Iron Lynx has troublefree start in Imola FIA WEC Prologue

Fresh off a brilliant start to the season in the European Le Mans Series, Iron Lynx has travelled back to its home track, near the Cesena headquarters, and is now set for the FIA World Endurance Championship season opener at Imola.

The team has kicked the Italian weekend off with the Prologue, a one-day test running over eight hours and replacing the original opening act in Qatar. Although the weather has not fully cooperated, the #61 and #79 cars ran in multiple conditions. Having collected a lot of data and insight, the team has what it needs to put everything in place and perform throughout the rest of the weekend.

Returning to the series following to the podium finish in the 2025 finale, the #61 Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 will be driven by the retained Martin Berry and Maxime Martin, joined by Rui Andrade. The reigning ELMS Champion, and a former FIA WEC World Champion, is joining as a silver-rated driver with the goal continuing a so far very successful endurance racing career.

The #79 Mercedes featured its full-season lineup of Johannes Zelger, Matteo Cressoni, and Lin Hodenius, who were running together for the first time ahead the season debut. While Zelger has started his maiden FIA WEC weekend after some solid testing, and Cressoni made his official return to the championship, Hodenius made his first appearance in the series as a Mercedes-AMG Junior Driver.

Conditions were wet at the start of the AM session, but the track quickly improved, which allowed the team to switch to slicks. The afternoon segment featured a brief shower where many teams opted to stay in the garage and focus on preparation, including driver change practice, ahead of what is expected to be a dry weekend.

Both the team’s cars ran trouble-free, except for a harmless spin early in the morning, with solid lap times on the board and loads of work completed. The drivers will be back into action on Thursday with the traditional public appearance in the Imola city center.
Andrea Piccini – Team Principal & CEO:
“We are very satisfied with today’s solid run in the Prologue. We ran smoothly all day despite the challenging and constantly-changing conditions. All drivers performed strongly and we collected a lot of valuable inshights for the start of the season. We have a few days to analyze data and feedback, make more steps and be in full shape for qualifying and the race.”

Martin Berry – Driver, Car 61
“Interesting conditions, with a bit of rain and a bit of dryness. We got to try a lot of different things in terms of wet setup and dry setup. It was a really productive day, and the pace is there early, which is good. It’s just the prologue, but we had a lot of learning, collected a lot of data, and we’re in pretty good shape.”

Lin Hodenius – Driver, Car 79
“It was an enjoyable Prologue, I got myself back in the team, back in the rhythm. We struggled with some drizzle, there was a bit of rain, and the track conditions stayed between damp and dry, so it was challenging, but everything was fine, everyone got some good driving time, and we’re ready to go!”

Iron Lynx è tornata sul suo circuito di casa vicino a Cesena per la gara inaugurale del FIA WEC Championship a Imola, dopo un ottimo inizio nella European Le Mans Series. Il team ha iniziato il weekend italiano con il Prologo, una sessione di test di otto ore che ha sostituito l’evento originariamente previsto in Qatar. Nonostante le condizioni meteorologiche difficili, le vetture numero 61 e 79 hanno raccolto dati preziosi in diverse condizioni per prepararsi al resto del weekend.

La Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 numero 61, salita sul podio nella finale del 2025, sarà guidata da Martin Berry e Maxime Martin, con Rui Andrade che si unirà al team come pilota Silver per proseguire la sua brillante carriera nelle gare di durata. La Mercedes numero 79 schiererà Johannes Zelger, Matteo Cressoni e Lin Hodenius, che correranno insieme per la prima volta in questa stagione. Zelger debutta nel FIA WEC dopo aver ottenuto buoni risultati nei test, mentre Cressoni torna dopo un periodo di pausa e Hodenius fa il suo debutto con il team come pilota junior Mercedes-AMG.

La sessione mattutina è iniziata con condizioni di pista bagnata, ma poi la situazione è migliorata, permettendo al team di montare pneumatici slick. Nel pomeriggio, un breve acquazzone ha costretto molti team a rimanere ai box per prepararsi, comprese le prove di cambio pilota. Entrambe le vetture si sono comportate senza problemi, a parte un piccolo testacoda al mattino, e il team ha fatto registrare tempi sul giro solidi e ha svolto molto lavoro. I piloti torneranno in pista giovedì per un’apparizione pubblica a Imola.

Il Team Principal Andrea Piccini si è detto soddisfatto del Prologo, sottolineando le ottime prestazioni nonostante le condizioni meteorologiche. Il pilota Martin Berry ha riconosciuto la produttività della giornata e i preziosi dati raccolti. Lin Hodenius ha trovato il Prologo piacevole nonostante le condizioni variabili e si è sentito pronto per la competizione.