Iron Lynx wraps up positive FIA WEC Prologue in Lusail

Iron Lynx wrapped up the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship Prologue yesterday at Lusail International Circuit.

Running for the first time with the Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 cars in a competitive setting, the team used the 14 hours of testing available to gain the needed chemistry with the new car, making solid progress as the two days went on in different light, asphalt and temperature conditions.

Claudio Schiavoni, Matteo Cressoni, and Matteo Cairoli drove the #60 car in the 7-hour test days. “We are quite happy about how it has been going so far,” said Cressoni. “We collected a lot of data and worked quite a bit on the setup. For sure, the car’s potential is pretty good even though there is some work still to do.”

On the #61 car, 18-year-old rookie Lin Hodenius completed his maiden FIA WEC experience, while Christian Ried focused on gaining confidence with the team’s new racecar. They were partnered by Mercedes-AMG Performance Driver Maxime Martin.

“We had the chance to test in different conditions here in Qatar,” said Martin, “A bit of everything that we will face in the race. It’s the first test for the Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 so it’s a bit of a learning curve, but we feel we made good steps and we are still working. We have three days to analyze everything and I’m sure we’ll be in good shape comes Free Practice on Wednesday.”

All drivers and the team had the chance to learn more about the operating window of the new-for-2025 car package, which is joining a fierce field of competitors.

Testing was focused on a race setting, gaining more insight into the car’s operating window. Running trouble-free, both cars covered about 1.500 kilometers and collected a considerable amount of data.

I think we had two positive days. Being on track for the first time with a new car requires finding a compromise, as there is a lot to do in several areas. Still, the atmosphere is quite relaxed and constructive and the progress is tangible. We mainly focused on tyre management to understand how much we can lean on the tyres with double stints, and on engine management. In addition, we gave our bronze drivers the time they needed to familiarize themselves with the car, while Cairoli had the chance to learn this track for the first time. We will now focus on analyzing the data we have got, and prepare for our first race weekend of 2025.

Andrea Piccini – Team Principal & CEO