ELKHART LAKE, Wisconsin (August 11, 2013)- Taking their eighth top-five finish in nine races, Magnus Racing extended their Rolex Sports Car Series GT championship lead following yesterday’s VisitFlorida.com Sports Car 250 at Road America.
“The championship is priority one for us right now, so in that sense we walked away with a successful race,” stated team owner and driver John Potter. “We came very close to winning so it’s a little bittersweet, but ultimately I don’t think anyone on the team can be disappointed with the strength we showed today. I’m glad we were able to deliver for all of our guests this weekend.”
Beyond the race itself, Potter and the entire Magnus Racing team once again played host to over a dozen VIP’s from The Private Client Reserve of U.S. Bank. Immersing guests in to the entire experience, the team was able to bring everyone right in to the action during the race, including witnessing pit stops up close, detailed tours of the track, the car, and much more.
Starting from fifth, Potter knew that the nature of the Road America circuit might be one of the last favorable circuits for the No. 44 Flex-Box / Private Client Reserve of U.S. Bank Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Holding station during his stint after one of his best qualifying performances of the year, Potter held a strong pace throughout, maintaining sight on the leaders before handing the car over to co-driver Andy Lally by the 45-minute mark.
Following another quick and flawless stop by the Magnus crew, it was now up to Lally to make the most of the race. Quickly on pace, the No. 44 began a strong charge through the field, gaining on each position ahead and eventually mounting a strong charge on Patrick Long’s No. 73 Porsche in a battle for fourth.
With the team looking strong for another podium, the car would once again enter the pits for full service just past the 90-minute mark, with the entire field now having one more stop to go until the end.
With Lally comfortably in the top five, the entire dynamic of the race would shift with just over one hour to go. As the race was brought under caution for the first time, the entire GT field was just outside the window to be able to make the remaining distance on fuel if they stopped during the caution. With engineer Lars Giersing making the decision to stay out, since the team would likely have to come to the pits again anyway, the team would actually advance to second as much of the GT field elected to stop.
As the green flag fell with just under one hour to go, the race was on between the leading No. 63 Ferrari of Allesandro Balzan and Lally, with the Magnus Racing Porsche making its first threat for the lead all day.
Just three laps later, Lally would successfully make the pass and had control of the GT lead as the team began to consider the final round of pit stops.
Unfortunately, with 42 minutes to go, a caution produced by a prototype incident would bunch the entire field back together. With extensive cleanup required on the track due to debris and oil, the team would make their final stop for tires and fuel, however, the length of the yellow would also mean the cars who had stopped with one hour to go would be able to make it to the end.
As a result, Magnus was one of only a few GT cars to come to the pit, dropping the No. 44 back to seventh by the time the race resumed.
While the car was simply too far back in the field to threaten for the lead, great driving by Lally would send him ahead of Balzan’s No. 63 Ferrari to take sixth, while a late stop for the No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro would put the team in fifth for the finish.
Critically, the No. 57 and No. 63 cars are the two primary threats in the championship, meaning Magnus Racing’s ability to get ahead of both cars has extended their point lead to seven over Stevenson Motorsports and 11 over Scuderia Corsa.
“This is only the second time in 2013 that we’ve finished behind another Porsche,” stated Andy Lally. “That’s a testament to just how strong we’ve been. It was nice to lead for a while, and it showed what we were capable of, the strategy just didn’t go our way today. It’s hard to say what to expect in Kansas, so I’m happy we were able to walk away with the lead.”
With just three races to go, the entire Rolex Series only has a matter of days to prepare for the next round at Kansas Speedway taking place next Saturday, August 17, at 8PM ET. As the first ever visit to the circuit, the race promises to be an exciting one, running as only the second “roval” (infield road course built on an oval track) in 2013.
Live coverage will be Saturday, August 17, at 8PM ET on Fox Sports 2 (might currently be listed as “Fuel TV” by your cable provider), with repeat coverage on Sunday, August 18, at 4PM ET on Fox Sports 1 (listed as “SPEED”).