Stefan Mücke struggled with tough conditions in the WEC 6-Hours of Spa-Francorchamps

• Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK at a disadvantage due to the low temperatures • Mücke and Pla still with good chance of third place in drivers' standings of LMGTE Pro class • Stefan: "We'll try to make up for lost ground in Le Mans "

Stefan Mücke contested the penultimate round of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) last weekend at Spa-Francorchamps, racing the Ford GT #66 fielded by Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK along with Olivier Pla as more than 50,000 spectators watched on. They had high hopes of success after winning the LMGTE Pro class last year, but their plans were upset by poor weather conditions. 

Mücke was in grid slot six for the start of the six-hour race, and the first shower of rain came down over the Ardennes just after lights out. More rain mixed with sleet and temperatures as low as one degree Celsius made conditions difficult. The Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK drivers struggled to get the tyres up to temperature. An unscheduled pit stop to change a tyre that had been flat-spotted ultimately dropped Mücke and Pla way down the field, making it impossible to finish higher than tenth in the LMGTE Pro class. 

The next race will be the 24 Hours of Le Mans which is both the final round of the WEC's first Super Season and the top attraction of the year. The WEC Super Season will end on the weekend of 15th - 16th June with the endurance classic on the River Sarthe after a total of 86 hours racing in six different countries. 

Mücke and Pla are in fourth position in the drivers' championship of the LMGTE Pro class in the run-up to the grand finale. As more points are awarded in the Le Mans 24 Hours than for any other race, namely 38 points for a win, they still have a chance of a finish in the Top Three. 

But before that, Mücke will contest a race weekend in the ADAC GT Masters in just under two weeks' time, 17th - 19th May, when he will compete at Most in the Czech Republic. 

Three questions for Stefan Mücke
 
What prevented you from taking another victory in class at Spa?
Unfortunately, it was a weekend to forget. Conditions were extremely difficult with rain and sleet mixed with sunshine in between. I've only ever experienced conditions like that on the Nordschleife before. Unfortunately, we soon noticed in practice that we were a little off the pace on the cold, wet track. We couldn't get the tyres up to temperature in the right operating window. Our performance was good in the dry but the track was rarely dry during the race.
 
How did your stints go?
I took the first stints. Sleet came down soon after the start and out came the safety car for the first time. The rest of the race was very turbulent with a little bit of everything. My team-mate flat-spotted a tyre in the second half of the race and had to pit twice in quick succession, which dropped us way down the field. And then, unfortunately, it was a case of trying to hang on in there, as we were a little down on pace. We'll just have to quickly draw a line under that particular race.
 
But you need not write off your chances of a top result in the drivers' standings just yet...
We could still achieve third place in the drivers' standings. We'll try to make up for lost ground at Le Mans. Obviously, our goal is to win this classic race. Of course, racing there is always unpredictable, but we know that our car is particularly good at Le Mans.

Copy: Ford Chip Ganassi Racing