This paper deals with the tracking control design of a linear synchronous reluctance motor (LSRM) drive. An extended nonlinear dynamic LSRM model with magnetic saturation included is used in the control design and practical realization, in order to improve tracking performances at very low speeds of motion. Iron core saturation is included in the extended model with the experimentally determined flux linkages given as functions of the direct and quadrature axes currents. Experimental results show that the proposed input-output linearizing tracking control with included saturation behaves considerably better than the one without saturation, introducing smaller position and speed errors and better motor stiffness, on account of the increased computational complexity.