will return to 24 Hours of Le Mans of the World Endurance Championship for the first time since 1999 through the team Iron Lynx. The German manufacturer will participate in the WEC for the first time in the LMGT3 category with the Mercedes-AMG GT3, winner of the classics of the 24 Hours of Spa and the Nürburgring.
So, Mercedes will be present on the Le Mans grid 26 years later of his last participation with the CLR LM-GTP.
Iron Lynx will begin a privileged partnership with Mercedes from 2025 after having represented Lamborghini in LMGT3 in 2024, the first season of this new category, as well as in Hypercar with the SC63 LMDh prototype from the Italian manufacturer.
Mercedes will become the tenth manufacturer in the category and will have two Iron Lynx cars, according to category rules.
Iron Lynx announced Matteo Cressoniwhich comes from the staff of the Lamborghini factory, already Claudio Schiavonipartner of the team, as first drivers of the two Mercedes.
The director of Mercedes-AMG Motorsport, Christophe Sagemullersaid: “It's no secret that we have been very interested in the return of the three-pointed star to Le Mans for some time.”
“The 2025 season is the right time to return to the WEC: we are returning to Sarthe after 26 years! The first season in the WEC with LMGT3 cars has already been extremely interesting and we want to bring even more excitement to the grid in the future. “.
He added that “the experienced Iron Lynx team is the right partner” for its arrival in the WEC.
Mercedes CLR LMGTP AMG #6: Bernd Schneider, Pedro Lamy, Franck Lagorce
Photo by: John Brooks
Andrea PicciniDirector and CEO of the Iron Lynx team, said: “We are very proud to welcome Mercedes-AMG as a partner. In addition to being an incredible brand, they are very motivated, determined and hungry for success.”
Stéphane Wendlhead of Mercedes-AMG customer racing, thanked the FIA and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest for their cooperation in allowing Mercedes to enter LMGT3 for the second time. The brand previously attempted to secure a place for 2024, but was rejected when the FIA and ACO only accepted nine manufacturers.
The expansion of the WEC grid from 37 cars this year to around 40 and a smaller than expected number of Hypercar entries has left room for Mercedes.
The significance of the announcement, which came before the full WEC grid for 2025 was confirmed after registration closed on November 18, on the relationship between Iron Lynx and Lamborghini, is not entirely clear. Lamborghini's LMDh program is under review and brand director Rouven Mohr has revealed that all options are possible.
He explained that the new rule requiring Lamborghini to race two SC63s in the WEC was proving problematic for resource reasons, both financial and technical.
It appears the most likely option is for the Italian manufacturer to focus on GTP in the North American IMSA SportsCar Championship, its largest market, and abandon the WEC's Hypercar category.
Iron Lynx made no reference to Lamborghini in its advertising.
For its part, Mercedes is planning a new GT3 to replace the current one, which has been on the track for a long time, having developed it in-house instead of turning to its long-time partner HWA.
