Magnus Racing Takes First Victory in Pirelli World Challenge at Lime Rock

LAKEVILLE, CONNECTICUT (May 31, 2017) – Following an hour of hard driving and clever strategy at the historic Lime Rock Park, the Magnus Racing No. 4 Audi Tire Center Audi R8 LMS of Spencer Pumpelly and Dane Cameron would take their debut victory during Saturday’s sixth round of the Pirelli World Challenge SprintX Championship. Following a car-best second place in Friday’s Race One, a combination of pit strategy and strong “in-laps” by Cameron would hand the team the lead by Saturday’s halfway point, with Pumpelly closing the race by building the gap further. Similarly, a strong run by the No. 44 Audi Tire Center Audi R8 LMS of John Potter and Andrew Davis would net a fourth-place finish in addition to Saturday’s sixth-place finish.

“We couldn’t be happier with the results for the No. 4 team,” stated Magnus Racing team owner and co-driver John Potter. “Our first win in the Pirelli World Challenge is something we’ve been chasing after all year, so to finally achieve it at a place like Lime Rock is very satisfying. Spencer and Dane proved strong all week, and it’s something everyone on the team has been striving for. For our No. 44 effort, we’re of course always after a podium, but we walked away with a clean car and continued to learn a lot. It was great having Andrew as a teammate and we all wish him the best moving forward.”

With primary teammate Pierre Kaffer unavailable due to a schedule conflict, full-season SprintX driver Spencer Pumpelly would welcome a new teammate to the No. 4 program, reigning IMSA Prototype champion Dane Cameron. While a Magnus debutante, Cameron would enter the festivities as no stranger to GT racing, including winning the IMSA GTD crown in 2014.

During Friday’s Race One, Pumpelly would put in a strong qualifying run to grid the Audi in third for the start, wasting no time in the opening laps to seize the opportunities in traffic by elevating himself to second, hounding the lead Porsche for much of his opening stint. During the series-mandated driver change, Cameron would jump in to close the race, setting strong lap times but unable to mount a significant challenge for the lead as tires faded. Still the best result in the history of the No. 4, the team would cross the line in second.

With Saturday’s Race Two having a grid set by Race One’s fastest laps, a strong lap by Pumpelly would see the No. 4 start the day on the front row, just barely off the pole-sitting Porsche of Marc Lieb. With the driver order inverted, Cameron would take on starting duties for the team, when calamity would ensue next to him as a hard charging Ferrari would send the pole-sitter spinning in to the guardrail, with Cameron lucky to avoid the mess but allowing the No. 8 Cadillac of Jordan Taylor to slip through in the process.

Doing his best to chase down Taylor, Cameron would match the Cadillac turn-for-turn, repeatedly demonstrating the strength of both driver and car, but finding the tricky nature of Lime Rock Park nearly impossible to pass on. Opting to preserve his tires, Cameron would give chase for much of the run, but it wasn’t until pit-stops would emerge that the team would mount their real challenge.

Allowing the Cadillac to pit one lap earlier, Cameron would use the clear track in front of him to push as hard as possible before he came in to the pits, meanwhile the Cadillac would re-join the field stuck in traffic, all playing in to the hands of Magnus Racing’s strategy to gain track position. With Pumpelly in the car and minimum pit-stop time fulfilled, the Georgia resident would re-join ahead of the Cadillac with less than 30 minutes remaining.

While traffic would prove difficult to keep his challenger behind him, Spencer once again proved his place among the best in the sport by managing the pace, ultimately gaining a small gap over the course of the final minutes to take victory.

This would serve as not only the first Pirelli World Challenge victory for the team, but also the first overall win in team history. 

 “I’m really happy we could deliver for all of the guys today,” stated Pumpelly. “This series is incredibly competitive, and you have to capitalize on every opportunity you can, everyone executed perfectly today. Dane had an awesome opening stint and the team played the strategy perfectly to gain the track position we needed; by time the car was given to me I knew I simply had to manage the traffic and make sure I didn’t open the door for the No. 8. I appreciate Michael Cooper racing so clean today, and similarly it’s a shame that Pat Long and I weren’t able to resume our fight from yesterday. Regardless, this one was for the whole team.”

For Dane Cameron, who currently has a 100% podium record with the team, a great experience was shared.

“I’m really happy I could be part of this experience,” stated Cameron. “Magnus Racing is a long-proven team, and this week just furthered that. It was a crazy opening lap and I’m glad the incident wasn’t more serious, it’s too bad that such a strong competitor was taken out that way. Regardless, it was great being able to fight with Jordan Taylor just like we do in prototypes. I knew it was critical to hand over a clean car to Spencer so I didn’t want to take any big risks, and when the opportunity to capitalize on a clean track came I knew we had to take advantage. Spencer proved why he’s one of the best guys out there, and similarly I was very impressed with the whole Magnus team, I’m very grateful for the opportunity.”

For the No. 44 Audi Tire Center Audi R8 LMS, a quiet but competitive event was in store for Potter and new teammate Andrew Davis. With primary teammate Marco Seefried also out with a schedule conflict, the experience of long-time GT veteran Davis became the ideal replacement.

During Friday’s Race One, Potter would put together solid series of opening laps, including the fastest race lap for the No. 44, as he made work of the field in front of him. With tire wear being a serious consideration at Lime Rock, the focus would eventually turn to tire management, with John never putting a foot wrong by time his stint would come to a close. Davis would take over just before the halfway point, setting consistent laps but settled in to sixth, where the car would finish. 

For Saturday’s Race Two, Davis would take on starting duties, once again settling in to a strong rhythm in pursuit of a top-five, with the team pitting him at the final 30 minutes. From there it was back to Potter, who immediately began to gain ground on the field in front of him. While the gap to the third-place No. 54  machine would continue to shrink as the laps wore on, John simply ran out of time to be able to mount a real challenge, ultimately settling for the fourth position at the checkered flag.

For Andrew Davis, back with the team for the first time since 2010, an appreciation for the experience was evident.

“I really appreciate the opportunity to come back,” stated Davis. “While Magnus has a fun reputation, they truly are a very professional and well-run team, I’m glad I was able to witness such a great day for them first-hand. John is a great teammate and ran some really great lap times, and while of course we both wanted a podium, we were able to do the most with what we had and should be satisfied with the run. I look forward to following the team’s success and wish them the best moving forward.”

With Lime Rock serving as the fifth and sixth SprintX rounds, all series attention now returns to the traditional “sprint” format of the series, with solo-driver efforts taking over at the next round in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Once again joining the Verizon IndyCar Series, Magnus Racing and the whole of the Pirelli World Challenge will be at the scenic Road America circuit from June 23-25, with Potter driving the No. 44 and Pierre Kaffer returning to the No. 4. 

Pair of Top-Fives Highlight Rain-Shortened Event for Magnus Racing in Canada

BOWMANVILLE, Ontario, Canada (May 22, 2017)- Following a hard-fought first race for the team at the famed Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on Saturday, Magnus Racing and the entire Pirelli World Challenge SprintX championship would see their full weekend of action cut short during yesterday’s second round. With an endless deluge or rain pouring down nearly 26cm of rain during the afternoon, series officials deemed the conditions unfit for good and safe racing.

“I have no idea how much 26cm of rain is,” stated John Potter. “But it looked like a lot from where we were standing, so the series really had no choice but to stop the race from happening. It was the right move, even if the damage bill would have been better given the Canadian exchange rate, I’d still rather have no bill at all. Overall, it was a unique week for us. I think everyone on the team got the maximum out of everything, unfortunately the configuration and layout of this track isn’t one that really suited our car, so we’ll take the points and move on to the next one, eh? There’s not a lot of time between now and Lime Rock so everyone is hard at work getting us back and ready.”

Competing at the 10-turn, 3.96 km circuit nestled just 76 km from Toronto, the team came in to the event after proving competitive at the previous two rounds in Virginia, but with a series of incidents thwarting their efforts. With the track formerly known as “Mosport” featuring a long uphill run that tends to favor large-displacement vehicles, the team knew their challenge would be finding ultimate pace, and would instead have to contend via clever race craft and strategy.

During Saturday’s Race One, the No. 44 Audi Tire Center Audi R8 LMS would take top finishing honors for the team, with a fourth-place in class. Serving a penalty due to an incident from the previous race, the duo of John Potter and Marco Seefried would start from the back of the class, with Potter driving the opening stint. Behind the wheel for the opening 25 minutes with immediate pace, the Utah resident held competitive times throughout his running, matching the class leaders during every lap but struggling to be able to pass due to the configuration of the circuit.

Making a clean stop and handing the car over to teammate Marco Seefried once the pit window opened, the German would continue the strong run, with an opportune yellow flag causing the field to shuffle, and placing Seefriend in a position to contend. As the race went in to the closing minutes, Marco would push the field hard in front of him, patiently making his way up before eventually settling in to fourth in class, where they would finish.

For the No. 4 Audi Tire Center Audi R8 LMS of Pierre Kaffer and Spencer Pumpelly, a similar steady run would ensue. Starting in 10^th overall, Kaffer would once again assume the opening stint, doing his best to move up the field given the challenges of passing at the circuit. Setting times on par with the field in front of him, the German would have an incident-free run, handing the reigns over to teammate Pumpelly with 35 minutes remaining to close the race.

From there, Spencer would begin an impressive charge through the field, hounding the assortment of cars from various manufacturers in front of him, including some daring passes in to Turn One that would eventually move him in to fifth. From that point, the race would settle in for the final laps, the Atlanta resident having impressively moved the car in to the top five.

Although Sunday’s Race Two would be cancelled due to rain, the race will be resumed during a to-be-announced race weekend. With the grid set from Saturday’s fastest race laps, the No. 4 will begin in eighth, with the No. 44 beginning one spot behind in ninth overall, but third in class.

For Spencer Pumpelly, another great run demonstrated a strong resolve to move up the field.

“I think we can all be very happy with getting the most out of Saturday,” stated Pumpelly. “This is a tough track on which to pass, and our car isn’t particularly suited for long uphill straights so overall I think we did what we could. Had the weather cooperated I believe Sunday’s race could have been a really strong one for us, especially if it was wet. Unfortunately it was just too much and the series made the right call.”

For Pierre Kaffer, the potential of the team continues to show.

“This was a tough track for our car, so I think we showed well,” stated Kaffer. “Passing is incredibly tough, so it’s always a struggle if you can’t be right at the front, but we made the best of it. Sunday’s race could have been even better for us and it’s a shame it didn’t happen, but obviously safety was the priority and I think we all agree with that. I wish the team the best of luck at Lime Rock and look forward to coming back stronger.”

For Marco Seefried, setting quick times continued to prove the German’s ability.

“Obviously it’s always tough when you’re just outside of the podium, but the team should be proud,” stated Seefried. “The guys did a great job putting the car together, and I believe we were as fast as we could be, so in that sense it was a strong effort. Like everyone else has said, I agree with the decision to cancel Sunday’s race, and I look forward to coming back and going for even better results.”

With little time to prepare for the next race, the team will actually be back on track in just a few days’ time, with the fifth and sixth rounds of the Pirelli World Challenge SprintX series competing at Lime Rock Park this coming Friday and Saturday. While Pierre Kaffer and Marco Seefried will be unavailable due to a schedule conflict, the team will be making an announcement shortly on their replacements.

Magnus Racing Looks Forward to the Politeness of Canada

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (May 16, 2017)- Following several races of contact and aggressive driving inherent in the sprint format, Magnus Racing heads to the famed Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in the hopes that the culture of its fans might transfer to the drivers.

“The fans at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park are the only ones we’ve ever seen line-up for a grid walk,” stated Magnus Racing team owner and co-driver John Potter. “When I say line-up, I literally mean forming a single-person queue in order to walk on to the grid. They’re the most polite people on Earth. Following a few races of hard contact between both cars, we’re hoping that same attitude reflects on our two SprintX races. Regardless, we’re excited about this weekend and look forward to another round of Pirelli World Challenge competition. After VIR we definitely learned a lot, and headed in to Canada I’m confident we can capitalize on everything we’ve seen.”

With this weekend of Pirelli World Challenge competition serving as the third and fourth rounds of the SprintX championship, the team will once again feature four drivers sharing two cars.

In the No. 4 Audi Tire Center Audi R8 LMS, Pierre Kaffer will once again be joined by Spencer Pumpelly to conquer the all-pro category. After setting several of the fastest laps in practice, a challenging weekend at VIR would prevail for the duo after contact would send the car out of contention during the opening round, followed by a fifth-place in Round Two. Looking for redemption, the fast nature of the of 10-turn, 2.5-mile circuit should provide an interesting challenging for the Audi. 

“After the weekend at VIR, we definitely want to show our true performance,” stated Kaffer. “The team has done a great job all year, and we’ve had great cars but the final results haven’t shown our true potential. CTMP is a track that really requires you to find the maximum from everything, and we’re hoping that this could finally bring us the results we’ve been searching for. I look forward to being back with the team.”

For teammate Spencer Pumpelly, a similar feeling is shared.

“Even if the final results didn’t show it, there were a lot of positives at VIR,” stated Pumpelly. “Canadian Tire Motorsport Park is a track that really requires the most out of the car and driver to perform well, and I believe it will play to the strengths of the team. Having run a full SprintX weekend, the team has a much better understanding of what to expect and I think that will show in Canada.”

For the No. 44 Audi Tire Center Audi R8 LMS, Marco Seefried will also return to the team to co-drive will full-season entrant John Potter. While the duo have teamed together on multiple occasions since 2014, their first SprintX weekend together at VIRginia did not go as well as everyone had hoped. Mechanical gremlins would prevent them from a good result in Race One, while contact would take them out of contention in Race Two. While this will be the first race for Seefried at the famed Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, the German’s experience in testing should still prove fruitful.

“It’s a really exciting track to visit,” stated Seefried. “The circuit is very fast and doesn’t afford a lot of mistakes, and hopefully that should play to our advantage with a patient drive. Luckily John has raced here before and I believe that will help, and given the way the racing went at VIR, I believe a patient run will create good results for us. We’re all looking forward to it.”

Official practice will begin this Friday, May 19, with a double-header of races occurring on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday’s SprintX Race One will occur at 1:45PM ET with Race Two at 3:40PM ET on Sunday. Live streaming will be available at world-challenge.com/streamvideo

Top-Five Finish Highlights Challenging Weekend at VIR for Magnus Racing

ALTON, Virginia (May 2, 2017)- Following a hard fought double-header series of races, Magnus Racing endured a number of challenges to ultimately walk away with a top-five finish during the first “SprintX” weekend of the Pirelli World Challenge. While mechanical missteps and on-track incidents would thwart much of the weekend, Pierre Kaffer and Spencer Pumpelly would take home a fifth-place during Sunday’s second round, while John Potter and Marco Seefried would take a best finish of seventh in class.

“There were a lot of positives on the weekend,” stated team owner and co-driver John Potter. “Once again we showed a lot of promise in practice, repeatedly posting times at the top, and during the race we were podium threats for both cars, misfortune just got the better of us. I’m happy Pierre and Spencer were able to get a top-five out of today’s race, it’s actually Pierre’s best finish of the season, and gives us a good foundation to move on to the next round in Canada. Marco and I didn’t exactly have the ideal weekend, but again we made a lot of progress and I think moving forward we’ll be able to really capitalize.”

While acting as the third weekend of Pirelli World Challenge competition, this weekend’s events marked the first two rounds of the series’ “SprintX” competition. While traditional “sprint” weekends highlight one driver for 50-minute races, the SprintX championship increases the time to 60 minutes, but with two drivers covering the distance.

Driving the No. 4 Audi Tire Center Audi R8 LMS, Pierre Kaffer would be joined by Spencer Pumpelly. While this would serve as Pumpelly’s first race for the team, his familiarity within the organization is long-standing having held relationships with many team members for over a decade.

During Saturday’s Race One, Kaffer would start in fourth position and was instantly on pace when the green flag fell. Setting laps on par with the leaders and maintaining his car, the German held position throughout much of his opening stint, but as the race continued an opportunity to move up the field became apparent. Fighting for third, Kaffer would seize an opportunity heading in to the tricky “esses,” moving inside of the No. 31 Ferrari in to the left-hander. While both cars were side by side, the Ferrari would turn for the same spot on the track, making contact with Kaffer and sending him spinning in to the grass. The Audi would return on track, although with suspension damage that would effectively knock them out of contention. The team would make quick repairs to get teammate Spencer Pumpelly on track for the end, but ultimately finishing 22nd. 

For Saturday’s Race Two, by series rule the driving order would be reversed, with Pumpelly taking on starting duties and then handing off to Kaffer. Serving as his first opportunity to truly go wheel-to-wheel with his competitors, Pumpelly was off to a strong start, once again holding fourth throughout his stint, setting a comfortable pace and pushing hard to challenge the third-place Cadillac. With the pit window open, the team would elect to bring Pumpelly in early, hoping to take advantage of potential cautions, with Kaffer taking the wheel for the second half of the race. Initially fighting for the podium, the car’s handling would fade over the closing laps, with Pierre doing his best to hold on, ultimately taking fifth. 

For the No. 44 Audi Tire Center Audi R8 LMS of John Potter and Marco Seefried, an unfortunate weekend of mishaps would sideline their effort.

During Saturday’s Race One, an issue with the car’s power would send Potter to the pits during the opening lap, with the team spending much of the race making repairs in order to get teammate Seefried out in time to set a qualifying lap for Sunday’s race.

During Sunday’s Race Two, Seefried would take starting duties, and during the first half of the race showed a lot of promise for the team to take another top-five result. Pushing hard with the cars in front of him, contact with the No. 77 Porsche would bring out a caution period that served well to bunch up the field. Unfortunately, Marco would end up making contact with the car in front of him while under yellow, causing damage to the front end of the car. John Potter would get in to take his Audi to the finish, however the damage to the front end would hurt all hopes of being able to run competitive times, eventually taking seventh.

For Pierre Kaffer, a challenging weekend would at least be highlighted by a strong finish.

“I’m happy we were at least able to take our best finish of the season,” stated Kaffer. “Saturday was a very frustrating day. We really had a shot, but the Ferrari turned in to me and unfortunately that just changed everything. The second race we were at least able to turn around without any incidents, and we definitely had a good car but we struggled to match the pace as the race wore on. We’ll be even stronger in Canada and I look forward to redemption.”

For Spencer Pumpelly, a debut weekend with the team was still enjoyable.

“Even if the results weren’t what we wanted, I really enjoyed the experience,” stated Pumpelly. “Magnus Racing is an excellent team, and I felt right at home. The car was really fast, and I think we proved that with what we were able to put up during practice. A little change of fortune and the races could have really had strong results, and I’m confident as we head in to Canada we’ll be even better.”

For Marco Seefried, a tough weekend is one he’ll move on from.

“It definitely was a frustrating weekend,” stated Seefried. “We had a good car, but unfortunately Saturday was over for us before it really started, and if I’m being honest I simply made a mistake during Sunday’s race. I can only accept fault for it and move on, and I’m grateful to John and the whole team for being so understanding.”

With three weeks until the next round of SprintX action, Magnus Racing and the Pirelli World Challenge will next head to the famed Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, formerly known as “Mosport.” The series will once again feature a double-header, with Race One taking place on Saturday, May 20, and Race Two on Sunday, May 21.

 

Two Cars, Four Drivers for Magnus Racing “SprintX” Debut This Weekend

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (April 25, 2017)- Continuing their new-for-2017 venture in the Pirelli World Challenge, Magnus Racing will enjoy yet another first this weekend, making their SprintX Championship debut as part of the full-season commitment. Unlike the first two rounds of “traditional” Pirelli World Challenge competition, in which each car is campaigned by one driver, this weekend’s Grand Prix of VIR at VIRginia International Raceway marks the first of the series SprintX rounds, which will feature two drivers per car. As previously announced, Pierre Kaffer will be joined in his Audi R8 LMS by Spencer Pumpelly, with John Potter joined by long-time teammate Marco Seefried. 

“The first SprintX round in some ways is a return to familiar territory for us,” stated Magnus Racing team owner and co-driver John Potter. “Obviously our heritage is with multiple drivers in endurance racing, where we’ve been fortunate to have had a lot of success. Heading in to VIR, we’ll be returning to a track we’ve had a lot more experience than our first two venues this season, and with a lineup that we’re all very excited about. Spencer will be a great teammate to Pierre, and at a track he’s had a lot of success at. Marco is of course someone I’ve driven with on several occasions, and fortunately we’ve had some of our greatest wins together.”

Introduced last year, The Pirelli World Challenge’s SprintX Championship is a unique take on the series’ traditional sprint format. Combining the excitement of sprint racing with the heritage of endurance racing, SprintX races will depart from traditional rounds because all races require two drivers to share duties throughout the race, yet all races only last 60 minutes. This means no driver will race for more than 40 minutes at a time, yet still forced to conquer the challenges of pit stops, driver changes, and the compromises inherent in shared driver duties.

Joining Pierre Kaffer in the No. 4 Audi Tire Center Audi R8 LMS, Spencer Pumpelly will make his team debut on a track he has had extensive experience at. A graduate of Virginia-based James Madison University, Spencer joins the team having never driven for Magnus Racing before, but with a high level of familiarity with multiple members of the team. Most notably, Pumpelly teamed with John Potter prior to the formation of Magnus Racing. 

“Racing at VIR is always something I look forward to,” stated Pumpelly. “The track is a really fun challenge, and should hopefully suit us well with the Audi R8 LMS. The first two weekends have shown the potential with the team for sure, and hopefully arriving at the first permanent road course, and one they’ve raced at several times before, should suit them well. The SprintX Championship has a really impressive roster of drivers this weekend, so Pierre and I will have to be heavily focused on getting everything out of the car that we can.”

Coming off of the team’s best result this season at Long Beach, John Potter and the No. 44 Audi Tire Center Audi R8 LMS will be joined by team veteran Marco Seefried. Having driven with the team in multiple endurance races since 2014, the combination of Potter and Seefried have amassed some of the team’s greatest highlights together, including wins at The Rolex 24 and Twelve Hours of Sebring, as well as four podiums.

For Marco Seefried, the opportunity to return to Magnus is an exciting one.

“It’s great to be back with my American family,” stated Seefried. “Magnus Racing is an exceptional team, and one I’m extremely grateful to have been with for so long. Some of the greatest moments in my career were with this team, and hopefully VIR will add to the memories. John had a great race at Long Beach, and combined with the team’s experience at VIR I’m really encouraged going in to the weekend.”

Official practice for the Grand Prix of VIR begins this Friday, April 21, with double-header race action taking place on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday’s Race One will take place at 3:20PM ET, with Sunday’s Race Two at 1:05PM ET. Live streaming can be found at www.world-challenge.com/streamvideo