IRON LYNX ROUNDS OUT FIRST FIA WEC LMGT3 SEASON WITH STRONG SHOWING

Iron Lynx concluded the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship LMGT3 season with one of its strongest showings of the year, keeping in the mix in the intense field all through the 8 Hours of Bahrain at the Bahrain International Circuit with Claudio Schiavoni, Matteo Cressoni and Matteo Cairoli behind the wheel of the Lamborghini Huracán LMGT3 Evo 2 and battling for the podium right until the very end.

The gruelling eight-hour race started off during the heat of the day and shifted over into nighttime running. Claudio was behind the wheel for the Qualifying session and the times were very close throughout the field. The yellow #60 lined up 18th for the final race of the season.

Claudio also took the start of the race and kept the car in the mix with the rest of the opposition in the opening stages with great speed, before handing over to Matteo Cressoni, who was able to bring the car towards the points-paying places with some strong overtakes. In the hands of Matteo Cairoli, for a demanding double stint, the car moved further up the order as night loomed.

With the extended race, there were longer drive times and Claudio completed his as a Virtual Safety Car bunched the pack up together. His good pace and fighting spirit throughout the race, as well as the strategy execution from the team, kept the #60 firmly in the mix. The two Matteos were able to make the most of the Huracán as it showed more competitively during the night than it did in the daytime.

READ MORE: Lamborghini Iron Lynx signs off 2024 FIA WEC season

Through another VSC sequence, Matteo Cressoni moved up the order with rapid pace, moving from outside of the top 10 into the top five as the final hour approached. The final part of the race was driven by Matteo Cairoli and he was in contention for the podium places in a battle with the #55 Ferrari and the #81 and #82 Corvettes.

However, despite his most valiant efforts, he was not able to find a way by either of the Corvettes as the Ferrari pulled away, but he came through to cross the finish line in fourth place, just over a second behind the third-placed #82, for the team’s second-strongest result of the FIA WEC season in the highly-competitive LMGT3 field. However, the team had showcased its determination, flawless teamwork and a strong attitude with the performance against its peers.

The Iron Dames were also in action and stellar pace from Sarah Bovy, Rahel Frey and Michelle Gatting ultimately resulted in little reward as, despite fighting for the race lead in and around the VSCs, a penalty late on dropped them down the order. A charge from Michelle in the final hour brought the #85 crew into the points to conclude what has been a tough season with very little luck at the majority of the events.

FIA World Endurance Championship results
Iron Lynx #60: P4 (LMGT3)
Lamborghini Iron Lynx #63: DNF (Hypercar)
Iron Dames #85: P10 (LMGT3)

Andrea Piccini, Iron Lynx Team Principal & CEO: “It’s a good way to finish our first FIA WEC season of the LMGT3 era. We are happy with the work by the whole team. We started with a strategy which we knew from the beginning it would have been difficult because we double stinted tyres in the hottest moments and we kept all the new ones for the end of the race. So in the beginning, when we dropped down the order, we had to keep cool as we knew it would have paid off at the end of the race. So, we took the risk, we kept the tyres in our pockets and it was the right strategy. We are happy with the work of the crew as everyone did a very good job this race with car preparation, the pitstops and the strategy. Unfortunately, a little mistake under Full Course Yellow made car #85 get a drive-through penalty. And this, at the end, took them away from the possibility to fight for a podium, which was really possible. On the other hand, everyone on car #60 fought like lions. Claudio, Matteo and Matteo fought until the end and we were really, really close to the podium. We missed it by a second and we were only five seconds away from the victory. It’s not a victory, it’s not a podium but it’s a very positive way to close the season because we have grown as a team. We improved the car very much and we showed we are very competitive so we are happy to end the year with a very positive result.”