As the GT World Challenge Europe season heads to Nürburgring this weekend, Jann Mardenborough finds himself at the center of one of the sport’s fiercest battlegrounds—both on track and within himself. Driving for HRT in the new Ford Mustang GT3, the British racer is relishing the chance to compete in one of the world’s most competitive championships while carrying a deeply personal connection to the German circuit.

From Nissan to Ford: A new chapter with HRT

After spending much of his career with Nissan, Mardenborough has taken on a new chapter with HRT and Ford. The move, he says, has been both refreshing and motivating.

“It’s a blessing to be back in a top team in a championship that’s massively competitive in GT World Challenge and endurance,” Mardenborough explained. “The package of Ford, it’s a team and car which interests me midway through last year in 2024. We’ve spoken to a few teams up and down the grid where there were opportunities with Ford. With HRT, there was more of an opportunity to grow. Their program is expanding a lot in Europe. Their investing in a lot, both HRT and Ford performance, to put many Mustangs on the grid over on this side of the sea and in America, of course, it is always going to be do well. But to compete against the Germans: Mercedes, Audi, BMW, Porsche in their back yard, it gives me a lot of confidence.”

The global rise of the Mustang in GT racing

For Mardenborough, joining the Mustang program also means becoming part of a larger global resurgence for the brand.

“It’s great. It’s fantastic. The Mustang has been around for such a long time, and when I think of America, you think of muscle cars. You think of Mustang. For it to break into Europe… with this program of the latest spec, and combined out of the GTD as well, it feels like it’s a package that makes sense—not only motorsport-wise, but maybe commercially as well.”

Why GT World Challenge Europe is so fiercely competitive

That competitiveness is what excites him most. With 61 cars set for Nürburgring, he knows the challenge will come not only from the front-runners but from every lap of traffic management in a crowded field.

“Yeah, you’ve got to, you know, have fortitude, right? It’s like you’ve got to be very strong in your mind and in your preparation—and the team as well. The car at Spa, for example, two months ago, we were running in the top ten… and one lapse in judgment by another competitor kind of took us out of the race with seven hours to go. You do all that work, all that preparation, and in the blink of an eye there’s a mild, mild contact—wheel to wheel—and you get a puncture. You go a lap down, and then in the Pro class, you don’t get the lap back at Spa… The margins in GT racing are so fine. I mean, we finished 7th yesterday and we were 0.115 of a second off the top. There were seven cars within that gap, and I think over ten cars were within two-tenths of a second… Fiercely competitive—a testament to the SRO as well.”

Mindset and preparation in endurance racing

Despite Ford’s history of headline-grabbing Nürburgring lap records, Mardenborough is intent on focusing inward rather than carrying external pressure.

“No, it’s—I just focus on myself and what I can control. You learn a lot in motorsport to have, kind of, you know, a dominion mindset where you’re self-sovereign and you deal with what you can deal with. And in motorsport, out of all the sports, I guess we have the most variables… So you can only control what you can control. I’m with a great team, I have a great car, my teammates are great, and we’ve just all got to work together, be efficient in what we do, and control what we can control. Then we’ll see where our car is at the end of the race.”

Nürburgring: Triumph, tragedy, and personal meaning

Still, Nürburgring is no ordinary venue for Mardenborough. The track represents both triumph and tragedy in his journey as a driver, making every return uniquely emotional.

“It’s paradoxical, really, because of, of course, what happened 10 years ago now on the Nordschleife—and at the same time, it is my favorite circuit in the world. Of course, I’m not driving on the Nordschleife this weekend. However, it’s next door, you know. I can see it from my race car and from the paddock. It’s… it’s very—you feel—I can’t explain. I don’t think people would understand, because nobody’s experienced that. It’s paradoxical: I love this place, but there’s also a lot of respect to it, and I’m always on edge as well… Hopefully in time, God willing, that possibly.”

That balance between love and unease underscores Mardenborough’s Nürburgring story. This weekend, he’ll line up with Ford and HRT not just as a competitor, but as a driver who continues to grow from both the opportunities and the memories the Green Hell provides.

Part two of our interview with Jann Mardenborough coming soon, or watch the full interview below.

Watch the full interview with Jann Mardenborough