John Potter and Craig Stanton earn Magnus Racing’s first Rolex Series Podium and capture points lead

March 6, 2011 (Homestead, FL) – Confirming its rise as one of the leading GT teams in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16, the no. 44 Magnus Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup captured its first podium in series competition at today’s Grand Prix of Miami when Craig Stanton took the checkered flag in third place.

The result propelled Potter and Stanton to first place in the GT standings after two races of the 2011 Rolex Series season, marking the first time the team has sat atop the series championship.

Team owner and driver, John Potter from Salt Lake City, Utah, enjoyed a stellar start to the race when he drove the Magnus Racing Porsche from his qualifying position of seventh up to fourth before the race had its first full course yellow. As pit stops played out, Potter briefly led before turning the car over to Stanton who fell down to eleventh as the team was caught by surprise with a yellow flag. Stanton, from Long Beach, California, was able to progress through the field over the next hour to get the Magnus Racing Porsche to third place.

Stanton’s run over the final hour wasn’t trouble free, as the Magnus Racing Porsche missed a wave-by during a late-race yellow, and then was blocked badly by the lapped no. 30 Mazda while battling for second position, which forced him to give up third position. After that, however, Stanton was unhindered as he ran to the checkered flag to secure his team’s first podium.

“I recently heard about this new thing called Tigerblood and I stocked up on it for this weekend for the whole team,” said Potter, who was recovering from food poisoning before the race. “It appears to have worked! The guys gave us a really great car that was easy on its tires and easy to drive. I was able to concentrate on putting in clean laps and was really glad to give Craig a car that was in the top-five. The whole team deserves great results like this and I’m looking forward to getting them another one.”

Surprisingly, Stanton’s third-place was the first time since the 2005 season – the year in which he won the Rolex Series GT championship – that he has been on a Rolex Series podium.

“What a great day for everyone at Magnus Racing,” said Stanton. “We’ve been assembling the pieces of a championship winning program and I think we can say that we are contenders now. The car was so fast all weekend, we just got held up a bit by a lapped Mazda and we were almost out of tires at the end and we were still able to bring it home third. This is really for the guys who have done an unbelievable job since day one.”

Potter and Stanton will now turn their attention to the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring, where they will compete in the American Le Mans Series’ GT-C class. They will defend their Rolex Series points lead at the series’ next event, April 7-9, at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama.

More information about Magnus Racing can be found at www.magnusracing.com. Any organization interested in learning more about how to be involved with one of the most unique and visible teams in the Grand-American Rolex Sports Car Series can e-mail info@magnusracing.com. All press inquiries can be directed to press@magnusracing.com.

Our first Rolex Series Podium!

John Potter wheels the Magnus Racing Porsche to 7th on the grid for the Grand Prix of Miami

Commitment like this from John Potter got the no. 44 Magnus Racing up to seventh for the starting grid for tomorrow's Grand Prix of Miami.

The Magnus Racing team spent most of the Friday's two practice sessiosn concentrating on long runs and race setup, but Potter showed some real speed in the qualifying session as he put in his best qualifying effort to date in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask no. 16.

"I've said all weekend that this Magnus Racing Porsche is a hot rod and on fresh tires it was really good," said Potter afterwards. "We didn't have many great memories from here last season so its great for the team to get back here and run so strong. I'm really looking forward to taking the green flag tomorrow."

The Grand Prix of Miami will be shown live on SPEED Channel tomorrow, Saturday, at 12:00 PM ET.

It’s Gotta Be Better than Last Year as Magnus Racing goes to the Grand Prix of Miami

March 1, 2011 (Salt Lake City, Utah) – At last year’s Grand Prix of Miami, the Magnus Racing crew was faced with an almost impossible task – rebuilding the no.44 Magnus Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup after a blown tire in the Saturday morning warmup sent Craig Stanton hard into the concrete retaining wall of the Homestead Miami Speedway.

With only a few hours to repair extensive bodywork, suspension, and chassis damage, as well as replace the engine and gearbox, the Magnus Racing crew had the car ready for John Potter to take the green flag. That same crew worked miracles again at this year’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, when they had to twice repair damage caused by hitting debris on course during the early stages of the race. Although the car fell as low as thirteenth, it blazed a path through the field in the second half of the race to finish just off the podium in fourth.

With the team still riding the momentum of that strong finish, drivers Potter and Craig Stanton are looking to solidify their position near the top of the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 GT points standings.

“Daytona already feels like a long time ago, and I’m ready to get back in the car and race,” said Potter. “We were motivated to do well in Daytona and get our sophomore season off to a strong start, and even though we missed our chance to win when we hit debris we had an unbelievable second half of the race thanks to the guys getting the car fixed so quickly. I’m afraid they might mutiny if we make them perform another miracle like they did last year, but Craig and I would much rather get a good finish to reward them for their hard work.”

Teammate Stanton, who led the early stages of the Rolex 24, is happy to be back at Homestead and ready to mount a serious charge at the championship. Stanton won his first Rolex Sports Car Series championship in 2004 and is ready to win his second.

“We spent all of last year assembling the pieces to put together a real charge at the championship, and I think we showed in Daytona that we have a team capable of doing that,” said Stanton. “The Porsche 911 GT3 Cup is fast, John has been driving extremely well, and we have a crew that is capable of anything. I’m really excited to get back to Homestead and erase all of the memories from last year.”

The Grand Prix of Miami will be broadcast on Saturday, March 5, at 12:00 PM ET on SPEED Channel. Fans of Magnus Racing can follow the team throughout the weekend on Facebook (facebook.com/magnusracing) and twitter (@MagnusRacing).

More information about Magnus Racing can be found at www.magnusracing.com. Any organization interested in learning more about how to be involved with one of the most unique and visible teams in the Grand-American Rolex Sports Car Series can e-mail info@magnusracing.com. All press inquiries can be directed to press@magnusracing.com.



Magnus Racing announces limited American Le Mans Series campaign

February 10, 2011 (Salt Lake City, Utah) – Now in its second season of top-level professional sports car racing, Magnus Racing is proud to announce its expansion into the American Le Mans Series for the 2011 season.

In addition to competing full time in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series, Magnus Racing will field an entry in four American Le Mans Series race in the GT-C class for drivers John Potter and Craig Stanton.  Beginning with the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring the team will then compete in the ALMS’ second round at the Long Beach Grand Prix in Long Beach, California – Stanton’s hometown. The no.77 Magnus Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup will appear again at the series’ new event at the Baltimore Grand Prix before going to the season finale – the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia.

The team has proven to be particularly strong in long distance races, finishing fourth at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January and fifth in the Rolex 24 in 2010.  Addtionally, the team has contested one American Le Mans Series event, when Potter teamed with Ryan Eversley and Andrew Davis in the 2010 Petit Le Mans to qualify and finish in third place.

“Expanding the team into different series has always been a part of our plan with Magnus Racing,” said Potter. “We enjoyed competing in the Petit Le Mans last year – we have really proven the strength of our team in the longer races – so it’s a good time to grow our business into the ALMS and demonstrate the strength of Magnus Racing in the competitive GT-C class. I’m excited for what the rest of the season holds for us.”

Stanton brings extensive American Le Mans Series experience to the Magnus Racing program. A veteran of thirty series starts, Stanton holds two wins and ten podium finishes in the series. This year will mark the third time that Stanton is able to race near his home in Long Beach, California, as he was a part of the Long Beach Grand Prix in the ALMS race in 2008 and the World Challenge race in 2009.

“I’m really looking forward to racing in these four ALMS races with Magnus Racing,” said Stanton. “We have assembled a really great program and these guys can give us the car that John and I need to win in GT-C. It is exciting that the team is able to expand like this in its second year and we are really pumped up after our performance in Daytona – we will be very competitive in GT-C.”

At this year’s Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring, Potter and Stanton will be joined by sportscar veteran Matthew Marsh. Marsh, who hails from Hong Kong, has extensive endurance racing experience under his belt including competing in the 24 Hours of Nurburgring, 24 Hours of LeMans, the Bathurst 24 Hours and the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Marsh also has the distinction of being the only driver representing Hong Kong to have scored a FIA World Championship point, when he finished eighth in the World Touring Car Championship at the Macau Grand Prix in 2008.

Magnus Racing will begin their 2011 ALMS season at this week’s Sebring Winter Test, where Potter and Stanton will develop the team’s new 2011 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup in ALMS’s GT-C spec. Led by engineer Lars Giersing and crew chief John Bedell, the Magnus Racing team has made extensive progress in developing the new Porsche in Grand-Am spec and will bring the same knowledge base to their ALMS campaign.

“We aim to make full use of all the track time available to us in Sebring,” said Potter. “At Petit Le Mans last year, we were definitely behind the curve as we stepped in to the last race of the year but we made a lot of progress over the course of the weekend which helped us end up on the podium. Now, with more time to prepare, I think we’ll be in contention for a win at the end of the 12 Hours of Sebring.”

More information about Magnus Racing can be found at www.magnusracing.com. Any organization interested in learning more about how to be involved with one of the most unique and visible teams in the Grand-American Rolex Sports Car Series can e-mail info@magnusracing.com. All press inquiries can be directed to press@magnusracing.com.