January 11, 2010 (Daytona Beach, Fl) – Florida was most certainly not the Sunshine State as Magnus Racing participated in January’s Roar Before the 24 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. As cold and rainy as it was throughout the three-day test, team owner and driver, John Potter, always kept things in perspective.

“At least it’s better than a hurricane,” stated Potter.

 
The record cold conditions were no problem for the newest member of Magnus Racing, Jeroen Bleekemolen. Making the trip from The Netherlands – where it was 15F when he left – Bleekemolen was thrilled to be headed to sunny Florida until it rained during Friday’s practice. He still had enough time in the No. 44 Magnus Racing Porsche GT3 Cup to form his first opinions of Daytona International Speedway. “The banking is incredible,” he said after his first laps. “I was getting tunnel vision because the banking is so steep. It definitely takes some getting used to.” 
 
Bleekemolen, as well as Potter and Craig Stanton, spent the weekend refining the race setup of their No. 44 Porsche. The weekend went without incident, except for when a wayward Mazda hit Bleekemolen during Saturday night practice and resulted in minor cosmetic damage – an annoyance mostly because the car was in its brand new livery on this weekend – and when Stanton had a spin in turn four on Sunday morning. The spin was mostly harmless, except that it was videotaped by his crew and broadcast in the team transporter throughout the rest of the weekend. 
 
“I got plenty of time in the car in the day and night time, which taught me a lot about how some cars are more difficult to pass than others,” said Bleekemolen. “But the whole test was a very positive experience. I learned quite a bit, especially in traffic, about where you can and can’t pass.”
 
“Things went really, really well,” said Stanton. “We got Jeroen in the car and made him comfortable, and just like we expected, he was fast right away and began giving us good feedback and input on the car. He’ll be great for us in the 24 hour.”
 
Again, with words of wisdom, was team owner John Potter.
 
“The test went really well, and I wasn’t the one who spun the car,” he said, with one eye on Stanton. “It was unfortunate that we missed out on some track time because of the weather, but that left us plenty of time for interviews and photo shoots. But, Craig and Jeroen, and the crew did a great job with our car and it was really, really good by the end of the weekend.”
 
Potter, Stanton, and Bleekemolen will be joined by Richard Lietz for the Rolex 24 at Daytona in three weeks.
 
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 Sportscar Series can e-mail info@magnusracing.com. All press inquiries can be directed to press@magnusracing.com.