Two Years After Fire, Magnus Brings Asch

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (June 24, 2014)- While Magnus Racing has many fond memories of the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen, including taking a podium last year, the team made national headlines in 2012 when the car went ablaze just 20 minutes in. With this in mind, it is only fitting that the team will bring in German standout Sebastian Asch to join the lineup this weekend.
 
“When we were sifting through our options, we came across Asch,” stated team owner and driver John Potter. “Through his name alone we’ve found someone who can not only draw a parallel to our race here in 2012, but a couple of crew guys for other reasons. All jokes aside, it’s great to have Sebastian join us for this weekend. He comes from a great background and should be a nice compliment to our lineup this weekend.”
 
A long-time signature event of the former GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car series, this weekend’s “six hour” will mark the fifth round of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship’s GTD category and third round of the Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup. As the first race with all four of the series categories racing together since Sebring in March, the 55-car field should prove exciting.
 
As a six-hour race, the team will join forces with Asch in the efforts to help bolster their run for the series championship where they currently sit third in both the driver and team categories. A noted racer in Europe, Sebastian will be heading to scenic upstate New York having just competed in the 24 Hours of Nurburgring where his team suffered an early retirement. Most notably, the German is the 2012 ADAC GT Masters Champion.
 
“It will be great to join Magnus Racing this weekend,” stated Asch. “The team has been very impressive in their history winning at both Daytona and most recently Sebring, and I look forward to being able to join and contribute to the program. I have never been to Watkins Glen before, but it is very impressive in the videos I’ve seen and looks very fun and very fast.”
 
For driver Andy Lally, heading to the circuit having just taken an impressive seventh in the most recent NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Road America, surviving the chaos of all four categories will be key.
 
“The last time everyone raced together was in Sebring, and avoiding the chaos was a big part of the challenge,” stated the Georgia resident. “Sunday’s race should be very exciting as you’ll have to pick your spots very carefully in traffic. It’s such a fast track, everyone will have to be heads up for the whole race and I’m looking forward to it. The guys have put together a great car and we’ve learned a lot since our last race.”
 
The Sahlen’s Six Hours at the Glen will take place this Sunday, June 29, with live coverage beginning at 11AM EDT on FOX Sports 1.

Magnus Racing Visits Detroit

DETROIT (June 3, 2013)- While much of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship has focused on recapping their event during Saturday's Chevrolet Sports Car Classic in Detroit's scenic Belle Isle Park, the team at Magnus Racing was out to lunch this weekend, electing instead to share their photos from the experience.

Being in "motor city," team owner and co-driver John Potter decided to take a look for some possible new vehicles to race...

Meanwhile crew chief John Bedell got to meet one of his favorite groups... Insane Clown Posse!!!

...the guys got to visit the impressive GM Rennaisance Center!

Andy Lally went to visit one of his NY heroes, and met former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick!!

Meanwhile Lars decided to take the bus down 8 Mile Road, and you'll never guess who he ran in to!!

So all of this begs the question, who REALLY won in Detroit?

Magnus Racing Takes Original Move of Naming “Detroit” in Press Release

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (May 29, 2014)- With this weekend’s Chevrolet Sports Car Classic taking place in Detroit’s scenic Belle Isle Park, Magnus Racing has decided to take the unusual approach of referring to the city by its actual name.
 
“We pride ourselves on taking a unique and original approach to our content,” stated Magnus Racing team owner John Potter. “When debating whether we should say ‘Motown,’ ‘Detroit Rock City,’ or simply ‘Motor City,’ we realized the most original thing we could do is refer to the city by its actual name, Detroit.”
 
Following the team’s second podium in succession at the most recent round at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, the team heads to the fourth round of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship’s GTD category in a hard-fought battle for the series point lead. Tied for first with the No. 555 Ferrari, and with three other teams just a handful of points behind, the need to survive the tricky streets of Belle Isle will be at a premium as the team enters the busy summer season.
 
As a temporary street circuit, the 2.35-mile, 14-turn circuit is known for providing a lot of action with the bumpy surface and surround guard rails placing a premium on attrition and avoiding incidents. In 2013, Magnus made use of remarkable pit stops to finish as the top Porsche in fourth place which ended up being critical in the team’s championship quest.
 
While it’s unknown how the all-new Porsche 911 GT America will fair on a street course, co-driver Andy Lally is excited to get back to the action.
 
“Detroit is always an exciting race to be a part of,” stated Lally. “It’s a track you really have to drive aggressively and it’s incredibly tough to pass. This makes strategy and pit work critical, and luckily we have the best team in the business for that, so we’re excited to get to it and fight for the championship.”
 
Practice for the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic will begin this Friday, May 30, with the race taking place one day later. Television coverage can be found on Fox Sports 1 on Saturday, May 31, at 1:30 PM ET.

Complete Team Effort Keeps Magnus Podium Streak Through Monterey

MONTEREY, Calif. (May 6, 2014)- Continuing the team’s streak of podiums in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, a remarkable effort by everyone on the team would see their car take third on the closing laps of this weekend’s Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix Powered by Mazda.

“We weren’t sure what to expect this weekend so everyone’s very happy with the result,” stated Magnus Racing team owner and co-driver John Potter. “Like all of our races, this was a total team effort and everyone was flawless. Perfect pit stops, excellent strategy, and Andy and I doing our part all made for a good weekend. We had several guests on hand this weekend and I’m glad we were able to give them a good show.”

Starting the No. 44 Flex-Box / Credit Suisse Porsche 911 GT America in ninth, Potter made his usual clean start with an eye on delivering a good car to his teammate. With the series having not raced in six weeks and the tricky course at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca being known for its strong mid-pack battles, the Salt Lake City resident did his best to stay out of trouble. Delivering solid and consistent lap times, an opportune caution toward the 45-minute mark would allow Potter to hand his car over to teammate Andy Lally who would drive the remainder of the two-hour race.

With the team gaining several positions on the stop, Lally found himself in a great position when the race resumed and the Georgia resident made a strong series of moves to climb his way through the field.

As the race carried on, the inevitable question of fuel strategy came to everyone’s mind across pit lane. While making one additional pit stop would guarantee a comfortable pace to the finish, team strategists began to calculate the possibility of finishing the race without any additional visits to pit lane allowing the car to gain significant track position.

Opting to continue a strong pace, the team made the critical decision with less than 30 minutes to go that they should pit for tires and fuel, which the team performed flawlessly and Lally was once again on his way.

Knowing he had plenty of fuel and a fresh set of tires, it was now up to Andy to push as hard as he could to make up ground on the cars ahead of him. With the team adopting the sprint strategy, Lally’s only hope of a good result rested on passing the slower cars in front of him as quickly as he could, as well as routinely taking advantage of his fresh tires to set some of the fastest laps of the race.

Luckily the experience of Lally proved fruitful, and as the car moved up field the team’s strategy would come to light as the cars in front of him began to pit for fuel one-by-one.

By the time the white flag flew, Lally was up to fourth and seemingly settled into the position. However, as the category-leading No. 45 Flying Lizard Audi of Spencer Pumpelly began to drive up the hill for the final time, his car began to slow as his machine ran out of fuel. The driver would do his best to coast down the hill en route to the finish line, but it was not enough and he’d not only lose the lead but Lally would also be able to eclipse him at the end for the final podium spot. Magnus would earn their second podium of the season as well as put themselves in a prime points position.

“I can’t say enough how awesome this team is,” stated Lally. “Since I joined the team in 2012 we’ve been on the podium at Laguna Seca every time and I was quietly hoping we’d do the same today. Everyone did their job perfectly and it was this team effort that put us here today. Now that we’re in the sprint part of the season, all of us are thinking about championship points and this was huge.”

With the season entering full swing, the team will now have three weeks until the next event, the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix taking place on the streets of Belle Isle in Detroit on May 30-31.

Magnus Racing, Credit Suisse to Partner in Monterey

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (May 2, 2014)- Furthering the team’s reputation for providing intimate, all-encompassing experiences for team guests, Magnus Racing will partner with Credit Suisse during this weekend’s Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix. Coming to the race as not only the most recent GTD category winners in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, but also the defending winners of last year’s event in the Rolex Series, the team looks forward to hosting a number of notable guests and clients.

“We’re very excited to have everyone at Credit Suisse join us for this weekend,” stated team owner and driver John Potter. “With an event so close to Monterey and Carmel, it’s always a favorite and I’m sure everyone will enjoy coming out. I like to think we’ve built a reputation for creating truly unique and once-in-a-lifetime experiences for our partners as we’ve demonstrated over the years for a variety of guests. As the first sprint race of the season for our class, it should be a really exciting one to watch.”

With the GTD class having not been on track since the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in March, the team has done anything but relax using the six-week break to test and further evaluate the No. 44 Porsche 911 GT America. As an all-new car, both team and manufacturer have been hard at work to develop both the speed and reliability of the machine.

While the team may have won at Sebring, the challenge of outright speed heading into the “sprint season” of the championship will be an interesting one. With strong competition from, not only, fellow Porsche competitors but also Audi, Ferrari, BMW, SRT and Aston Martin, the 2.2-mile circuit at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca will provide an excellent insight into the outright pace of each car.

For Andy Lally, running in the first sprint race of the season will require a strong focus throughout the short weekend.

“The weekend is going to be flat out,” stated Lally. “We don’t begin practice until Saturday afternoon, and after two short sessions we’ll be qualifying. No one is going to have a lot of time to sit and think about what they need to do so coming in having done your homework is going to be crucial. The Magnus guys have been pushing really hard to get us ready and we’ll be as prepared as ever.”

Practice and qualifying for the event begins this Saturday, May 3 with the race taking place the following morning, Sunday, May 4. Due to pit space, the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship will take the interesting step of dividing the four-class series in two, running the Prototype Challenge (PC) and GTD categories in their own race on Sunday at 1PM ET followed by a second race featuring the Prototype and GTLM categories at 5:30PM ET. Live coverage of both events can be found on Fox Sports 1.