Following the announcement of Ford’s return to endurance racing, the company has now revealed the four drivers for the 2016 season. Marino Franchitti, Stefan Mücke, Olivier Pla and Andy Priaulx will race the GT for the Ford Chip Ganassi Racing team.
Two cars will take part in this year’s FIA World Endurance Championship. These two cars, plus another two taking part in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, will join forces to take on the competition at this year’s Le Mans race in June, exactly 50 years after Ford achieved a 1-2-3 finish.
“Make no mistake, we are racing to win,” said Dave Pericak, Ford Performance global director. “To compete at this level you need the best car, the best team and the best drivers, and we have selected Stefan, Olivier, Andy and Marino to drive the Ford GT to take on the best in the world.”
Briton Marino Franchitti is an endurance-specialist and has raced at Le Mans no less than five times. Stefan Mücke, from Germany, has multiple WEC victories under his belt and knows what it takes to make it onto the podium at Le Mans. Frenchman, Olivier Pla, also has first-hand experience of the fierce competition in WEC. Briton Andy Priaulx is a three-time FIA World Touring Car Champion who has also won one of the world’s toughest endurance races – the Nürburgring 24 Hours – and stood on the podium at Le Mans.
The World Endurance series kicks off on 17 April at Silverstone in the UK, and ends on 19 November in Bahrain.