IRON LYNX CLAIMS PODIUM FINISH IN 4 HOURS OF LE CASTELLET

Iron Lynx came incredibly close to victory in today’s 4 Hours of Le Castellet, the second round of the 2025 European Le Mans Series. Driving the #63 Mercedes-AMG LMGT3, Martin Berry, Lorcan Hanafin, and Fabian Schiller were in contention for victory for the whole duration of the race, which started in damp conditions and featured random showers in the opening half.

Berry was quick at the start and emerged as the leader among the cars that had started on slicks, while Hanafin later pushed hard to secure P1 in the middle stint. A safety car reopened the game, allowing a few contenders to gain a key pit-stop advantage, and one of them to gain a late lead with a shorter final pitstop.

It all came down to a breath-taking comeback run by Fabian Schiller. The German, a Mercedes-AMG Performance Driver, made up several seconds on his way to the checkers, but as the time ran out, ended up 3 tenths away from the win.

After the bad luck in Barcelona, it was a welcomed rebound for the team, which is now set to be back with its two Mercedes-AMG LMGT3s in FIA WEC next week.

The Iron Lynx Proton LMP2 squad, featuring Jonas Ried, Maceo Capietto and was once again forced to the sidelines. Starting from P3, the #9 Oreca 07 was highly competitive until a wheel hub issue resulted in a loose wheel and caused a stop in the garage. Not much after coming back on track, contact with debris led to further damage and a DNF.

Despite showing high potential in the Ligier European Series, Matteo Pianezzola and Gregorio Bertocco ended up with a P9 as their best result. An issue in Race 1 was followed by a drive-through in Race 2 which cost a chance to fight for a podium finish. The #60 Ligier JSP4 will be back for Round 3 in Le Mans.

Today’s result is a testament to the hard work done by the team and drivers in preparing for the season and we are really happy to give the Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 its maiden podium finish. Martin and Lorcan maximized the first part of the race in difficult conditions and made the race ours to lose. However, a safety car recompacted the group in a tricky moment strategy-wise for us and put us on the back foot for the final stages. Still, it was an amazing run for Fabian, who wiped away the gap and came close to what would have been a memorable win. We now feel even more motivated for what will come next, starting from next week’s FIA WEC race at Spa.

Andrea Piccini – Team Principal & CEO

Great effort by the entire team, we came so close and I think we did the best we could do with what we had. It was a mega team job and they deserved a great result. I’m really happy for the Iron Lynx crew, everyone worked so hard after the disappointment in Barcelona. Hopefully, we can go one better next time!

Martin Berry – Driver, car #63

Really happy with the podium finish here at Paul Ricard in the second round of the ELMS. We had a great pace throughout the race but not enough to catch the Ferrari at the end. We’ll try again next time.

Lorcan Hanafin – Driver, car #63

Good to finish on the podium in Paul Ricard. P2 is a good result even though it doesn’t make us super happy because we were leading quite a lot of the race. We lost the lead in the end, but we were very close and I could almost snatch the win away in the last corner. It was a couple of laps too late, but nonetheless, a great outcome and something to build on for the future.

Fabian Schiller – Driver, car #63