March 1, 2011 (Salt Lake City, Utah) – At last year’s Grand Prix of Miami, the Magnus Racing crew was faced with an almost impossible task – rebuilding the no.44 Magnus Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup after a blown tire in the Saturday morning warmup sent Craig Stanton hard into the concrete retaining wall of the Homestead Miami Speedway.
With only a few hours to repair extensive bodywork, suspension, and chassis damage, as well as replace the engine and gearbox, the Magnus Racing crew had the car ready for John Potter to take the green flag. That same crew worked miracles again at this year’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, when they had to twice repair damage caused by hitting debris on course during the early stages of the race. Although the car fell as low as thirteenth, it blazed a path through the field in the second half of the race to finish just off the podium in fourth.
With the team still riding the momentum of that strong finish, drivers Potter and Craig Stanton are looking to solidify their position near the top of the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 GT points standings.
“Daytona already feels like a long time ago, and I’m ready to get back in the car and race,” said Potter. “We were motivated to do well in Daytona and get our sophomore season off to a strong start, and even though we missed our chance to win when we hit debris we had an unbelievable second half of the race thanks to the guys getting the car fixed so quickly. I’m afraid they might mutiny if we make them perform another miracle like they did last year, but Craig and I would much rather get a good finish to reward them for their hard work.”
Teammate Stanton, who led the early stages of the Rolex 24, is happy to be back at Homestead and ready to mount a serious charge at the championship. Stanton won his first Rolex Sports Car Series championship in 2004 and is ready to win his second.
“We spent all of last year assembling the pieces to put together a real charge at the championship, and I think we showed in Daytona that we have a team capable of doing that,” said Stanton. “The Porsche 911 GT3 Cup is fast, John has been driving extremely well, and we have a crew that is capable of anything. I’m really excited to get back to Homestead and erase all of the memories from last year.”
The Grand Prix of Miami will be broadcast on Saturday, March 5, at 12:00 PM ET on SPEED Channel. 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-American Rolex Sports Car Series can e-mail info@magnusracing.com. All press inquiries can be directed to press@magnusracing.com.