Magnus Racing Leaves Mid-Ohio Disappointed

LEXINGTON, Ohio (May 7, 2018) – Returning to the scenic Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course after being off of the IMSA/former Grand-Am schedule since 2013, Magnus Racing would enjoy a steady weekend, making progress on car development en route to a 10^th place finish.

“Obviously 10^th is not what we were hoping for, but we did make good progress on the car,” stated team owner and co-driver John Potter. “The guys worked very hard all month to develop the car, and we made some very positive gains even if the results didn’t show it. We of course strive for much stronger results than we had, but we definitely saw the progress we were aiming for, and we’ll only be stronger as the season continues.”

Driving the No. 44 Audi Tire Center Audi R8 LMS GT3, the driving duo of John Potter and Andy Lally would start the race from 11^th, with John Potter taking on opening duties for the first “sprint race” of the year. Holding his own, Potter would do a great job of holding with the field in front of him, which is a particular challenge around the twisty confines of the Ohio track, as traffic from faster classes coming from behind is especially difficult.

With the race running without a single caution period, John would pit when the window would open up, handing the car to Andy Lally for the final two hours.

Hoping to gain on their competitors by driving off-sequence, Lally would drive a long middle stint, running the car as far as he could on fuel hoping for a timely caution to catch on the field in front of him, which ultimately failed to materialize. By time the final round of stops would cycle through, Andy would re-emerge in 10^th, where the Audi would settle in to the finish.

Despite the result, the team still had a strong pace that was within sight of most of the lead group, and the teams’ continuing develop of their R8 has shown progress.

The next round of competition will take place in four weeks’ time, heading to the streets of Detroit, a two-day show where the series will compete at the shortest event of the year. Practice begins on Friday, June 1, with the race taking place the next day on Saturday, June 2.