployed up to the halfway point of the race were able to make up places on the Iron Dames and Manthey 1st Phorm Porsche thanks to consistent driving and a pit stop strategy adapted to the race dynamics: Riccardo Pera (Italy) was ninth at the five-hour mark in the 92 car, followed by Rahel Frey (Switzerland) in the 85, which was additionally set back by a puncture after contact and a drive-through penalty for overspeeding in one of the FCY phases, in fourteenth place.

Conditions remained difficult for the Porsche 911 GT3 R during the second race half at the Lusail International Circuit. After six hours, the Manthey 1st Phorm Porsche was handed a drive-through penalty for ignoring blue flags, which cost additional positions. Ultimately, Richard Lietz (Austria) and Rahel Frey finished the difficult ten-hour race in twelfth and thirteenth place, despite a consistently strong performance by the six drivers and the Manthey crew.

This means that Manthey leaves the first race of the Endurance Championship without points, ending up with twelfth (#92) and thirteenth place (#85) in the LMGT3 standings.

Nicolas Raeder, Managing Director of Manthey Racing GmbH, summarises the weekend: "After last year's great season, this is obviously not the result we had in mind. I think we did a good job as a team, but the result does not reflect that at the moment. It was the first race and there was a lot of preparation. We are racing with a completely new driver line-up, but the team structure has basically remained the same and we know what we are capable of. It is of course very disappointing to go home like this and we hope to be able to fight with the contenders again at Imola."

The team's next outing in the World Endurance Championship is just over a month away, with the Six Hours of Imola on 20 April.
 

Quotes on the Qatar 1812KM

Rahel Frey, Porsche 911 GT3 R #85: "Qatar has been a difficult season opener for us. Nevertheless, it was a good lesson. We struggled throughout the race, we lacked pace - it was as simple as that. We tried to do our best and we were consistent. We just go to the next one and see how it goes. As Iron Dames, we never give up and we just keep rolling."

Michelle Gatting, Porsche 911 GT3 R #85: "Our first weekend in Qatar together with Manthey - a lot of ups and downs, but in the end I'm very happy with the feeling of the car, it was very positive. Of course, we lacked a bit of pace, but there is nothing we can do about that. I think we all did the job we had to do and I'm very confident in the Manthey team and the whole crew. So I'd say I'm happier than I expected and I'm looking forward to what the future holds for the Iron Dames project with Manthey."

Célia Martin, Porsche 911 GT3 R #85: "My first race in the WEC was a tough one with a lot going on throughout. I tried to keep my cool and manage it as best I could, but the pace was lacking which made it difficult and frustrating to adapt and race. However, I learnt a lot from it and as a team Iron Dames and Manthey we will take these lessons forward and definitely come back stronger for the next race."

Ryan Hardwick, Porsche 911 GT3 R #92: "It was a very disappointing race, a very disappointing result. Our team worked extremely hard throughout the entire week to try and match the pace of the competition and we just werent able to do it. All my team mates made zero mistakes in the race, we never had any technical problems, but it just wasn't good enough to be competitive. We'll regroup and hopefully come back to Imola with a more competitive car and try to take the fight forward. I'm very proud of the team and the preparation we've done, but we just weren't good enough in this race. We'll figure it out and we'll improve and come back stronger."

Richard Lietz, Porsche 911 GT3 R #92: "I'm sure everyone imagined the first race weekend of the 2025 WEC a little differently. We found a good balance with the Porsche and were able to push very well. Everything was very much in sync with my fellow drivers, so now we have to analyse and try to get even more performance out of the car for the next race and become stronger."

Riccardo Pera, Porsche 911 GT3 R #92: "A difficult weekend for us, we lacked some speed all weekend since the prologue. So, it was a tough race for us as we just did not have the pace to keep up with the rest of the field. We'll see what Imola brings and we hope to be back in the fight for more."

Patrick Arkenau, Division Manager Racing, Manthey Racing GmbH: "The 10-hour race in Qatar as the opening round of the 2025 WEC season - of course we had very different expectations when we travelled to Qatar for our second LMGT3 season with two new partners and strong driver pairings. We already saw in the prologue that it was going to be a difficult weekend, but we were hoping to make up ground in the race with a very good tactical performance and very good pit stops. Unfortunately, that didn't happen - we were so far behind in terms of pace that, despite a relatively flawless performance and very good pit stops, we were unable to stay on the lead lap and fight for positions. So, unfortunately we finished last and second last among the cars that made it to the finish, which is obviously far from our expectations. Now we have to work on reducing this gap so that we have a chance to fight for the top positions at Imola."

Results Qatar 1812KM

LMGT3 Class
1. Keating/Edgar/Juncadella (USA/GBR/ESP), Corvette #33
2. Cottingham/Baud/Saucy (GBR/FRA/SUI), McLaren #59
3. Shahin/Boguslavskiy/Farfus (AUS/RUS/BRA), BMW #31

12. Hardwick/Pera/Lietz (USA/ITA/AUT), Porsche 911 GT3 R #92
13. Martin/Frey/Gatting (FRA/SUI/DKR), Porsche 911 GT3 R #85

WEC race calendar 2025

21-22 February 2025 I Official Prologue
28 February 2025 I Qatar 1812Km
20 April 2025 I 6 Hours of Imola
10 May 2025 I TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps
14-15 June 2025 I 24 Hours of Le Mans
13 July 2025 I Rolex 6 Hours of São Paulo
7 September 2025 I Lone Star Le Mans
28 September 2025 I 6 Hours of Fuji
8 November 2025 I Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain