2016 Ford GT World Endurance
Championship (WEC)
Ever since Ford introduced the newest
machine to bear the GT moniker, we knew the American car manufacturer had big
racing plans with the automobile. Now, six months after announcing its return
to endurance racing, Ford revealed the drivers behind this year’s GT racer.
So, without further ado, Ford Chip
Ganassi Racing announced that Marino Franchitti, Stefan Mücke, Olivier Pla and
Andy Priaulx have been selected to race in the 2016 FIA World Endurance
Championship (WEC) at the wheel of the all-new Ford GT.
But the story doesn’t end here, as Ford
is running two cars in the World Endurance Championship and two in the MSA
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, with the intention for the two teams to
come together in June for a four-car effort at one of the most grueling, iconic
and hardest race in the world: Le Mans – exactly fifty years after the historic
1-2-3 finish against Ferrari.
In fact, Briton Marino Franchitti is an
endurance-specialist and has raced at Le Mans no less than five times, Stefan
Mücke, has multiple WEC victories, Olivier Pla also has first-hand experience
of the fierce competition in WEC, while 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.
