Magnus Racing Takes Dramatic Third at Sebring
Monday, March 21, 2016 at 05:19PM 
SEBRING, Florida (March 21, 2016)- Following their victory at the season-opening round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Magnus Racing continued a strong 2016 with a third-place finish during Saturday’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. With their successive podiums, the team has also retained their lead in both the WeatherTech Championship’s point standings, as well as Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Championship.
“This year will definitely be one of the more memorable events,” stated Magnus Racing team owner and co-driver John Potter. “We say this after every event, but today’s podium was an absolute team effort, it’s incredible how many ups and downs we had. I feel bad for causing a penalty early in the race, but fortunately a caution came right after to nullify it all. Another trophy from Sebring is as great of a result as we could have asked for, and a great statement on our championship ambitions.”
Taking starting duties for the 64th running of the event, John Potter would take the green flag in the No. 44 Audi Tire Center Audi R8 LMS with consistency at the forefront of his approach, knowing a clean car would be critical for a strong race. Doing just that, the Salt Lake City resident would manage strong times, effectively running his own race with zero mistakes.
With the car running low on fuel, Potter began to duck in to the pits for his first stop, however as he did an on-track incident would bring out a yellow flag, with the series placing the pits under a “closed” condition. This would mean the team would be penalized if Potter proceeded with a pit stop, forcing John to react and pull out of pit entry and rejoin the field.
Unfortunately, the car was so low on fuel that the team was at a major risk of running out of fuel, meaning they would come in one lap later, under a closed pit, for an “emergency” stop for a splash of fuel. This would both force them to the back of the field and also require the team to make their “full” pit stop a lap after everyone else. This would result in the team’s first full-stop occurring as the field went green, meaning John would resume for his second stint well behind the field in front of him. It was an unfortunate series of circumstances caused in no part by team or driver.
Knowing patience would be critical, John simply managed his time for his second stint, once again driving without error and most importantly, never going a lap down. When a timely yellow would come out, it was once again time for pit stops, with the Magnus team performing flawless as usual. Unfortunately, fate would intervene one more time as Potter exited the pits.
If the field is coming back through the main straightaway, the series will often “close” pit exit, meaning a red light is displayed just as the pits end, forcing all competitors in pit-lane to stop until the light goes green. Unfortunately, in the chaos of a yellow-flag pit stop, Potter neglected to see the red light and the No. 44 blew right past, meaning they’d be penalized for a “stop and hold” once the field went green. In a nine-year career between GRAND-AM and IMSA competition, this would actually be the first-ever penalty for Potter. Serving their penalty, Potter was now one lap down, but with under 10 hours to go, plenty of time to gain ground.
That’s when the rain came.
While the “12 Hour” is notorious for its spring break atmosphere, the off-and-on possibility for rain had been a major talking point before the race began, and it finally began to deliver mid-way through the third hour. Starting with a casual drizzle, the majority of the field elected to stay out on slick tires, but as the rain picked up, it was clear the team had to bring the Audi in for rain tires, something which Potter has earned a reputation for being pretty skilled on. Resuming the field, John did an excellent job of mastering the wet conditions, with a late yellow negating his earlier penalty and putting the car back where it would have been had there been no penalty at all. A few minutes later, the entire race was stopped due to lightning in the area.
From there, the race would be stopped for two hours and 15 minutes, with Potter’s minimum drive time having elapsed due to his triple-stint. This would mean that once the race did resume, the car could be handed over to drivers Andy Lally and Marco Seefried, which is exactly what happened.
With the race resuming at 4:08PM, it was now up to Lally in extremely wet conditions to make up as much ground as he could, and he delivered perfectly. Fighting his way through the field in tricky conditions, the Long Island native would eventually unlap his car on pace alone, showing the strength of both driver and car as his stint proceeded.
With the car back on the lead lap, it was now time to hand hand the car over to Marco Seefried as the team saved Andy for the end. Continuing the team’s rise, Seefried drove through the drying conditions to slowly work his way up through the field. Eventually finding his way in to the top-10, the German continued his ascension, eventually being put in for a second and then a third stint. As the race continued, it was clear the team had a place in the top-five, and Seefried would even lead as pit stops cycled through.
With just under two hours to go, it was now time to hand the car back over to Andy Lally, with a possibility of victory in site. Unfortunately, a costly error during the handover pit-stop would put the team several seconds down, with Lally still in the front pack, however well behind in his pursuit of victory. Caught in an amazing multi-car fight, Andy did an impressive job of mixing it up with the field in front of him, eventually making his way in to the top-three before the team’s final stop.
With a flawless final stop, the team would find itself in the top-five once stops cycled through, with a mix of quick pit stops and off-sequence strategies setting the stage for an exciting finish.
With two series of caution periods in the final hour, it became clear that everyone in front of the No. 44 would have enough fuel to make it to the finish, with the job on Lally to make his way to the front.
Making a strong pass to fourth, a nail-biting last 15 minutes would prove incredible, with the No. 96 BMW, No. 23 Porsche, and Magnus No. 44 in a fight for second, third and fourth. With the Audi proving strong under braking and mid-corner pace, Lally found it difficult to catch his competitors on outright straight-line speed, working hard to get himself in to a podium position, but simply unable to make it work as the laps counted down.
As the white flag waved, Lally would pick his moment with the No. 23 Porsche, making a daring maneuver in the final corner, Turn 17, to dive inside and out accelerate him to barely take third at the finish line.
“I knew it would be tough to make a move where he couldn’t get me back at the next corner,” stated Lally. “The only way it was going to work was in the last turn, and thankfully it did. I couldn’t be happier for everyone at Magnus. Two podiums in two races is an excellent way to start the year, I’m thrilled for where we’re at right now. John did a great job in trying conditions to keep us in contention, and Marco was absolutely amazing. I’m really happy with the week, and with the sprint-race season beginning I’m looking forward to seeing how things develop.”
For Marco Seefried, a similar exuberance is shared.
“The team was fantastic as usual, it’s great to have another trophy from Sebring,” stated Seefried. “It was such a crazy first few hours that I don’t think any of us knew where the race was headed, but the crew did a great job with the pit stops and strategy to keep us in contention, and Andy and John did their parts to get us there. I’m looking forward to the next event, it is a great honor to drive with this team.”
With the second of four endurance races now behind, the team will turn their attention to the first “sprint” race of the year, the Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix powered by Mazda, taking place at the famed Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Practice begins onFriday, April 29, with the race taking place on Sunday, May 1.
