Salt Lake City, UT (September 4, 2012)- Following several weeks of quiet and closed conversations, excluding even their own employees and vendors, Magnus Racing, a premier GT team in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series, and Black Swan Racing, a two-time GT-Challenge Champion in the American Le Mans Series, may have an announcement together at this weekend’s Continental Tire Sports Car Festival at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
With very little going on in the world of professional sportscar racing these days, the possibility of the two teams merging together seemed like a good opportunity for headlines, even if very little is worked out between the two teams. With fans at the core interest of both Magnus Racing Team Owner John Potter and Black Swan Racing Team Owner Tim Pappas, the decision to discuss merging seemed like an ideal fit.
"Last week, if I saw Tim Pappas drowning, I would have thrown him an anchor,” stated Potter. “Now, I look forward to our kids playing together one day...he's really an awesome guy who I have always respected."
“I know in the past that I’ve said John Potter’s only interest in sportscar racing is to keep my team from succeeding,” replied Pappas. “But now that I’ve had time to reflect, and a possibility to sell, John Potter really is just a guy who likes racing. Really, he’s not the backwards redneck that myself and all of our fans have claimed.”
While the two teams in principle seem to want to run together as one awesome Porsche team, there remain many details to work out.
“The problem here is philosophy,” stated John Potter. “Fans want to see Porsches they can relate to. That’s why we run five lugnuts on our wheels.”
“John Potter is completely wrong about this,” stated Pappas. “Fans don’t want Porsches they can relate to, they want more awesomer Porsches. That’s why our Porsches ran center-lock wheels.”
With neither party willing to accept that, perhaps, fans just like Porsches, there remain many other complications between the two teams.
“Then there’s the video package,” stated Pappas. “Our Black Swan videos only run on Vimeo. Sure, less people are inclined to watch videos on Vimeo, but the quality of the video is much, much higher.”
“Putting your videos on Vimeo makes no sense,” replied Potter. “No sponsor wants to hear his videos are only on Vimeo. Videos have to be on YouTube, that’s what people are watching. We have up to 90 hits on some of our videos, whereas Black Swan only gets 70 hits. That’s 20 more people! No wonder sponsors are having such a hard time with them.”
While the technology and video package create a major difference of philosophies between the two teams, there still remain a number of other obstacles with a prospective merger.
For example, Black Swan Racing seems to really enjoy promoting its European feel with a driver like Jeroen Bleekemolen (from the Netherlands). As a team that once ran Porsches, the organization feels it should stick to its philosophy of European co-drivers.
Magnus Racing, however, feels that the road racing in the US needs to ignore its European roots and stick to an all-American theme, as demonstrated with driver Andy Lally.
“It’s simple, American fans want American drivers,” continued Potter. “I don’t even know where Holland is, nor do I speak Hollish.”
“Typical Potter-style thinking,” replied Pappas. “I’m telling you, there’s a conspiracy with the Potter’s to kill road racing.”
Then there’s the issue of what to call this merged team.
With the idea of “Black Magnus” being immediately discarded because “it sounds oddly racist,” the team has struggled where best to go with the name.
“I will not allow Magnus Racing to fall under the Black Swan name,” stated Potter. “Yes, there is a great tradition in that name. That name has great history in Europe, it even won an Oscar, but no. This is America.”
“No one knows what the hell Magnus is,” retorted Pappas. “Why wouldn’t they just adopt a name that is both World Class and well known? Plus, ummm, Natalie Portman.”
With neither team willing to compromise, it is possible they may just completely rename themselves. One insider suggests the team may just rename itself to “ChampCar.”
With a merger between the two teams imminent, neither team are willing to comment on the proposed schedule they’d like to run. While one would hope they’ll run the signature events of either series, this will no doubt be an endless process filled with several layers of complications.
Perhaps the most eagerly awaited moment of the proposed merger will be the endless articles that journalists will write about this, expounding on their profound editorial columns on how to save the sportscar world, with little insight on the economic and political realities of either team.
Whatever the outcome, both teams look forward to working together, and just hope the best interest of the fans and sportscar community at large is looked after.
For those who have no idea what the heck this article is all about, be sure to tune in tomorrow to GRAND-AM.com, speedtv.com, or turn on SPEED at 10AM ET.
Otherwise, see everyone at Laguna Seca! The race will be this Sunday, September 9, with live coverage at 3PM ET on SPEED.