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