BRASELTON, Ga. (Oct. 5, 2026) – Magnus Racing charged from last to fifth in a chaotic Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. John Potter, Spencer Pumpelly, Mario Farnbacher and team did everything right but couldn’t control the weather or the record number of full-course yellows that stalled their forward progress.
Rain was expected during the second half of the 10-hour race, but not before the cars even took their recon lap. The 30-minute downpour stopped before the race commenced, but the track was not dry, and all cars started on wet tires.
Potter started the race and it only took a few laps before the track was dry and everyone came into the pits for slick tires. Through his next stints, Potter was able to work his way up to fifth, before handing the car over to Farnbacher.
“The start was a little difficult,” Potter said. “It always is transitioning, but I think we did okay. With me in the car, I really think we came into our own in the second hour. I had one of my best restarts and was able to hold a good position to turn it over to Mario.”
There was much rejoicing as Farnbacher left pitlane and hit the track, because it was the first race laps the German got to turn in the No. 44 Virtual Energy Aston Martin. Previously, at Watkins Glen, the team’s race ended before Farnbacher even turned a lap.
The rain returned during Farnbacher’s first stint in the car and the rain tires came back out, but this time the rain was accompanied by lightning, which forced race officials to bring out the red flag. The cars sat on pitlane, under cover for 26 minutes, until the red flag could be lifted and racing resumed.
Once again, the rain stopped, the track dried and it was back to slick tires. Farnbacher flew through the field despite a string of back-to-back caution periods. He was up to second when it was time to hand the car over to Pumpelly.
The yellow flags continued to build off of each other and eventually hit a Petit Le Mans record 16 full-course cautions. The amount of time behind the safety car not only hampered Pumpelly’s forward progress but constantly changed the team’s fuel strategy as the race neared the end.
Pumpelly handed the car back to Farnbacher for the final 80 minutes, but still the yellows kept forcing the No. 44 into a fuel save strategy. When it was finally time to push, it was more yellows. And just when it seemed like the team’s plan was about to come to fruition, one final yellow came out that gave everyone else the fuel they needed to finish, when Farnbacher had been capable of getting to the finish without another pit stop. After a 10-minute sprint to the finish, he crossed the line in fifth.
“We were in the mix,” Farnbacher said. “One stint actually, was a long one with extremely massive fuel save. We were really good on fuel. But in the end, we think another lap we would have been on the podium because everybody else would have run out of fuel, but the yellows just didn’t turn into our favor.
“I’m upset a little bit about it, but nothing we can do there. The guys did a great job. I wish I could have gave Magnus a podium after all those efforts they have done building a new car after Watkins Glen and giving me the trust to lead them into this race. So very thankful.”
“We had a great effort today,” Pumpelly said. “The car was well prepped. The guys did an awesome job on pit road and with strategy. I felt like we all drove things as hard as we could. We were really good in 90 percent of the lap and kind of struggled a little too much in coming out on the back straightaway to really fight with the people we wanted to race with. But I’m so proud of the effort after the season we had. It was a good solid finish for the team, and it helps keep everyone enthusiastic and excited for the next one.”
The most pragmatic of the bunch, Potter saw a lot of positives in the fifth-place finish.
“Even though fifth wasn’t what we wanted,” Potter said. “Climbing from last to fifth in a race that was so much chaos was great, and it was a full team effort: it was good stops, good driving, good strategy, no penalties. We didn’t have any snafus or issues. I think it’s a real team effort to go from last to fifth.”