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.



Magnus Racing Charges Through the Field for Fourth

January 30, 2010 (Daytona Beach, Fl.) – The Rolex 24 at Daytona is an exercise in dealing with adversity, and the no. 44 Magnus Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup encountered its fair share as it completed 674 laps from the start to the finish of the Florida endurance classic.

Making his twelfth start at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, Craig Stanton, from Long Beach, California, put the Magnus Racing Porsche into the lead in the first hour after a strong qualifying effort which saw the car qualify in third. While different pitstop cycles began to play out, the car continued to battle for the lead throughout the first couple of hours until an unscheduled stop to repair damage when Richard Liletz from Austria hit debris, putting the car two laps behind the leader. A further eleven laps were lost six and a half hours into the race when the car’s header developed a crack, requiring it to be replaced.

Rejoining the track at roughly 11:00 PM EST, all the drivers cycled through and consistently chipped away at their deficit as other cars faltered. Sunrise saw the Magnus Racing Porsche up to sixth position, with more progress coming as two other cars ran into mechanical problems in the final three hours.

Crossing the finish line in fourth position, the team improved on its finish of fifth in Magnus Racing’s inaugural Rolex 24 at Daytona in 2010. Impressively, the team has now finished in its first two twenty-four hour contests in the top-five, and Team Owner John Potter is excited about Magnus Racing’s prospects for 2011.

DRIVER QUOTES

John Potter

It’s a great result for the team and I’m really proud that we were able to run as strong as we did, it was a great way to start the year. But what I’m most excited about is how I think we are going to do this year. We have a great team with great personnel, the 2011 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup is a strong car, and I think Craig and I are going to make for a very strong driving lineup this year.

Craig Stanton

I’m ecstatic that win, lose, or draw, our guys put their best effort into this program. They really brought their A++ game to this race and it really showed throughout the weekend because the car was so good and so easy to drive. What I’m taking away from this race is a lot of confidence that these guys are going to give us a great car all year and we will be able to contend for a championship.

Richard Lietz

The car was perfect from the first practice I had in the car. We should have won this race, but finishing fourth is still a strong result. It was bad luck, we run the curbs a thousand times and one time it damages the car, but everyone worked really hard to get the car back on track and the guys did a good job to drive up to fourth.

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 charges through field before daybreak in Daytona

January 30, 2011 (Daytona Beach, Florida) – It was a long night for the team in green, as Magnus Racing would find itself in a race against the clock to claw back time lost in the pits making repairs to the no. 44 Magnus Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.

Shortly before 11:00 PM ET, with Craig Stanton at the wheel, the car came to a stop between NASCAR turn four and the pit line entry. The car had been struggling with a broken header throughout Stanton’s stint at the wheel, and threw off the fuel mixture enough to make the car come up a few hundred crucial yards short of the pits. Being towed to the garage, the Magnus Racing crew sprang into action and needed ten laps to replace the broken header, returning the car to action with John Potter at the wheel in thirteenth position, thirteen laps behind the leader.

Cycling through all of the team’s four drivers through the night, the Magnus Racing Porsche was consistently one of the fastest GT-class cars in the field, clicking off trouble free laps and making steady progress through the field. Slowed only by a routine brake change, the team’s progress was finally stopped by a nearly three-hour full course caution period for fog. Emerging from the fog in seventh place when the race went green again, Marco Holzer moved the no. 44 Magnus Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup into sixth place shortly before 9:00 AM EST.

With six and a half hours of racing remaining, the team expects all of its drivers to be behind the wheel at least one more time before the checkered flag falls at 3:30 PM EST.

DRIVER QUOTES

Richard Lietz

The car felt perfect during my stints. The power was good and it is fast and very fun to drive. But the traffic is something else, it’s the worst traffic I have ever seen in Daytona. At times it seems very dangerous, but this is what it is all about. We just have to not have any more problems and we can still get a good result.

Craig Stanton

All of the guys did a great job through the night. John, Richard, and Marco were able to go really fast but keep the nose of the car clean and minimize time in the pits. The handling of the car has definitely changed a bit since we had to pull the swaybar off, but everyone has found a way to make it work and post competitive times. There’s still a lot of racing left so the goal is still to just be smooth and consistent and work out way forward.

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Magnus Racing leads early going at Rolex 24 at Daytona

January 29, 2011 (Daytona Beach, FL) – Starting from the third position for the 2011 Rolex 24 at Daytona, Craig Stanton showed from the drop of the green that the no. 44 Magnus Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup had some serious speed as he needed four laps to move into the lead of the GT class battle.

Once clear of the rest of the field, Stanton began to extend an advantage throughout the opening stages before pitting under yellow and handing the car over to John Potter. Potter enjoyed a trouble-free stint running in the top ten as several teams ran alternate fuel pit strategies and handed the car over to Austrian Richard Lietz during a full course caution.

Lietz stint would be the first time the Magnus Racing Porsche encountered difficulty as, while running in second position, he ran over debris that was left on the track in the bus stop from previous incidents. The debris broke the rear swaybar of the car, requiring Lietz to pit under green. The Magnus Racing crew jumped into action and needed two laps to remove the swaybar, which was dragging under the car, and send Lietz back on his way.

Lietz continued through another stint before handing the car over to German Marco Holzer. Holzer’s stint was trouble free and he turned the car back over to Craig Stanton at around 9:00 PM ET. As of 9:30 ET, Craig Stanton had the Magnus Racing Porsche running in ninth position, two laps behind the GT class leader.

DRIVER QUOTES

Craig Stanton

The car was so hooked up in the beginning of the race, it was so fun to drive and an awesome feeling to lead the Rolex 24. It wasn’t the prettiest drive I’ve ever done but it got the job done and I didn’t have to push the car that hard, which shows just how good it is. The whole Magnus Racing crew really deserves a great result for how hard they have worked on this car because it is really a rocket. Especially with the new pavement, the car is really a joy to drive.

John Potter

My stint was uneventful, except for the odd Daytona Prototype, but things are going really well. It’s a long race and there is still a lot that can happen, as we saw when Richard ran over the debris. As we learned last year it’s a long race and we have plenty of time to make up lost time and lost positions if we just keep out of trouble and keep the car underneath us.

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