January 27, 2010 (Daytona Beach, FL) – A long winter of testing and development showed its first dividends for Magnus Racing as Craig Stanton drove the team’s No. 44 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup to third in qualifying for this weekend’s Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Stanton’s run was his personal best qualifying performance for the Rolex 24. He will be competing for the twelfth time in the twice-around-the-clock Florida classic when he takes the green flag on Saturday at 3:30 PM. His team’s fortunes are already massively improved over the 2010 race, the first ever for the team, when a mechanic problem during qualifying caused them to qualify well down in the order.
“These guys prepared a really, really good Porsche,” said Stanton afterwards. “I didn’t have to push to eleven-tenths to get a good time out of the car because it is so hooked up and so easy to drive. We have been working on race pace and long stints ever since we got the car and all the work that our engineering staff has been putting in is really showing off. We’re gonna drive straight to the front with this car!”
Stanton will begin the race in the car that he will share with team owner John Potter and Porsche factory drivers Marco Holzer and Richard Lietz. Holzer and Lietz spend the duration of the Thursday night session behind the wheel of the no. 44, and both reported positively on the handling of the car. Holzer will be making his second start at the Rolex 24, while Lietz has competed multiple times including last season where he helped Magnus Racing to a fifth place finish in the debut of John Potter as a team owner.
“It’s really great for the crew and everyone on the team that we have been able to perform so well from the very beginning this weekend,” said Potter. “Of course, this is a long race where qualifying means very little, but we changed very little for the qualifying session so we know the car has a lot of speed for the long stints. It is great for the team and makes us very excited for the rest of the year as well.”
The team will continue testing and preparation throughout Friday, with the green flag for this year’s Rolex 24 dropping at 3:30 PM ET on Saturday afternoon. The team will host an interactive blog on the team’s website at www.magnusracing.com throughout the 24 hour contest where fans can interact directly with the team and its drivers.
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.