The Party Barge is derailed by a Prototype as Magnus Racing finishes Seventh in Sebring

March 19, 2011 (Sebring, Fl.) – Prior to the start of the 59^th Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring, the wing endplates of the no.077 Magnus Racing / Flex-Box Porsche 911 GT3 Cup were decorated with decals that proudly stated ‘Party Barge Sebring’. The decals were placed in honor of team fueler Bruce Sallet’s yearly tradition as part of the ‘Turn 10’ crowd at the 12 Hours of Sebring – unable to take part this year due to his duties with Magnus Racing, the team’s car would now be known as the ‘Party Barge’.

Craig Stanton put Magnus Racing’s Porsche second in the GT-C field during qualifying, in his return to the circuit for the first time since 2008. He was also tasked with starting the race and after a clean start, he spent the first several laps behind polesitter Leh Keen before moving the Party Barge into the lead for the first time. Magnus Racing team owner John Potter relieved Stanton after his first stint, and as differing pitstop strategies began to play out Potter spent the duration of his stint in third place but turned the car over to Hong Kong’s Matthew Marsh in second.

Putting in quick times, Marsh also moved into the lead and maintained it throughout his time at the wheel. Another turn at the wheel for Stanton saw the no.077 machine move solidly into the lead as the race moved into its eighth hour.

Unfortunately, that’s when the party would come to an end. After a restart, Potter was hit in turn eleven while being lapped by an LMP1 car, puncturing the radiator and front tire and causing significant front bodywork damage. Used to working miracles, the Magnus Racing crew took the car back to the hauler and repaired the damage, returning Potter to the race but suffering a loss of fifteen laps.

After that, it was smooth sailing home for the team but despite Marsh’s and Stanton’s best efforts, the best the car would do was seventh in the class that it had dominated throughout the day. The car did see the checkered flag, however, an accomplishment in its own right at the team’s first attempt at the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring.

Magnus Racing will compete next at the Rolex Sports Car Series’ Porsche 250 at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama. They enter as the points leader in the GT class. The week after, however, they will return to ALMS GT-C competition at the Grand Prix of Long Beach in Long Beach, California.

John Potter – Owner, Magnus Racing

“It is really, really frustrating when one of these races gets away from you because a prototype doesn’t give you enough room and can’t wait a turn or two. The guys worked so hard all week and made the car so good. It’s really hard to come away from this one feeling positive about something when we had the car to win – and were leading. However, this team will give us fast cars all year long and we’ll have more chances to get more wins.”

Craig Stanton – Driver, no.077 Magnus Racing / Flex-Box Porsche 911 GT3 Cup

“It’s a really tough break, this was new territory for the team. John, Matthew, and the whole team just absolutely nailed it. It was easy to drive fast, a total joy, and we got taken out. However he fact that they did things so well this time means I am really confident that we will have the car to beat in GT-C again at Long Beach, and I’m really looking forward to that.”

Matthew Marsh – Driver, no.077 Magnus Racing / Flex-Box Porsche 911 GT3 Cup

“This wasn’t the result we wanted, especially after things were going so well in the early stages of the race. We had a competitive car and the team did a great job preparing it – this was definitely the most comfortable team experience I’ve had yet. It was great to take part in my first 12 Hours of Sebring with this organization and I’m looking forward to doing it again.”

Race highlights will be shown Sunday, March 20, at 12:30-2:30 PM ET on ABC. The entire race will also be available on demand soon at AmericanLeMans.com.

Flex-Box is a leading worldwide supplier of new and used shipping, storage and reefer containers. An international company based in Hong Kong, Flex Box manufactures and ships containers to customers all over the world. Keeping a year round inventory of containers in China, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and North America, the Flex Box staff can help with container requirements whether a client needs one or one thousand containers in any location.For more information, visit www.flex-box.com

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 sports car racing can e-mail info@magnusracing.com. All press inquiries can be directed to press@magnusracing.com.



Stanton wheels Magnus Racing Porsche to second on GT-C grid at Sebring

March 18, 2011 (Sebring, FL) – Driving at Sebring for the first time since 2008, Craig Stanton put his Magnus Racing / Flex-Box Porsche 911 GT3 Cup second on the GT-C grid for tomorrow’s Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring.

His lap narrowly missed the pole time set by Leh Keen by a scant 0.022 of a second. Keen, incidentally, raced for Magnus Racing in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge series throughout 2010. After a long week of testing, the Magnus Racing team was thrilled with their driver and with their front row starting position – especially as this was the team’s first trip to the notoriously difficult 3.7-mile Sebring road course.

Magnus Racing has one other start in the American Le Mans Series, at the 2010 Petit Le Mans, where Potter was joined by Andrew Davis and Ryan Eversley to finish third in GT-C.

John Potter, Magnus Racing Owner and Driver

“Qualifying only means so much in a twelve-hour race, but it is really great that Craig put in such a great lap and just missed the podium by a couple of tenths. And it also shows how good the car is. All three of us can run consistent laps and that is what is going to really matter tomorrow in the twelve hour.”

Craig Stanton, Magnus Racing / Flex-Box Porsche 911 GT3 Cup

“It’s great to give the guys a good qualifying position – but man I really wanted that pole! The whole team has worked really hard all week and it has been a long week, and everyone has been putting in a lot of work and very long hours to make the car so good. It’s great to be back at Sebring with such a great team. Tomorrow will be a great race and I think this team has a great chance to finish on the podium.”

Matthew Marsh, Magnus Racing / Flex-Box Porsche 911 GT3 Cup

“It was an extremely positive day for us to have the car qualify second for the 12 Hours of Sebring. I’ve been taking my time to adapt to the car and the circuit, since I haven’t been here before, and it is getting better and better each time I get in it. That Craig was able to jump in and just miss pole position shows the car is quite good and we can be at the front. “

The 59^th Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring will begin tomorrow at 10:30 AM ET and finish when the checkered flag falls at 10:30 PM ET. The race broadcast will begin at 9:45 AM ET on ESPN3.com, with a live audio broadcast available at www.radiolemans.com.



Magnus Racing is back in Florida and ready to make debut at Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring

March 14, 2010 (Salt Lake City, Utah) – The expansion of Magnus Racing’s racing program into the American Le Mans Series begins this weekend as the team will take part for the first time in the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring.

Fresh off their first podium in the Rolex Sports Car Series at the Grand Prix of Miami, John Potter and Craig Stanton will be joined by Hong Kong’s Matthew Marsh in the competitive GT-C class. Under the banner of their new sponsor Flex Box, a supplier of shipping and reefer containers worldwide, the Magnus Racing team showed great speed at the recent ALMS series test at Sebring and have already demonstrated their technical prowess with the 2011 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. This will be the team’s second ALMS race after finishing third at the Petit Le Mans last year in GT-C.

Marsh, joining the team for the first time, will be making his debut at the 12 Hours of Sebring. However, his resume includes runs at the 24 Hours of LeMans, 24 Hours of Daytona, the Nurburging 24 Hours and Bathurst 24 Hours, as well as plenty of time spent at the wheel of Porsche machinery, including victories in the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia.

Also making his debut on the famed runways of the 3.7-mile Sebring road course will be Potter, as this will be his first run at the 12 Hours of Sebring. After a strong run at the Rolex 24 at Daytona and his team’s first Rolex Series podium at Homestead he enters Sebring feeling extremely positive about the team’s first run at the 12 Hours of Sebring.

 “More than ever, I feel we have a team that will give us everything we need to do well,” said Potter. “The ALMS and Rolex cars are pretty different so we had a lot to learn about how to make the car go fast, but our guys got it figured out by the end of the test last month.”

Stanton, the team’s veteran of the event, has positive memories of the 12 Hours of Sebring, after finishing on the podium in the GT-2 class in 2004. Demonstrating his reputation as the fittest man in motorsports, Stanton was joined by only one other co-driver that year. This will be his first run at Sebring since a sixth-place finish in GT-2 in 2008.

“The days of being able to complete the entire 12 Hour with two drivers is long over!” said Stanton. “So lucky for me that I have John, who has been driving so well this year, and Matthew, who is an incredibly experienced endurance driver, to race with this year. With these guys and this team, I think we have a really good chance to challenge for the win in GT-C. It’s a tough class but I’m really excited to see how our guys are going to do this weekend.”

The Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring will be shown live on Saturday, March 19, on ESPN3.com and at americanlemans.com from 10:15 AM ET to 10:45 PM ET, while a live radio broadcast will be available at www.radiolemans.com Coverage of the race will also be shown on Sunday, March 20, on ABC from 12:30 PM ET to 2:00 PM ET. Fans of Magnus Racing can follow the team on Facebook (facebook.com/magnusracing) or on Twitter (@magnusracing).

Flex-Box is a leading worldwide supplier of new and used shipping, storage and reefer containers. An international company based in Hong Kong, Flex Box manufactures and ships containers to customers all over the world. Keeping a year round inventory of containers in China, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and North America, the Flex Box staff can help with container requirements whether a client needs one or one thousand containers in any location.For more information, visit www.flex-box.com

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 sports car racing can e-mail info@magnusracing.com. All press inquiries can be directed to press@magnusracing.com.



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.



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.