Mika Hakkienen as a guest driver Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 in the final round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup at China

For the first time in four years, two time Formula One World Champion Mika Häkkinen will climb into the cockpit of a racing car, as a guest driver for the final round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup on 13th November in Zhuhai (China). Häkkinen will be driving a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3, in his capacity as a brand ambassador to Mercedes-Benz, for the six-hour race along with 2010 Mercedes-Benz DTM driver CongFu Cheng and Lance David Arnold of Germany.

The SLS will be racing in China for the first time. The car has been entered by an independent team, Customer AMG Sports Team China.

Häkkinen last raced on 14th October 2007 in an AMG Mercedes C-Class in the DTM season finale at Hockenheim. Between 2005 and 2007, he competed in 31 DTM races for Mercedes-Benz, securing three wins, three pole positions and eight podium finishes.

“It’s a great honour for me to be able to contest the first SLS AMG GT3 race in China. Although I’ve visited China many times, I’ve never raced there, which is why I’m really looking forward to Zhuhai. It will be a tough race in a competitive field, but I’ll do my best for Customer Sports Team AMG. Of course, being a guest driver in such a line-up should be a lot of fun, especially in the SLS AMG GT3. It’s a great customer motorsport vehicle which is both fast and extremely good-looking.”

Mika Hakkienen as a guest driver Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 in the final round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup at China

The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 is the competition version of the legendary gullwing, designed for customer motorsport. The car contested its first full racing season in 2011, including the ADAC GT Masters, the VLN Endurance Championship at the Nürburgring and the FIA ​​GT3 European Championship. In its debut season, the SLS AMG GT3 scored victories in all three of these series; in the FIA ​​ GT3 European Championship, customer outfit Heico Motorsport won the team title, the first trophy for the gullwing.