January 30, 2010 (Daytona Beach, Fl.) – The Rolex 24 at Daytona is an exercise in dealing with adversity, and the no. 44 Magnus Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup encountered its fair share as it completed 674 laps from the start to the finish of the Florida endurance classic.
Making his twelfth start at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, Craig Stanton, from Long Beach, California, put the Magnus Racing Porsche into the lead in the first hour after a strong qualifying effort which saw the car qualify in third. While different pitstop cycles began to play out, the car continued to battle for the lead throughout the first couple of hours until an unscheduled stop to repair damage when Richard Liletz from Austria hit debris, putting the car two laps behind the leader. A further eleven laps were lost six and a half hours into the race when the car’s header developed a crack, requiring it to be replaced.
Rejoining the track at roughly 11:00 PM EST, all the drivers cycled through and consistently chipped away at their deficit as other cars faltered. Sunrise saw the Magnus Racing Porsche up to sixth position, with more progress coming as two other cars ran into mechanical problems in the final three hours.
Crossing the finish line in fourth position, the team improved on its finish of fifth in Magnus Racing’s inaugural Rolex 24 at Daytona in 2010. Impressively, the team has now finished in its first two twenty-four hour contests in the top-five, and Team Owner John Potter is excited about Magnus Racing’s prospects for 2011.
DRIVER QUOTES
John Potter
It’s a great result for the team and I’m really proud that we were able to run as strong as we did, it was a great way to start the year. But what I’m most excited about is how I think we are going to do this year. We have a great team with great personnel, the 2011 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup is a strong car, and I think Craig and I are going to make for a very strong driving lineup this year.
Craig Stanton
I’m ecstatic that win, lose, or draw, our guys put their best effort into this program. They really brought their A++ game to this race and it really showed throughout the weekend because the car was so good and so easy to drive. What I’m taking away from this race is a lot of confidence that these guys are going to give us a great car all year and we will be able to contend for a championship.
Richard Lietz
The car was perfect from the first practice I had in the car. We should have won this race, but finishing fourth is still a strong result. It was bad luck, we run the curbs a thousand times and one time it damages the car, but everyone worked really hard to get the car back on track and the guys did a good job to drive up to fourth.
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.