Iron Lynx Motorsport Lab is an Italian

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

team founded by

Andrea Piccini Andrea Piccini (born 12 December 1978 in Sansepolcro) is an Italian racing driver who is the part-owner and team principal of the Iron Lynx Motorsport Lab ELMS and Italian F4 team. Single Seaters Piccini began his single seater career in 19 ...

, Deborah Mayer,

Claudio Schiavoni Claudio Schiavoni (born 14 November 1960) is an Italian racing driver, and co-founder and part-owner of racing team Iron Lynx, currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship and the European Le Mans Series. Schiavoni previously com ...

and Sergio Pianezzola. The team is based in

Cesena Cesena (; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy; and - with Forlì - is the capital of the Province of Forlì-Cesena. Served by Autostrada A14 (Italy), Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine M ...

, Emilia-Romagna. They primarily participate in

sports car racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing that uses sports cars with two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be either purpose-built Sports prototype, sports prototypes, which are the highest level in sports car racing; or grand to ...

, and are a sister team of both

Iron Dames The Iron Dames are an Italian-Swiss auto racing and Equestrian sports, equestrian team founded by French businesswoman Deborah Mayer. They are based in Zug, Switzerland, and primarily participate in sports car racing. They are a subsidiary of th ...

and

Prema Racing Prema Racing, previously known as Prema Powerteam, is an Italian motorsport team, owned and operated through the '' DC Racing Solutions'' parent company. Founded in 1983, the team is based in Grisignano di Zocco and currently operates out of It ...

under the ''DC Racing Solutions'' parent company. Iron Lynx were formerly partnered with

Lamborghini Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. ( , ), usually referred to as Lamborghini or colloquially Lambo, is an Italian manufacturer of luxury sports cars and SUVs based in Sant'Agata Bolognese. The company is owned by the Volkswagen Group through its su ...

in operating their Lamborghini SC63

LMDh LMDh (Le Mans Daytona h) is a set of sports prototype regulations used alongside Le Mans Hypercar (LMH) in both the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class of the IMSA SportsCar Championship and the Hypercar class of the FIA World Endurance Championsh ...

prototype.

History

2017

In 2017, the Iron Lynx Motorsport Lab was created by Deborah Mayer, Claudio Schiavoni, Sergio Pianezzola, and Andrea Piccini.

2018

In their first year competing, Iron Lynx placed second and ninth in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe Pro-Am, with one pole position, twelve podiums, and two victories. Deborah Mayer created the Iron Dames Project, focused on supporting and promoting women in motorsport.

Rahel Frey Rahel Frey (born 23 February 1986 in Niederbipp, Canton of Bern) is a Swiss Audi factory racing driver. She has competed in such series as Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, International Formula Master and the German Formula Three Championship. ...

Michelle Gatting Michelle Sophie Gatting (born 31 December 1993 in Århus) is a racing driver from Denmark. An Iron Dame since the project's inception, she is a Porsche contracted driver currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship and the Europea ...

, and

Manuela Gostner Manuela Gostner (born 19 May 1984 in Bolzano) is a racing driver from Italy. Biography A member of the Gostner family synonymous with Ferrari Challenge competition, Manuela entered the European championship with encouragement from her brother Da ...

competed in the 12 Hours of Dubai, placing second in the GT3 Pro-Am class and ninth overall.

2019

For the 2019 season, Iron Lynx continued in the

Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe The Lamborghini Super Trofeo is an international motor racing series. The Lamborghini Super Trofeo is the one-make championship organized by Lamborghini Squadra Corse. The series involves exclusively Huracán Super Trofeo Evo model cars in 3 co ...

. They also entered two cars in the

Italian GT Championship The Italian GT Championship (''Campionato Italiano Gran Turismo'') is an Italian sports car series founded in 2003 and organized by the Automobile Club d'Italia (ACI) and the Commissione Sportiva Automobilistica Italiana (CSAI). It replaced a ...

. The team made their debut in the

Le Mans Cup The Le Mans Cup, previously the GT3 Le Mans Cup and currently known as the Michelin Le Mans Cup under sponsorship, is an international sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club ...

and the

European Le Mans Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the fo ...

, racing under the

Kessel Racing Loris Kessel (1 April 1950 – 15 May 2010) was a racing driver from Switzerland. Biography Kessel was born in Lugano. He participated in six Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 2 May 1976. He scored no championship points. ...

name in both series. Iron Lynx also entered the

Italian F4 Championship Italian Formula 4 Championship is the first formula racing series regulated according to Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA Formula 4 regulations. The inaugural season was the 2014 Italian F4 Championship, effectively replacing the F ...

with

Amna Amna or Aamna () is an Arabic feminine given name that means mean safe, caring, and honest. It is a variant transliteration of Amina (given name), Amina. It may refer to: *Aminah, mother of the Islamic prophet Muhammad *Amna Al Haddad, Emirati weig ...

and

Hamda Al Qubaisi Hamda Al Qubaisi (; born 8 August 2002) is an Emirati racing driver who currently competes in the 2025 Ligier European Series, Ligier European Series with Team Virage. In June 2021, she became the first woman in the history of Italian F4 Champio ...

, under the name Abu Dhabi Racing by

Prema Prema may refer to: Film * ''Prema'' (1952 film), an Indian Telugu-language film * ''Prema'' (1989 film), an Indian Telugu-language film, starring Venkatesh and Revathi * ''Prema'' (2002 film), an Indian Kannada-language film Music * ''Prema'' (a ...

. In the

, the #8 car placed first, with one pole position and four victories, to earn an automatic entry to the

2020 24 Hours of Le Mans The 88th 24 Hours of Le Mans (French: ''88e 24 Heures du Mans'') was a 24-hour Endurance racing (motorsport), automobile endurance race for Le Mans Prototype (LMP) and LM GTE, Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance (LMGTE) cars fielded by teams of th ...

. In the

, the #83 “Iron Dames” car placed 4th and the #60 placed 6th, with both entries standing on the podium twice over the season. In the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

, the #83 placed 9th in class, and the #60 placed 13th in class.

2020

2020 marked the first year of the team competing under the Iron Lynx name. In the

they fielded the #60 of

, Sergio Pianezzola, and

, as well as the trio of

Frey Freyr (Old Norse: 'Lord'), sometimes anglicized as Frey, is a widely attested god in Norse mythology, associated with kingship, fertility, peace, prosperity, fair weather, and good harvest. Freyr, sometimes referred to as Yngvi-Freyr, was especi ...

, Gatting, and Gostner for the #83 entry. Gatting and Deborah Mayer teamed up for the

, the first all-female pairing in the series, and were joined by reigning champions

Giacomo Piccini Giacomo Piccini (born 22 March 1985) is an Italian professional racing driver who most recently competed in the Michelin Le Mans Cup for Iron Lynx. Team Management On July 1, 2021, it was announced that Piccini would head the new joint project ...

and

Rino Mastronardi Rino Mastronardi (born 14 November 1969) is an Italian racing driver currently competing in the Asian Le Mans Series for Rinaldi Racing. Mastronardi has previously competed in several international touring car championships, most notably winning ...

. Iron Lynx continued in the

Italian F4 championship Italian Formula 4 Championship is the first formula racing series regulated according to Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA Formula 4 regulations. The inaugural season was the 2014 Italian F4 Championship, effectively replacing the F ...

, fielding

as Abu Dhabi Racing by

, and Leonardo Fernaroli and Yaroslav Shevyrtalov as Iron Lynx. Al Qubaisi and Fernaroli also competed in select

ADAC F4 ADAC Formula 4 () was a racing series regulated according to FIA Formula 4 regulations. The inaugural season was the 2015 ADAC Formula 4. It replaced the ADAC Formel Masters, held from 2008 to 2014. History Gerhard Berger and the FIA Single Sea ...

rounds as guest drivers. The team entered the Ferrari Challenge Europe for two rounds, under the name Iron Lynx – Scuderia Niki Hasler. Michelle Gatting competed in the Pro class, while Claudio Schiavoni competed in the Pro-Am class. The team entered 3 cars in the

, including the all-female line-up of Frey, Gatting, and Gostner, who placed 9th in the LMGTE Am class. The other two cars placed 11th and 19th in class. In October 2020,

won the GT3 Drivers Championship for Iron Lynx in the

Michelin Le Mans Cup The Le Mans Cup, previously the GT3 Le Mans Cup and currently known as the Michelin Le Mans Cup under sponsorship, is an international sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club ...

to earn an automatic invitation to the

2021 24 Hours of Le Mans The 89th 24 Hours of Le Mans (French: ''89e 24 Heures du Mans'') was a 24-hour Endurance racing (motorsport), automobile endurance race for teams of three drivers each entering Le Mans Prototype (LMP) and LM GTE, Le Mans Grand Tourin ...

2021

In 2021, Iron Lynx entered the

FIA World Endurance Championship The FIA World Endurance Championship, abbreviated as WEC, is a world championship for automobile endurance racing organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The se ...

for the first time. In September 2021, it was confirmed that Iron Lynx will be collaborating with

Prema Powerteam Prema Racing, previously known as Prema Powerteam, is an Italian motorsport team, owned and operated through the ''DC Racing Solutions'' parent company. Founded in 1983, the team is based in Grisignano di Zocco and currently operates out of Ita ...

to enter an

Oreca 07 The Oreca 07 is a Le Mans Prototype built by French manufacturer Oreca to meet the 2017 FIA and ACO LMP2 regulations. It made its official race debut in the opening round of the 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the 24 Hours of Dayt ...

in the World Endurance Championship LMP2 class for 2022. On October 24, 2021, Iron Lynx clinched the LMGTE teams championship in European Le Mans, earning them an automatic invitation to the 2022 24 Hours of Le Mans. On November 20, 2021,

became the first female champion of the

Ferrari Challenge The Ferrari Challenge is a One-Design, single-marque Auto racing, motorsport championship that was created in 1993, initially catering to owners of the 348 Challenge who wanted to race their cars. The first European season took place in 1993, ...

. Iron Lynx also won the

teams championship for the second year running to earn a second automatic invitation to the 2022 24 Hours of Le Mans.

2022

On January 12, 2022, Iron Lynx announced that they would enter 2 cars in the GTE Am class of the World Endurance Championship for

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

. Both entries ran the Ferrari 488 GTE Evo, with Claudio Schiavoni returning for the #65 entry while

returned for the #85 Iron Dames entry. On February 16, Iron Lynx announced that

Giancarlo Fisichella Giancarlo "Giano" Fisichella (; born 14 January 1973), also known as Fisico or Fisi, is an Italian racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Fisichella won three Formula One Grands Prix across 14 seasons. Bo ...

and Matteo Cressoni would join the WEC campaign, while

Davide Rigon Davide Rigon (born 26 August 1986) is an Italian professional racing driver who is currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship and other selected GT races for AF Corse. He is also currently part of the Scuderia Ferrari Formula ...

joined the ELMS campaign, and

Doriane Pin Doriane Pin (born 6 January 2004) is a French List of female racing drivers, racing driver who is part of the Iron Dames programme and the Mercedes Junior Team. She is currently competing in 2025 F1 Academy season, F1 Academy and the 2025 Formul ...

, Arno Dahlmeyer, Marco Pulcini, and Claudio Schiavoni all joined the

. The Iron Dames began racing under their own license, fielding a team of Frey, Gatting, and

Sarah Bovy Sarah Bovy (born 15 May 1989 in Liège) is a Belgians, Belgian List of female racing drivers, female racing driver. She has recently competed with the Iron Dames team in multiple series, including the FIA World Endurance Championship and at the ...

in WEC, ELMS, and GTWC Europe Gold Cup. The team continued to support drivers in F4 and

karting Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on full-size motor ...

, with Matteo Pianezzola representing the team in karting, while

Maya Weug Maya Martine Els Weug (born 1 June 2004) is a Dutch, Belgian and Spanish racing driver, who is currently competing in F1 Academy for MP Motorsport, having previously raced with Prema Racing in the 2024 F1 Academy season, 2024 season, finishing t ...

entering select

rounds, as well as a full season in

Italian F4 Italian Formula 4 Championship is the first formula racing series regulated according to FIA Formula 4 regulations. The inaugural season was the 2014 Italian F4 Championship, effectively replacing the Formula Abarth. The Italian F4 championship ...

alongside

Ivan Domingues Ivan Franco Domingues (born 5 May 2006) is a Portuguese people, Portuguese racing driver who competes in the 2025 FIA Formula 3 Championship with Van Amersfoort Racing. He most recently competed in the 2024 Formula Regional European Championship ...

and Nicola Lacorte.Iron Lynx entered 4 cars in the LMGTE category of the

, with a best finish of 7th in class for the #85 Iron Dames car. Sarah Bovy became the first woman to claim a pole position in WEC history, qualifying first at both

Monza Monza (, ; ; , locally ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the Lambro, River Lambro, a tributary of the Po (river), River Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the province of Mo ...

and

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

. Three podiums in the series helped the Iron Dames clinch third place in the GTE Am category. The Iron Dames finished the GTWS Europe season in second in the Gold Cup, with a class victory at the

24 Hours of Spa The 24 Hours of Spa is an endurance racing event for cars held annually since 1924 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium. It is currently sponsored by CrowdStrike. History The Spa 24 Hours was conceived by Jules de Their and ...

and a pole position at the final race in Barcelona. The #71 Iron Lynx entry finished second in the Pro class, with one win, four podiums, and two pole positions, while the #51 finished seventh with one podium. In the

, both entries took a class victory, with the #85 finishing third and the #60 finishing fourth in the LMGTE teams championship. Doriane Pin took a dominant victory in the Ferrari Challenge, winning nine of fourteen races, with thirteen podiums, ten pole positions, and eleven fastest laps.

2023

On November 6, 2022, Iron Lynx announced they became the

factory team from 2023. They entered the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO 2 of the IMSA Sportscar Championship and GT World Challenge for 2023. Iron Lynx also entered the FIA World Endurance Championship, using two

Porsche 911 RSR-19 The Porsche 911 RSR-19 is a racing car developed by Porsche to compete in the LM GTE category of the FIA World Endurance Championship and European Le Mans Series, and the GTLM category of the IMSA SportsCar Championship. It serves as the direct re ...

s as Lamborghini does not actively manufacture a car under GTE specifications. At the 2023 8 Hours of Bahrain, Iron Dames became the final

LM GTE Grand Touring Endurance, shortened to GTE, was a set of regulations maintained by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and IMSA for grand tourer racing cars used in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 24 hours of Daytona GTLM, and its associated series. T ...

class race winning team. Their drivers –

, and

– became the first all-female lineup to win a

FIA WEC The FIA World Endurance Championship, abbreviated as WEC, is a world championship for automobile endurance racing organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The se ...

race.

2024

In 2024, Iron Lynx made the move to competing with the new Lamborghini SC63 Hypercar in the IMSA Sports Car Championship in the GTP class, appearing at the 72nd annual 12 Hours of Sebring where they scored a 7th place finish. Additionally, with the demise of LMGTE regulations at the end of 2023, the team also ran a pair of Huracán GT3 EVO 2s in the World Endurance Championship under the new LMGT3 class. Iron Dames also entered the

Formula Regional European Championship The Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine (FRECA) is a FIA-certified Formula Regional, regional European Formula Three, Formula 3 racing series. On 12 October 2018, it was announced that the Italian autosport regulator Automobile Club ...

for the first time, with Marta García and Doriane Pin racing for them. In November of 2024, Lamborghini announced their departure from the World Endurance Championship. This meant that the Huracán GT3 EVO 2 and SC63 Hypercar would not return in 2025. However, Iron Lynx will still be running the SC63 in the IMSA Sports Car Championship in the GTP class. On the 20th of November, it was announced that Iron Lynx will be partnering up with

Mercedes-AMG Mercedes-AMG GmbH, commonly known as AMG (Aufrecht, Melcher, Großaspach), is the high-performance subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz, Mercedes-Benz AG. AMG independently hires engineers and contracts with manufacturers to customize Mercedes-Benz AMG v ...

and run the current Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo for the

2025 FIA World Endurance Championship The 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship is the thirteenth season of the FIA World Endurance Championship, an auto racing series organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The s ...

. This will mark Mercedes-AMG's first appearance in the series in 25 years. The next day, it was announced that Iron Dames would be joining forces with WEC LMGT3 champions

Manthey Racing Manthey Racing GmbH is a German auto racing team established in 1996 by former race car driver Olaf Manthey. Manthey Racing is currently competing in the Nürburgring Endurance Series, Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, and the GT2 European Series, an ...

, running one of their

Porsche 911 GT3 R The Porsche 911 GT3 is a high-performance homologation model of the Porsche 911 sports car. It is a range of high-performance models, which began with the 1973 911 Carrera RS. The GT3 has had a successful racing career in the one-make national ...

race cars for 2025.

2025

With

leaving the

in 2025, Iron Lynx gained backing from debutant

for two LMGT3 entries. The Iron Dames expanded their rally program, with Sarah Rumeau and Julie Amblard joining the WRC2 Championship and continuing in the

French Rally Championship The FFSA French Rally Championship or Championnat de France des Rallyes is France's leading domestic motor rally competition. It's a championship that has been won three times by Didier Auriol, Guy Fréquelin, and Philippe Bugalski. Reflecting th ...

Current series results

24 Hours of Le Mans

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

* Season still in progress

European Le Mans Series

* Season still in progress

Le Mans Cup

* Season still in progress

Former series results

Italian F4 Championship

† Shared results with other team

ADAC Formula 4 Championship

† Ineligible to score points.

Timeline

Notes

References

External links

Iron Lynx official website
{{ELMS LMP2 teams Italian auto racing teams Auto racing teams established in 2017 2017 establishments in Italy European Le Mans Series teams FIA World Endurance Championship teams 24 Hours of Le Mans teams Ferrari in motorsport WeatherTech SportsCar Championship teams Formula Regional European Championship teams World Rally Championship teams International GT Open teams