GT World Championship the aim for Mücke in 2017
Ford Performance made a strong impression in their first season of competition in the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2016, but nothing less than the title will do in 2017, according to Stefan Mücke.
The Multimatic-run Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Team UK achieved two victories with Andy Priaulx and Harry Tincknell at the 6 Hours of Fuji and Shanghai, while the US-based No. 68 Ford GT also won the Le Mans 24 Hours.
Mücke and Olivier Pla were in mathematical contention for the World Endurance Cup for GT Drivers until the final round at Bahrain, but with the GTE Pro category given World Championship status for the first time in 2017, there is even more at stake than ever before.
“Absolutely, we want to win the championship, that’s very clear,” Mücke said. “We had some good results last year, but now we are focused on bringing the big championship home. It will be a long season, very interesting tracks again and I can’t wait to get started in April.”
Mücke joined Ford just as Aston Martin hit its stride and took its first GT Manufacturers title, but the German is determined to knock his old colleagues off their perch.
“I’m absolutely happy to be here now, it’s an amazing car and it makes me proud to be a part of that unique history,” he said. “Of course it was a good championship last year, Aston Martin won it and it’s good that different manufacturers be there. Ferrari won it in the past, last year was Aston, but this year will be Ford!”
Team-mate Andy Priaulx agrees that Ford will be even stronger in their second season, but recognises that the competition will be even greater, as Porsche return with two factory-run cars.
“It’s going to be a great fight in GTE and I hope that we get the focus on the class that it deserves,” said the Guernsey man.
“We’ve got some big manufacturers in there now, so I hope that it’s going to get some credibility. It’s great that it’s a World Championship, all the top drivers in the world are there, so it’s going to be a big, big fight.”
