Stanton wheels Magnus Racing Porsche to second on GT-C grid at Sebring

March 18, 2011 (Sebring, FL) – Driving at Sebring for the first time since 2008, Craig Stanton put his Magnus Racing / Flex-Box Porsche 911 GT3 Cup second on the GT-C grid for tomorrow’s Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring.

His lap narrowly missed the pole time set by Leh Keen by a scant 0.022 of a second. Keen, incidentally, raced for Magnus Racing in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge series throughout 2010. After a long week of testing, the Magnus Racing team was thrilled with their driver and with their front row starting position – especially as this was the team’s first trip to the notoriously difficult 3.7-mile Sebring road course.

Magnus Racing has one other start in the American Le Mans Series, at the 2010 Petit Le Mans, where Potter was joined by Andrew Davis and Ryan Eversley to finish third in GT-C.

John Potter, Magnus Racing Owner and Driver

“Qualifying only means so much in a twelve-hour race, but it is really great that Craig put in such a great lap and just missed the podium by a couple of tenths. And it also shows how good the car is. All three of us can run consistent laps and that is what is going to really matter tomorrow in the twelve hour.”

Craig Stanton, Magnus Racing / Flex-Box Porsche 911 GT3 Cup

“It’s great to give the guys a good qualifying position – but man I really wanted that pole! The whole team has worked really hard all week and it has been a long week, and everyone has been putting in a lot of work and very long hours to make the car so good. It’s great to be back at Sebring with such a great team. Tomorrow will be a great race and I think this team has a great chance to finish on the podium.”

Matthew Marsh, Magnus Racing / Flex-Box Porsche 911 GT3 Cup

“It was an extremely positive day for us to have the car qualify second for the 12 Hours of Sebring. I’ve been taking my time to adapt to the car and the circuit, since I haven’t been here before, and it is getting better and better each time I get in it. That Craig was able to jump in and just miss pole position shows the car is quite good and we can be at the front. “

The 59^th Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring will begin tomorrow at 10:30 AM ET and finish when the checkered flag falls at 10:30 PM ET. The race broadcast will begin at 9:45 AM ET on ESPN3.com, with a live audio broadcast available at www.radiolemans.com.



Magnus Racing is back in Florida and ready to make debut at Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring

March 14, 2010 (Salt Lake City, Utah) – The expansion of Magnus Racing’s racing program into the American Le Mans Series begins this weekend as the team will take part for the first time in the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring.

Fresh off their first podium in the Rolex Sports Car Series at the Grand Prix of Miami, John Potter and Craig Stanton will be joined by Hong Kong’s Matthew Marsh in the competitive GT-C class. Under the banner of their new sponsor Flex Box, a supplier of shipping and reefer containers worldwide, the Magnus Racing team showed great speed at the recent ALMS series test at Sebring and have already demonstrated their technical prowess with the 2011 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. This will be the team’s second ALMS race after finishing third at the Petit Le Mans last year in GT-C.

Marsh, joining the team for the first time, will be making his debut at the 12 Hours of Sebring. However, his resume includes runs at the 24 Hours of LeMans, 24 Hours of Daytona, the Nurburging 24 Hours and Bathurst 24 Hours, as well as plenty of time spent at the wheel of Porsche machinery, including victories in the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia.

Also making his debut on the famed runways of the 3.7-mile Sebring road course will be Potter, as this will be his first run at the 12 Hours of Sebring. After a strong run at the Rolex 24 at Daytona and his team’s first Rolex Series podium at Homestead he enters Sebring feeling extremely positive about the team’s first run at the 12 Hours of Sebring.

 “More than ever, I feel we have a team that will give us everything we need to do well,” said Potter. “The ALMS and Rolex cars are pretty different so we had a lot to learn about how to make the car go fast, but our guys got it figured out by the end of the test last month.”

Stanton, the team’s veteran of the event, has positive memories of the 12 Hours of Sebring, after finishing on the podium in the GT-2 class in 2004. Demonstrating his reputation as the fittest man in motorsports, Stanton was joined by only one other co-driver that year. This will be his first run at Sebring since a sixth-place finish in GT-2 in 2008.

“The days of being able to complete the entire 12 Hour with two drivers is long over!” said Stanton. “So lucky for me that I have John, who has been driving so well this year, and Matthew, who is an incredibly experienced endurance driver, to race with this year. With these guys and this team, I think we have a really good chance to challenge for the win in GT-C. It’s a tough class but I’m really excited to see how our guys are going to do this weekend.”

The Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring will be shown live on Saturday, March 19, on ESPN3.com and at americanlemans.com from 10:15 AM ET to 10:45 PM ET, while a live radio broadcast will be available at www.radiolemans.com Coverage of the race will also be shown on Sunday, March 20, on ABC from 12:30 PM ET to 2:00 PM ET. Fans of Magnus Racing can follow the team on Facebook (facebook.com/magnusracing) or on Twitter (@magnusracing).

Flex-Box is a leading worldwide supplier of new and used shipping, storage and reefer containers. An international company based in Hong Kong, Flex Box manufactures and ships containers to customers all over the world. Keeping a year round inventory of containers in China, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and North America, the Flex Box staff can help with container requirements whether a client needs one or one thousand containers in any location.For more information, visit www.flex-box.com

More information about Magnus Racing can be found at www.magnusracing.com. Any organization interested in learning more about how to be involved with one of the most unique and visible teams in sports car racing can e-mail info@magnusracing.com. All press inquiries can be directed to press@magnusracing.com.



John Potter and Craig Stanton earn Magnus Racing’s first Rolex Series Podium and capture points lead

March 6, 2011 (Homestead, FL) – Confirming its rise as one of the leading GT teams in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16, the no. 44 Magnus Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup captured its first podium in series competition at today’s Grand Prix of Miami when Craig Stanton took the checkered flag in third place.

The result propelled Potter and Stanton to first place in the GT standings after two races of the 2011 Rolex Series season, marking the first time the team has sat atop the series championship.

Team owner and driver, John Potter from Salt Lake City, Utah, enjoyed a stellar start to the race when he drove the Magnus Racing Porsche from his qualifying position of seventh up to fourth before the race had its first full course yellow. As pit stops played out, Potter briefly led before turning the car over to Stanton who fell down to eleventh as the team was caught by surprise with a yellow flag. Stanton, from Long Beach, California, was able to progress through the field over the next hour to get the Magnus Racing Porsche to third place.

Stanton’s run over the final hour wasn’t trouble free, as the Magnus Racing Porsche missed a wave-by during a late-race yellow, and then was blocked badly by the lapped no. 30 Mazda while battling for second position, which forced him to give up third position. After that, however, Stanton was unhindered as he ran to the checkered flag to secure his team’s first podium.

“I recently heard about this new thing called Tigerblood and I stocked up on it for this weekend for the whole team,” said Potter, who was recovering from food poisoning before the race. “It appears to have worked! The guys gave us a really great car that was easy on its tires and easy to drive. I was able to concentrate on putting in clean laps and was really glad to give Craig a car that was in the top-five. The whole team deserves great results like this and I’m looking forward to getting them another one.”

Surprisingly, Stanton’s third-place was the first time since the 2005 season – the year in which he won the Rolex Series GT championship – that he has been on a Rolex Series podium.

“What a great day for everyone at Magnus Racing,” said Stanton. “We’ve been assembling the pieces of a championship winning program and I think we can say that we are contenders now. The car was so fast all weekend, we just got held up a bit by a lapped Mazda and we were almost out of tires at the end and we were still able to bring it home third. This is really for the guys who have done an unbelievable job since day one.”

Potter and Stanton will now turn their attention to the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring, where they will compete in the American Le Mans Series’ GT-C class. They will defend their Rolex Series points lead at the series’ next event, April 7-9, at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama.

More information about Magnus Racing can be found at www.magnusracing.com. Any organization interested in learning more about how to be involved with one of the most unique and visible teams in the Grand-American Rolex Sports Car Series can e-mail info@magnusracing.com. All press inquiries can be directed to press@magnusracing.com.



It’s Gotta Be Better than Last Year as Magnus Racing goes to the Grand Prix of Miami

March 1, 2011 (Salt Lake City, Utah) – At last year’s Grand Prix of Miami, the Magnus Racing crew was faced with an almost impossible task – rebuilding the no.44 Magnus Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup after a blown tire in the Saturday morning warmup sent Craig Stanton hard into the concrete retaining wall of the Homestead Miami Speedway.

With only a few hours to repair extensive bodywork, suspension, and chassis damage, as well as replace the engine and gearbox, the Magnus Racing crew had the car ready for John Potter to take the green flag. That same crew worked miracles again at this year’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, when they had to twice repair damage caused by hitting debris on course during the early stages of the race. Although the car fell as low as thirteenth, it blazed a path through the field in the second half of the race to finish just off the podium in fourth.

With the team still riding the momentum of that strong finish, drivers Potter and Craig Stanton are looking to solidify their position near the top of the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 GT points standings.

“Daytona already feels like a long time ago, and I’m ready to get back in the car and race,” said Potter. “We were motivated to do well in Daytona and get our sophomore season off to a strong start, and even though we missed our chance to win when we hit debris we had an unbelievable second half of the race thanks to the guys getting the car fixed so quickly. I’m afraid they might mutiny if we make them perform another miracle like they did last year, but Craig and I would much rather get a good finish to reward them for their hard work.”

Teammate Stanton, who led the early stages of the Rolex 24, is happy to be back at Homestead and ready to mount a serious charge at the championship. Stanton won his first Rolex Sports Car Series championship in 2004 and is ready to win his second.

“We spent all of last year assembling the pieces to put together a real charge at the championship, and I think we showed in Daytona that we have a team capable of doing that,” said Stanton. “The Porsche 911 GT3 Cup is fast, John has been driving extremely well, and we have a crew that is capable of anything. I’m really excited to get back to Homestead and erase all of the memories from last year.”

The Grand Prix of Miami will be broadcast on Saturday, March 5, at 12:00 PM ET on SPEED Channel. Fans of Magnus Racing can follow the team throughout the weekend on Facebook (facebook.com/magnusracing) and twitter (@MagnusRacing).

More information about Magnus Racing can be found at www.magnusracing.com. Any organization interested in learning more about how to be involved with one of the most unique and visible teams in the Grand-American Rolex Sports Car Series can e-mail info@magnusracing.com. All press inquiries can be directed to press@magnusracing.com.



Magnus Racing announces limited American Le Mans Series campaign

February 10, 2011 (Salt Lake City, Utah) – Now in its second season of top-level professional sports car racing, Magnus Racing is proud to announce its expansion into the American Le Mans Series for the 2011 season.

In addition to competing full time in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series, Magnus Racing will field an entry in four American Le Mans Series race in the GT-C class for drivers John Potter and Craig Stanton.  Beginning with the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring the team will then compete in the ALMS’ second round at the Long Beach Grand Prix in Long Beach, California – Stanton’s hometown. The no.77 Magnus Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup will appear again at the series’ new event at the Baltimore Grand Prix before going to the season finale – the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia.

The team has proven to be particularly strong in long distance races, finishing fourth at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January and fifth in the Rolex 24 in 2010.  Addtionally, the team has contested one American Le Mans Series event, when Potter teamed with Ryan Eversley and Andrew Davis in the 2010 Petit Le Mans to qualify and finish in third place.

“Expanding the team into different series has always been a part of our plan with Magnus Racing,” said Potter. “We enjoyed competing in the Petit Le Mans last year – we have really proven the strength of our team in the longer races – so it’s a good time to grow our business into the ALMS and demonstrate the strength of Magnus Racing in the competitive GT-C class. I’m excited for what the rest of the season holds for us.”

Stanton brings extensive American Le Mans Series experience to the Magnus Racing program. A veteran of thirty series starts, Stanton holds two wins and ten podium finishes in the series. This year will mark the third time that Stanton is able to race near his home in Long Beach, California, as he was a part of the Long Beach Grand Prix in the ALMS race in 2008 and the World Challenge race in 2009.

“I’m really looking forward to racing in these four ALMS races with Magnus Racing,” said Stanton. “We have assembled a really great program and these guys can give us the car that John and I need to win in GT-C. It is exciting that the team is able to expand like this in its second year and we are really pumped up after our performance in Daytona – we will be very competitive in GT-C.”

At this year’s Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring, Potter and Stanton will be joined by sportscar veteran Matthew Marsh. Marsh, who hails from Hong Kong, has extensive endurance racing experience under his belt including competing in the 24 Hours of Nurburgring, 24 Hours of LeMans, the Bathurst 24 Hours and the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Marsh also has the distinction of being the only driver representing Hong Kong to have scored a FIA World Championship point, when he finished eighth in the World Touring Car Championship at the Macau Grand Prix in 2008.

Magnus Racing will begin their 2011 ALMS season at this week’s Sebring Winter Test, where Potter and Stanton will develop the team’s new 2011 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup in ALMS’s GT-C spec. Led by engineer Lars Giersing and crew chief John Bedell, the Magnus Racing team has made extensive progress in developing the new Porsche in Grand-Am spec and will bring the same knowledge base to their ALMS campaign.

“We aim to make full use of all the track time available to us in Sebring,” said Potter. “At Petit Le Mans last year, we were definitely behind the curve as we stepped in to the last race of the year but we made a lot of progress over the course of the weekend which helped us end up on the podium. Now, with more time to prepare, I think we’ll be in contention for a win at the end of the 12 Hours of Sebring.”

More information about Magnus Racing can be found at www.magnusracing.com. Any organization interested in learning more about how to be involved with one of the most unique and visible teams in the Grand-American Rolex Sports Car Series can e-mail info@magnusracing.com. All press inquiries can be directed to press@magnusracing.com.