Juncadella wins Mercedes Stars and Cars event in Germany

By Dec 12, 2015, 4:32 PM EST
© Mercedes
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Dani Juncadella has won the annual Mercedes Stars and Cars event in Stuttgart, Germany after beating DTM champion Pascal Wehrlein 2-0 in the final.

Stars and Cars is Mercedes’ annual motorsport event that acts as a competitor to the Race of Champions, pitting Mercedes-backed drivers from a number of different championships up against each other in a head-to-head challenge.

DTM racer Juncadella entered Stars and Cars for the first time in 2015 at the Mercedes-Benz Arena as the German marque reflected on its most successful year of racing after amassing 19 titles in Formula 1, DTM, F3 and GP3 among other series

Mercedes F1 drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg drew much of the attention from the bumper crowd in Stuttgart, but neither could make it past the semi-final stage as they lost to Wehrlein and Juncadella respectively.

Rosberg defeated Michael Schumacher’s son, Mick, and F1 safety car driver Bernd Maylander to reach the semi-finals, only to lose to Juncadella after the Spaniard had beaten DTM drivers Lucas Auer and Bernd Schneider.

Wehrlein battled past former F1 racers Jean Alesi and David Coulthard before knocking out Hamilton, but was unable to match Juncadella in the final, suffering a 2-0 defeat.

“I’m absolutely delighted. I felt really comfortable in the SLS AMG GT3 and found a good rhythm,” Juncadella said.

“Stars and Cars was a super event – there were so many fans here tonight. Simply incredible. I was nervous going into each of the races. It’s been a very special occasion.”

Despite seeing his F1 drivers lose at the hands of their DTM counterparts, Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff was full of praise for all involved in 2015’s successes.

“We’ve achieved all of our goals this year,” Wolff said. “We again won the Formula One drivers’ and constructors’ world championship with Lewis and the team. In the DTM, we bounced back this year after a tough season in 2014, and the successes of the guys in the other series put the icing on the cake.

“There is no silver bullet in motor racing. You have to make the right decisions and mould the best drivers and engineers into a team. Having the right team spirit is often underestimated, however, but it’s especially important.

“Our team spirit was outstanding this year. We all pulled together and, as a team, experienced the most successful motor racing year in the history of our brand.”

Ford Mustang GT3 test has Austin Cindric dreaming of Daytona: ‘I want to drive that car’

By Mar 22, 2023, 2:30 PM EDT
Cindric Ford GT3 test
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Austin Cindric wasn’t the “mystery” test driver behind the wheel of the new Ford Mustang GT3 at Sebring International Raceway, but the Team Penske driver desperately wanted to be.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, an amateur sports car driver himself, made the big reveal via a Tuesday tweet that provided the first video evidence of the GT3 Mustang on track.

“I’ve watched the video in question about a million times,” Cindric said Wednesday during a Ford Performance Zoom news conference to promote NASCAR’s first road course weekend of the season at Circuit of the Americas. “Definitely exciting times for sure. I want to drive that car. It suits my experience level and also the relationships that I have.”

Ford will enter the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship next season with its GT3 Mustang, entering a two-car factory effort (that will be managed by Multimatic) in GTD Pro and making customer cars available in the GT Daytona category.

That increases the likelihood of seeing more NASCAR drivers crossing over to IMSA. Cindric has been the only full-time Cup driver in the Rolex 24 at Daytona the past two years, but Ford Performance global director Mark Rushbrook has said the GT3 Mustang will provide more opportunities.

Ford has used its GT4 Mustang as a NASCAR driver development tool in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge with Harrison Burton and Zane Smith combining to win the season opener at Daytona International Speedway in January.

“We’re excited about the Next Gen car and the new architecture there and the similarities between that car and GT3 and even GT4 cars,” Rushbrook said at the announcement of the Ford GT3 program in January 2022 at Daytona. “We think it’s a great opportunity and to do be able to do that in a 24-hour race and get NASCAR drivers even more time is something we need to consider taking advantage of that opportunity.”

Given his sports car background, Cindric probably still would be in the Rolex 24 regardless. He has eight IMSA starts since the 2017 season opener at Daytona, racing a Lexus RCF GT3 and Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the GT category. The 2022 Daytona 500 winner made his second LMP2 start this year with Rick Ware Racing.

But Cindric’s preference naturally would be in a Ford, particularly with sports car racing enjoying convergence and crossovers in both GT and prototype racing.

“It’s an exciting time in GT racing, just as it is now for prototype racing with a lot of new regulations and manufacturers building new GT3 cars,” he said. “And also the opportunity with WEC (the World Endurance Championship) and Le Mans and how that all lines up for that category of car. It’s definitely an exciting time. I want to be as much of a part of that as possible.”

Though those odds seemingly will increase with multiple Ford entries in the Rolex 24 field next year, Cindric said NASCAR drivers still have to put in the networking to land rides as he has in recent years.

“Now how (the GT3 Mustang) relates to specifically NASCAR drivers and how often they want to be in the Rolex, could it be an influence? Absolutely, as far as the tie-in with the manufacturer,” Cindric said. “But the challenge and the drive and the logistics of getting an opportunity for a race like the Rolex 24 will be just as challenging as it always is to find your one-off ride for the race. At least from my experience, that’s what I still anticipate.”

It turned out the “mystery” test driver wasn’t from NASCAR (Farley revealed the driver to be 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Joey Hand after a fan asked whether it was Joey Logano).

But Cindric believes there could be more Cup drivers — and perhaps himself — behind the wheel of Mustang GT3s in the future.

“There’s definitely more of a pathway than I think there would be before as far as Ford drivers are concerned,” he said. “Hopefully, I’ll get the opportunity to drive that thing. It’s obviously a great looking car. That’s the first box you’ve got to check. And it’s cool (to have) a guy like Jim Farley, no doubt he’s a racer just as much as he is steering the ship for Ford. It’s cool to see he’s just as excited as the rest of us about it.”