Today was the first official day of on-track activity at the 50th Anniversary of the Rolex 24 at Daytona. With one of the most competitive GT fields in the history of the event, it was an eventful day of a neck and neck competition, leading to an incredibly close top three finish in GT qualifying. The energy in the atmosphere was palpable as the day started off warm and only got hotter. The weatherman will tell you that it was a warm front moving in that will lead to an eventual thunderstorm. We at Daytona International Speedway know that the real storm is from within the track.
The first practice session ended with the No.44 Magnus Racing Porsche GT3 Cup car finishing less than a second off the top times, yet in such a closely matched field, the team found themselves barely cracking the top-10. The No. 4 eBay Motors/Children’s Tumor Foundation/Racing4Research Porsche GT3 Cup would find themselves in a similar position, just a few places behind.
With the day’s fortunes improving, and the last opportunity to get on track before qualifying, the second practice ended with a Magnus at the top of the charts, Andy Lally having set a lap time of 1:49.7 to take top honors, leaving the no. 44 team brimming with confidence heading in to qualifying.
During an intense qualifying session, Andy Lally proved, yet again, he is a beast behind the wheel (seriously there’s a pool going around about whether or not he has gasoline running through his veins). From the middle of the pack he shot up to the leading position on the board and fought an epic battle with Brumos Racing’s Porsche GT3 and AIM Autosport’s Ferrari. We finished strong with a number three spot only tenths of a second away from the top. Ultimately everyone was satisfied with third, however it was a tough pill to swallow, with Lally having been at the top of the charts for half the session before Brumos Racing’s Andrew Davis pipped him with only minutes to spare.
The team went out in the two-hour night session to see what kind of trouble we could cause once the sun went down. As it turned out, the men in gray shine even in moonlight, as the no. 44 finished in the number five slot. In a class as competitive as this one that wasn’t a bad place to be, as the top five finished so close together they could smell the sweat off of each others’ brows.
We finished the day not only knowing that the cars are fast, but that the team is mentally prepared for this race; and that we have the best crew any team can ask for.
Developed by the Children’s Tumor Foundation, the Racing4Research (R4R) program utilizes competitive, professional auto racing as a vehicle to increase awareness of neurofibromatosis and raise funds for research through corporate sponsorship, personal donations, and individual fundraising by NF Heroes: children and adults from around the country who live with neurofibromatosis. NF affects one in every 3,000 children, more than cystic fibrosis, Duchenne muscular dystrophy and Huntington’s disease combined, and can lead to a wide variety of complications, including blindness, bone abnormalities, cancer, deafness, disfigurement, learning disabilities and excruciating and disabling pain. The Racing4Research program offers children and families living with the disorder a uniquely empowering weekend, and has raised over $1.5 million dollars since its inception five years ago. Donations can be made at www.racing4research.org.
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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 sports car racing can e-mail info@magnusracing.com. All press inquiries can be directed to press@magnusracing.com.