With his commitments in the FIA Formula E World Championship finished for now, Nico Muelller has landed an opportunity to run the final two races of the IMSA season for JDC-Miller Motorsports, one that he was really looking forward to as soon as the Formula E season ended.
“I’m really excited to be back,” said Mueller, who made his first start in the No. 85 ‘Banana Boat’ Porsche 963 back at Sebring. “I think our outing in Sebring had been a very positive one from the get-go. I really felt at home at JDC and in the car, really enjoying the 963 in general.
“I think it was on the radar that, if the opportunity arises that we could work together again for the longer races that don’t clash with my commitments in Formula E, we would definitely consider – and from my side, it was clear that if I don’t have anything else on the calendar, I’m happily joining and jumping on a plane coming over, so I’m glad to be here!
After racing in the WEC 6 Hours of Spa for Porsche Penske Motorsports and serving as the team’s Le Mans 24 Hours reserve driver, Mueller steps in for the last two IMSA races as the replacement for Gianmaria Bruni, who’s parted ways with JDC-Miller Motorsports after the Road America round.
JDC’s third driver for Motul Petit Le Mans will be announced later, but for now, Mueller is already looking forward to his first race at Road Atlanta.
“I always hear it’s one of the best tracks out there. One of the coolest races to do in the U.S. It’s high up my bucket list, so I can’t wait.
“What that means in terms of results is always hard to kind of determine, because obviously, there’s a lot of factors that are also out of our hands. In first practice, I felt good in the car. Straight away, we found some good points in terms of improvements on the car, making it handle better, making it take care of the tyres nicely.
“But I think the focus is maybe a bit less on an overall result than just progress. We want to make progress together. And you always want to score a good result if the opportunity arises, so that’s how I take it.”
Mueller has been very complimentary of John Church’s squad and would be open to racing with them more often if the opportunity comes up.
“It’s a very familiar atmosphere – John, his family, everybody’s involved. And they have that fire burning for the sport, which is great! Super passionate, and professional at the same time. And I think in this GTP era, to have privateer teams making the effort to bring these cars onto the grid is already a huge commitment. They really give it all to close the gap, let’s say, to the factory teams, which is a challenge.
“They have good people; I’m confident that if you put them in the right circumstances, they can be back fighting at the sharp end.
And in general, Mueller is open to expanding his sports car racing involvement in the future, but for now, his plans for 2026 with Porsche have yet to be defined. He is linked to a transfer to the Porsche factory Formula E team to replace the departing Antonio Felix da Costa.
“It’s always something I look into,” said the Swiss driver about his sports car racing future prospects. “At some point I want to be racing in IMSA regularly. You know, there’s many races in the championship that are very high up my bucket list, that I want to fight for an overall victory.
“At some point, the question is: How do we define future? Is future next year, in a couple years, in five years’ time? This I don’t know.
“I’m a Porsche driver, together with them, we will define my programs for the future soon. But it’s definitely something that I want to do at some point.”