Mercedes will return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the primary time since 1999 as a part of its World Endurance Championship campaign with the Iron Lynx team.
The German manufacturer will compete within the WEC for the primary time within the LMGT3 class on the wheel of the successful Mercedes-AMG GT3, winner of the 24 Hours of Classics at Spa and Nurburgring.
This will give Mercedes a spot on the starting grid at Le Mans, 26 years after its last entry within the CLR LM-GTP race.
It was only Mercedes' third foray into the French enduro since its 1989 victory with the Sauber factory team, which ended on Saturday evening when Peter Dumbreck crashed within the team's third air crash of the Le Mans meeting.
#6 AMG Mercedes CLR LMGTP: Bernd Schneider, Pedro Lamy, Franck Lagorce
Photo: John Brooks
Iron Lynx is partnering with Mercedes after representing Lamborghini in LMGT3 in 2024, the primary season of the brand new class, in addition to in Hypercar with the Italian manufacturer's SC63 LMDh prototype.
Mercedes is about to change into the tenth manufacturer in its class and can field two Iron Lynx-powered cars in keeping with series regulations.
Iron Lynx has announced Matteo Cressoni, who joins from the Lamborghini factory squad, and Claudio Schiavoni, team partner, as the primary drivers of each Mercs.
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport boss Christoph Sagemuller said in Wednesday's announcement: “It's no secret that we’ve been keen to bring the Three-Pointed Star back to Le Mans for a while.
“The 2025 season with FIA WEC entry is the precise time – we’re returning to La Sarthe after 26 years!
“The first FIA WEC season with LMGT3 cars has already been extremely interesting and we want to provide even more excitement on the track in the future.”
He added that “the experienced Iron Lynx team is the right pair” for his or her participation within the WEC.
Iron Lynx Team Principal and CEO Andrea Piccini said: “We are extremely proud to welcome Mercedes-AMG as a partner. In addition to being an amazing brand, this company is very motivated, determined and hungry for success.”
Stephen Wendl, head of customer racing at Mercedes-AMG, thanked the FIA ​​and Automobile Club de l'Ouest for his or her cooperation in allowing Mercedes to enter LMGT3 for the second time.
The brand tried to achieve entry for the inaugural yr of LMGT3. but lost when the FIA ​​and ACO allowed only nine manufacturers.
The expansion of the WEC grid from this yr's 37 cars to potentially as many as 40 and fewer than expected Hypercar entries has freed up space for Mercedes.
The significance of the announcement, which got here before the complete disclosure of the 2025 WEC stakes after registration closed on November 18, regarding Iron Lynx's relationship with Lamborghini just isn’t entirely clear.
Lamborghini's LMDh program is under review, with the brand's technical director Rouven Mohr revealing that every one options are possible.
He explained that the brand new rule requiring Lamborghini to enter the WEC with two SC63s had proven problematic attributable to resources, each financial and technical.
The almost certainly option appears to be that the Italian manufacturer will deal with GTP within the IMSA SportsCar Championship in North America, its largest market, and exit the WEC Hypercar class.
Iron Lynx didn’t consult with Lamborghini in its statement made concurrently Mercedes' statement.
Mercedes is planning a brand new GT3 automobile to exchange its existing long-life automobile, after developing solutions for the category in-house reasonably than using long-term partner HWA.
