Stefan Mücke

Stefan Mücke is a German racing driver who most recently competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Chip Ganassi Ford team and in the ADAC GT Masters for a family-run Mücke Motorsport.

Earlier in a career, Stefan spent five seasons in the DTM as Mercedes driver and then eight seasons as Aston Martin driver in different sports car competitions. His greatest achievement is a title of the Le Mans Series champion in 2009. At 24 hours of Le Mans, he participated eleven times, scoring two GTE Pro class podiums with Aston Martin Racing in 2012 and 2013.

Stefan Mücke

Stefan was a champion in debut season

Stefan Mücke was born on November 22, 1981, in Berlin. He started his racing career in 1998, entering the Formula BMW ADAC series with his father's Mücke Motorsport team. In his debut season, Stefan became a champion with an impressive record of fifteen wins in twenty races during the season.

Three seasons in the Formula 3

In 1999, Mücke progressed to the German Formula 3, continuing to drive for his father's team. The highlight of his first F3 season was a victory at 100 Meilen von Hockenheim. In the championship, he was ninth in the points. Next year, he improved to fifth place in the championship. In 2001, Mücke finished second in the championship, losing a title to Japanese driver Toshihiro Kaneishi.

Mucke spent five DTM seasons with Mercedes

Moving to the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) in 2002

In 2002, Mücke moved to the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM). Although he was an Opel driver in the Formula 3, he joined Mercedes in the DTM, driving one-year-old #24 Mercedes CLK for Team Rosberg. His best result was 8th place in the season-closing race at Hockenheimring and he finished 20th in the final standings, with no points on his account. Next year, he was in the #42 Team Rosberg's Mercedes CLK, finishing again 20th in the classification without points.

Leaving DTM after five seasons

For 2004 DTM season, Mücke was transferred to Persson Motorsport to drive the #18 Mercedes-CLK. He grabbed points once, at Adria International Raceway, to finish 15th in the final standings. In 2005, he was driving last year's #16 Mercedes C-Class for Mücke Motorsport, getting points to times to finish 18th in the final standings.

His last DTM season was 2006 when he almost reached podium by finishing 4th at Norisring. At the end of the season, he was 12th in the points. After five not so successful seasons in the DTM, Mücke decided to leave and switched to sports car racing.

Mucke started sports car racing career in a Lamborghini Murcielago

Victory in the FIA GT Championship debut

In 2007, Mücke's main competition was the FIA GT Championship, where he was driving Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT for the All-Inkl.com Racing. His partner in the #7 car was Stephane Bouchut. They won one race, at Zhuhai International Circuit in the first round of the season.

They were on a podium again at Bucharest street circuit in Romania. At the end of the season, Mücke finished 16th in the GT1 class points. The team finished in the seventh place.

Le Mans 24 hours debut in 2007

Mücke also spent a season with Czech Charouz Racing team in the Le Mans Series, driving a Judd-powered Lola LMP1 prototype. In June, he debuted at 24h Le Mans, sharing the #15 car with Jan Charouz and Alex Yoong. They finished 8th overall and 5th in the LMP1 class. In the championship, Mücke was in the eighth place, the team was sharing the fifth place.

Mücke also had two guest appearances in the American Le Mans Series, driving for Zytek Motorsports at Petit Le Mans and Laguna Seca.

Tomas Enge, Jan Charouz and Stefan Mucke

2008 – the first season with Aston Martin

In 2008, Mücke continued to race with Charouz. The team switched to Aston Martin engine for its Lola B08/60 LMP1 prototype. Stefan Mucke and Jan Charouz finished 5th in the Le Mans Series LMP1 classification. At Le Mans, they finished in the 9th place. The third driver was Tomaš Enge.

Besides driving prototype, Mücke participated in some events with Aston Martin GT cars. At 24h Nurburgring, he was driving Aston Martin DBRS9. The Aston Martin Vantage GT2 was his car in two FIA GT Championship races at Nogaro and Zolder. In both races, he and Tomaš Enge were the G2 class winners.

2009 Le Mans Series champion

For the 2009 season, Mücke joined Aston Martin Racing. As a factory driver, he became the LMP1 champion in the Le Mans Series. He was driving the #007 Lola-Aston Martin DBR1-2 (B09/60), sharing a car with Tomaš Enge and Jan Charouz.

At 24h Le Mans, they competed under the banner of AMR Eastern Europe, finishing in the fourth place. It remained Mücke's career-best result in the Le Mans overall classification.

Stefan Mücke in 2010

Switching to the FIA GT1 World Championship in 2010

From 2010, Mücke switched to the FIA GT1 World Championship as his main competition. He was driving the #8 Aston Martin DBR9 for the Young Driver AMR team, sharing a car mostly with Christoffer Nygaard. His other co-drivers were Pedro Lamy and Jose-Maria Lopez. With just one podium during a season, Mücke finished 20th in the points.

Podium at 2010 Sebring 12 hours

In March 2010, Mücke debuted at Sebring 12 hours, driving the #007 Lola Aston Martin DBR1. Together with Adrian Fernandez and Harold Primat, he finished in the third place at the American endurance classic. At Le Mans 24 hours, the same crew in the same car finished in the sixth place. Mücke had no other participations in the ALMS and LMS as he was focused to the FIA GT1 World Championship.

Stefan Mücke in 2011

Second place in the 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship

Mücke's second season in the FIA GT1 World Championship was much more successful, as he finished second in the final standings. He was sharing the #8 Aston Martin DBR9 with Darren Turner. They won a race in Beijing and added six more podiums but missed the last championship round, losing a title to Lucas Luhr and Michael Krumm.

In the prototype racing, Mücke continued to drive occasionally for Aston Martin Racing. At 24h Le Mans, the #007 Aston Martin AMR-One stopped after just four laps. Mücke's co-drivers were Darren Turner and Christian Klien. He was more successful in North America, winning the ALMS race at Laguna Seca and finishing third at Petit Le Mans.

Darren Turner and Stefan Mucke in 2012

Second place in the 2012 FIA WEC GTE Pro Trophy

In 2012, Mücke became a part of Aston Martin Racing GT program in the revived FIA World Endurance Championship. His car was the #97 Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE, which he was sharing with Darren Turner and Adrian Fernandez. After six podiums during a season, they won the last race at Shanghai International Circuit, to finish second in the GTE Pro standings.

One of the podiums was at Le Mans 24 hours, where the #97 car finished in the third place, behind two Ferraris.

Stefan Mücke, Peter Dumbreck and Darren Turner at 2013 Le Mans 24h

One more Le Mans podium in 2013

In the 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship, Mücke and Turner were again together in the #97 Aston Martin. During a season, they had four different co-drivers: Bruno Senna, Peter Dumbreck, Oliver Gavin and Frederic Makowiecki. They won three races, at Silverstone, Fuji and Shanghai, to finish third in the GTE Pro classification.

At 24h Le Mans, the #97 Aston Martin was third again. Mücke reached his second Le Mans podium alongside Darren Turner and Peter Dumbreck, finishing a race behind two Porsche 911s.

Stefan Mücke in 2015

Two more FIA WEC seasons with Aston Martin

The third FIA WEC season in the #97 Aston Martin followed in 2014. Mücke and Turner were joined by Bruno Senna in two races, including Le Mans 24h. They finished 6th in the world's greatest endurance race. Mücke and Turner won two races (Circuit of the Americas and Interlagos) to finish 5th in the GTE Pro standings.

In 2015, Mücke participated in four races with #97 and in one race with #99 car. At Le Mans, he failed to finish the race due to engine failure after 110 laps. His co-drivers were Darren Turner and Rob Bell.

Stefan Mücke joined Ford in 2016

Joining Ford's endurance racing program in 2016

After eight years with Aston Martin, Mücke accepted a new challenge in 2016, joining Ford's endurance racing program which includes a return to Le Mans with iconic Ford GT. Mücke debuted with Ford at Daytona 24 hours, sharing the #67 car with Ryan Briscoe and Richard Westbrook. After that, he spent a full FIA WEC season in the #66 Ford GT, sharing it with Olivier Pla and Billy Johnson.

At Le Mans, the #68 Ford won the race in the GTE Pro class, the #69 Ford finished third, Mücke and his partners finished in the fourth place. In the championship points at the end of the season, Mücke was fourth.

One victory in the last FIA WEC season

The same trio Mücke/Pla/Johnson continues to race together in the 2017 FIA WEC season. Scoring one podium, the third place at Spa, Mücke finished 8th in the final GT standings.

In 2018, Mücke, Pla and Johnson won the opening race of the 2018-2019 FIA WEC super season at Spa, sharing the #66 Ford GT. At 2018 Le Mans, they were sixth in GTE Pro class. A year later, in June 2019, they were again sixth at Le Mans. That was Mücke's last FIA WEC race because Ford left the championship at the end of the season.

Peter Mücke and Stefan Mücke

Rejoining Mücke Motorsport in 2016

In 2016, Stefan Mücke also rejoined family-run Mücke Motorsport, participating with Mercedes-AMG GT3 in several races of the VLN Endurance series at the Nurburgring Nordschleife circuit, but also in the 24 hours of Nurburgring. In 2017, he raced again at Nurburgring but also expanded this arrangement to ADAC GT Masters, participating in four rounds alongside Sebastian Asch in the #26 Mercedes-AMG GT3.

In the 2018 ADAC GT season, the team switched to the #26 Audi R8 LMS. Stefan participated in four rounds, winning a race at Autodrom Most with Jeffrey Schmidt as a co-driver. In 2019, ADAC GT Masters was his main competition following Ford's withdrawal from FIA WEC. Mucke was sharing the #26 Audi with Nikolaj Rogivue.

Photos: stefan-muecke.de,