Knocked to the back, John Potter marches forward in IMSA GT3 Challenge at Miller Motorsports Park
Monday, May 2, 2011 at 06:43PM 
May 2, 2011 (Salt Lake City, Utah) – For a brief moment, John Potter considered presenting a snowmobile to tech for the weekend’s IMSA GT3 Challenge as on-track proceedings for the Utah Grand Prix were cut short on Friday as snow fell on Miller Motorsports Park.
Better weather was in store for Saturday and the first of two IMSA GT3 Challenge races of the weekend, but Potter might have had more fun on his snowmobile as his race wouldn’t last the scheduled 45 minutes. After qualifying seventh, two cars come together in front of Potter, leaving him nowhere to go, damaging the right front suspension of the No. 22 Magnus Racing Porsche 911 GT3 – the team’s ‘Party Barge’ – and ending Potter’s race.
The poor result would result in more headache for Potter, as the second IMSA GT3 Challenge of the weekend, run on Sunday, would be gridded based on the results of the first – meaning Potter would start Sunday’s race in last place. This time, however, Potter avoided the carnage at the start and passed eleven cars on the opening lap before marching through the field throughout the rest of the caution-free forty-five minute race. Passing twenty three cars by the time the checkered flag fell, Potter would finish in eleventh place, only three seconds from breaking into the top-ten.
“I'd say the highlight of the weekend was the second race, where we passed 23 cars, and eleven of them on the first lap... and only two of those cars were backwards!” said Potter. “I can see why Porsche really enjoys this series, as they must sell a lot of spare parts to everyone after every race. It's a really mixed group of drivers out there and every lap is an adventure. This weekend definitely provided a lot of interesting moments, but I'll have to take a second look at my life insurance policy before we come back."
Potter will be back in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series in two weeks at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, VA. Potter and his teammate, Craig Stanton, are currently second in the GT-class championship standgins three races in to the 2011 season, while Potter sits second in the Bob Akin standings for Pro-Am drivers in the GT class.
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.
Reader Comments (2)
Hey there Mr. Potter, I was up to the task of selling you some great life insurance but I must be too late. Your life insurance policy must be a good one and pay well under any circumstance; I saw the IMSA GT3 entry list for Montreal. Your name and car number was on there. Way to suck it up and try again at another race in the series. Does your policy pay up if you die chocking on your own words. LOL!!