Potter and Stanton go to Canada in search of Poutine and Another Podium

August 17, 2011 (Salt Lake City, Utah) – Spirits are high for the team in green grey, as Magnus Racing travels to Montreal, Quebec, for this weekend’s Montreal 200 – the second to last race of the 2011 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series.

Fresh off last weekend’s Canadian Tire 200 at the Glen where John Potter and Craig Stanton finished third for the second time this season, the duo are excited to get back in the no. 44 Magnus Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Potter has had his eye on the Montreal 200 since leaving the track after last season’s race.

“Last year, we jumped on an alternate pitstop strategy early on and because of that we led a Rolex race for the first time,” said Potter. However, he wasn’t just referring to leading the GT class – the Magnus Racing Porsche circulated the track ahead of the Daytona Prototype field as well while under yellow, causing GRAND-AM some headaches before they decided to wave the entire DP field past Potter. “We led the race for a few laps afterwards, and we were able to have a strong finish of fifth. A fifth would be nice, but we are aiming a little higher this time.”

Stanton is equally excited to return to Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, where he passed five cars over the final hour to help the Magnus Racing Porsche finish in fifth position.

“Montreal is a neat track that really suits the Porsche well,” said Stanton. “I really enjoy driving here and visiting Montreal, it’s a great city and the fans here are very knowledgeable and give us a lot of support. I also happen to like poutine, and some of the guys on the team are from Montreal and they know where to get the best poutine in the city. I’ll have to run a few extra miles to work it off, but it’s worth it.”

With their podium result in Watkins Glen, Potter and Stanton are currently fourth in the GT class standings, 19 points behind championship leaders Bill Lester and Jordan Taylor in the Autohaus Camaro. Also, with two races left to run, Potter sits second in the Bob Akin Award standings for Pro-Am drivers in the GT class.

The Montreal 200 start at 11:15 AM ET on Saturday, August 20, but will be shown tape delayed on SPEED Channel at 7:00 PM ET. The Magnus Nation 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 Rolex Sports Car Series can e-mail info@magnusracing.com. All press inquiries can be directed to press@magnusracing.com.

Magnus Racing’s Potter and Stanton score second podium of the year in Watkins Glen

August 13, 2011 (Watkins Glen, NY) – Saturday afternoon’s Canadian Tire 200 at The Glen became another fuel mileage game for the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series’ GT class, and it worked out nearly to perfection for John Potter and Craig Stanton as the two drove the no. 44 Magnus Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup to a third place finish in the two-hour race.

Starting from ninth place in the twenty-two car GT field, Potter was called into the pits during an early full-course caution to take fuel. The race restarted with Potter in 12^th position, and throughout the next hour he advanced the Magnus Racing Porsche up through the field to the second position. Just past the one hour mark, Potter turned the car over to Stanton, who came out of the pits in 11^th place – but with enough fuel to make it to the checkered flag.

The final hour would be caution free, and the Magnus Racing Porsche was one of few GT cars that could make it the entire distance without conserving fuel. Up to sixth position with thirty minutes remaining, Stanton would benefit in the final ten minutes when three GT cars ahead of him would be forced to make pit stops for fuel.

Withstanding pressure from the no. 70 Mazda of Jonathan Bomarito, Stanton would take the checkered flag in third place, taking the second Rolex Series podium of the season for Magnus Racing. At the line, Stanton was a scant 12 seconds behind the winning no. 67 TRG Porsche and 10 seconds behind the runner-up no. 88 Autohaus Camaro.

“The strategy call at the beginning of the race to pit for fuel was definitely the right call, and set up a really great result for us,” said Potter. “All the credit to the guys for the great strategy and for two great pitstops today. Our Magnus Racing Porsche was really good here at Watkins Glen, and both Craig and I were able to run consistently fast times while getting great fuel mileage. That helped us to get this great result, which is what we have been after for several races now. And, that is also one podium for the green Magnus Porsche and one for the grey one. I think we’ll be keeping grey for another race or two!”

The finish also moves Potter and Stanton to fourth in the GT class championship with two races left. The duo is now 19 points behind the GT class leaders Bill Lester and Jordan Taylor in the no. 88 Autohaus Camaro, with two races remaining in the Rolex Series championship.

“I knew that when I got into the car that we were probably okay on fuel, and I could just go for it,” said Stanton. “There were a bunch of guys ahead of us who couldn’t make it to the end without some yellow, but they were cutting it close. All of a sudden with three laps left, we went from sixth to third. We had one of the Mazdas behind us, but there was no way I was going to give up a podium spot today. The guys did an awesome job today, John drove a great first stint, and we finished ahead of some guys in the championship battle. I am really looking forward to Montreal now!”

The next to last race of the 2011 Rolex Sports Car Series will be next weekend, August 19-20, at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on the Ile-Notre Dame in Montreal, Quebec.  The Montreal 200 will be shown tape delayed on SPEED Channel on Saturday, August 20, at 7:00 PM ET.

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-AM Rolex Sports Car Series can e-mail info@magnusracing.com. All press inquiries can be directed to press@magnusracing.com.

Magnus Racing looks to make up Championship Ground in Watkins Glen

August 9, 2011 (Salt Lake City, Utah) – There are three races left in the 2011 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series. For Magnus Racing’s John Potter and Craig Stanton, that means there are three races left to make up the 18 points between themselves and the current GT-class points leaders, the Brumos Racing pair of Andrew Davis and Leh Keen.

Luckily, Watkins Glen International has been a track that suits the no. 44 Magnus Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. With the Porsche excelling at high-speed circuits with long, sweeping corners, Potter is anxious to return to the legendary circuit in upstate New York. This weekend’s race, shared with the NASCAR Sprint Cup, will be a two-hour race, as opposed to the regular two hour and forty-five minutes.

Potter and Stanton are fresh off a podium performance at the American Le Mans Series race at Mid-Ohio, their third podium of the 2011 season. The duo is looking to add to the trophy case at Magnus Racing this weekend.

“We had a great run going when we were at Watkins Glen for the six hour,” said Potter. “We just got hung out on tires a little too long at the end and lost a spot in the final minutes. But our Porsche is always very good there, and I really look forward to getting behind the wheel at Watkins Glen. We’ve had some bad luck lately but we are still in with a shot at this championship. With this race only being two hours, I think you’ll see guys being really aggressive and taking chances from the very beginning – I’ll be doing my best to avoid that and keep the car on the track. The fans should expect a great race on Saturday evening.”

Stanton, who set the track record for the Rolex Series GT class in 2010 on the long course at Watkins Glen, is equally excited to race this weekend.

 “I’m really excited about going back to Watkins Glen,” said Stanton. “The Magnus Racing Porsche is fast there. Really fast. The guys always raise their game and give us a good car, which is inspiring – it makes me want to get every last tenth of a second out of it. I expect this race will be crazy, and with it only being two hours, you won’t have the chance to recover from a bad pitstop or a mistake. I’m expecting a lot of bumping and some very close racing, and there are a few wildcard guys that will be championship spoilers.”

The Magnus Nation will quickly notice that the Magnus Racing Porsche has retained the grey color scheme that it debuted for the first time two weeks ago at New Jersey Motorsports Park for this weekend’s race at Watkins Glen.

“We decided to give it another try,” said Potter. “We think it looks pretty good.”

The Watkins Glen 200 will be broadcast live on SPEED Channel on Saturday, August 13, beginning at 6:00 PM ET. 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-AM Rolex Sports Car Series can e-mail info@magnusracing.com. All press inquiries can be directed to press@magnusracing.com

Mid-Ohio photos now posted

That's not data they are looking at - Thad and Craig are checking out the latest photo gallery on our Photos page.

Party Barge on the Podium as Potter and Stanton finish third in Mid-Ohio

August 7, 2011 (Salt Lake City, Utah) – At Sebring, when Magnus Racing’s no. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup earned the nickname ‘Party Barge’, the team didn’t expect that it might literally have to fulfill the duties of a barge the first time that it encountered rain.

The rain that fell at Mid-Ohio during the final hour of the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge started as a light fall but intensified so much that the ALMS twitter account reported a sighting of animals traveling in pairs on the racing surface.  After a strong opening stint from John Potter, where he started fourth and pressured the no. 54 Black Swan Porsche for third, Craig Stanton took over the wheel of the Magnus Racing Porsche during the first round of pitstops that came just before the end of the first hour.

Re-emerging from the pits in sixth place, Stanton battled with the no. 11 JDX Porsche for several laps before a full course caution came out for one of several LMP Challenge cars that went off course throughout the day. While that in and of itself wasn’t very remarkable, the subsequent DNF of the pace car on the front straightaway created an extended caution period which played well into the strategy of the Magnus Racing Porsche.

After the restart, Stanton was able to pass the JDX Porsche for fifth while the leading no. 68 TRG and no. 23 AJR Porsches were penalized for an illegal wave-by procedure during the caution and the no. 54 Black Swan made an unexpected pit stop. All of a sudden, Stanton was 2^nd in GT-C and the race appeared to be coming back to the team – and then the rain began to fall and the yellow flags flew again for another stranded LMP Challenge car.

The caution erased the gap between Stanton and the leading no. 66 TRG Porsche. He did not have much of a chance to capitalize, however, as the yellows flew again for a GT crash that happened before the start finish line.  On the next restart, Stanton dove to the inside of the TRG Porsche in the Keyhole, but spun on the exit, dropping him to third in class. Two laps later, the yellows flew again, and the race ended under red flag conditions with so much standing water on the track – meaning Potter and Stanton finished 3^rd again for the second time in GT-C this season.

“Well, considering how wild and unpredictable the race was, we’re pretty happy to get on the podium,” said Potter, who drove the first hour in the Party Barge. “Last time we were here we were punted out of the race after 10 minutes by a prototype, so this was much better. We were competitive and had speed throughout each of our stints. The spin at the end was a shame, especially since the red flag meant we didn’t have any chance to make up the lost position, but the conditions looked terrible at the end. I’m glad it wasn’t me in the car that last hour!”

“I was close enough to make a move into the keyhole, because Spence ran the wide line,” said Stanton, who began his Mid-Ohio weekend by riding his bicycle around the circuit for two hours. “I thought there might be enough grip on the inside line to get alongside and be on the right side of the track down the back straightaway, but I just couldn’t keep the back of the car under me when I went back to power. We were here to go for the win, and I just had to go for it. We were that close to what was the fastest car all day in GT-C which shows just how hard our guys are working and how good the Magnus Racing Porsche was.”

There is no rest for the Magnus Racing transporter, as it will now make its way east to Watkins Glen, New York for this weekend’s GRAND-AM Watkins Glen 200. Held on the short course of Watkins Glen International, this weekend’s race is held in conjunction with the NASCAR Sprint Cup series race. The Watkins Glen 200 will be shown live on SPEED Channel on Saturday, August 13 at 6:00 PM ET.

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 American Le Mans Series can e-mail info@magnusracing.com. All press inquiries can be directed to press@magnusracing.com.