FIA WEC – IRON LYNX CLAIMS DOUBLE POINTS FINISH AT COTA
Iron Lynx ended the fifth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship with a double top-seven finish on a day of what-ifs for the Italian squad. It was the team’s best result of the season in terms of points achieved, and the Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 performed exceptionally well in high tyre-degradation conditions, but there is some regret due to losing the chance of a possible win.
After making it into Hyperpole, the #61 car shared by Martin Berry, Rui Andrade and Maxime Martin was in contention throughout, despite early penalties for contact and race incidents.
The torrid heat at the Circuit of the Americas forced the team to opt for single stints. Following a strong start from Martin Berry, he and Rui Andrade kept the car inside the top five. Unfortunately, Andrade was later handed two drive-through penalties for Full Course Yellow infringements, and although Maxime Martin fought back hard, he could only recover to sixth, missing out on fifth by less than half a second.
The #79 crew of Johannes Zelger, Matteo Cressoni and Lin Hodenius secured its maiden points finish in seventh to cap a largely trouble-free run. A challenging qualifying session left Zelger starting from the back of the grid, but he soon began to make up ground with a steady rhythm. Cressoni and Hodenius continued the progress, working their way up the order, and the Dutchman battled to seventh at the flag despite slight contact late on.
The team now continues its fast-paced season with the penultimate round of the European Le Mans Series at Silverstone, before moving on to the Japanese round of the FIA WEC at Fuji Speedway.
Andrea Piccini – Team Principal & CEO
“It’s always difficult to see such a promising race end without the result we knew we could achieve in terms of performance, strategy and pit work. The #61 car had everything it needed to take victory, but it didn’t come together because of the penalties we picked up during the race. However, the #79 car took its best result of the year and its first points finish, in a solid performance from Johannes, Matteo and Lin.”
Maxime Martin – Mercedes-AMG Performance Driver, car #61
“Not the greatest result for us in the Austin heat; we got P6 in the end. I think we definitely had more potential, but we picked up some penalties and it was difficult to recover from them. We will try to recover as much as we can and get back strong in Fuji.”
Lin Hodenius – Mercedes-AMG Junior Driver, car #79
“We finished P7 in the end, which was quite good, and we also got zero penalties, which was one of our goals. I had a small contact near the end and unfortunately it was on me, but we made a good recovery and ended up in the same position. It’s a good day to look back on, and we go again in Fuji.”
Johannes Zelger – Driver, car #79
“It was a great race and we secured our first points of the season. I couldn’t have asked for much more. Finishing P7, we could maybe have fought for fifth place, but we’ll take this result, which is very important for us.”
Iron Lynx ha concluso il quinto round del Campionato del Mondo Endurance FIA con entrambe le vetture tra le prime sette, ottenendo il miglior risultato stagionale in termini di punti. La Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 si è comportata bene nonostante l’elevato degrado degli pneumatici, ma il team ha espresso rammarico per le occasioni mancate di vittoria.
La vettura numero 61, guidata da Martin Berry, Rui Andrade e Maxime Martin, ha raggiunto Hyperpole ed è risultata competitiva nonostante le penalità iniziali dovute a incidenti di gara. Il caldo estremo del Circuit of the Americas ha spinto il team a optare per stint singoli. Berry e Andrade hanno lavorato per mantenere la vettura tra le prime cinque, ma Andrade ha ricevuto due penalità drive-through. Martin è riuscito a recuperare fino al sesto posto, a meno di mezzo secondo dal quinto.
Il team numero 79, composto da Johannes Zelger, Matteo Cressoni e Lin Hodenius, ha conquistato il suo primo piazzamento a punti, arrivando settimo grazie a una gara senza intoppi. Dopo una difficile qualifica e una partenza dalle retrovie, Zelger ha recuperato posizioni con costanza, mentre Cressoni e Hodenius hanno continuato a risalire la classifica. Nonostante qualche contatto nel finale, il team ha concluso la gara in modo convincente.
Guardando al futuro, la squadra si prepara per la prossima gara dell’European Le Mans Series a Silverstone, prima di affrontare la tappa del FIA WEC al Fuji Speedway.
Il Team Principal Andrea Piccini ha espresso la frustrazione per non aver potuto conquistare la vittoria a causa delle penalità, ma ha elogiato il team 79 per i primi punti ottenuti. Maxime Martin ha manifestato delusione per il sesto posto, ma ha puntato a migliorare a Fuji. Lin Hodenius si è detto soddisfatto del settimo posto, sottolineando l’obiettivo di non subire penalità. Johannes Zelger ha festeggiato l’importante piazzamento a punti e ha definito la gara un successo, guardando con ottimismo alle prossime opportunità.
