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Le Mans / ALMS
IN THE COCKPIT: Jan Magnussen, Le Mans
Another Le Mans done and as you all probably know, it wasn’t the greatest for Corvette Racing...
Jan Magnussen endured a brutal race to finish the 80th Le Mans 24 Hours. (Photo: LAT)
Another Le Mans done and as you all probably know, it wasn’t the greatest for Corvette Racing. But that’s Le Mans – you have to have some tough races to remind you how much winning it actually means.
The race for the No. 73 Corvette started off a little rough. Personally I was battling a cold and some fever, but luckily once I got behind the wheel of the car the adrenaline took over and I was pretty much 100 percent.
Unfortunately the No. 73 wasn’t 100 percent however. We had some issues in practice and qualifying that we needed to take care of and we didn’t really nail the setup for the start of the race. My first stint was pretty poor in terms of speed and the car was understeering so much that my front tires were in a rough state.
Over the next few stints, between myself and co-drivers Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor, the Corvette Racing team was able to make changes to the car to fix our handling issues. The guys did a great job and soon the car was very fast and although we were nearly a lap down, we were right on pace and gaining on the competition, as they were having some issues.
Then the steering rack broke.
I was driving when it broke. I first noticed it on the Porsche Curves. It wasn’t as dramatic as it sounds, but the steering felt strange, very notchy. The car was also pulling a bit but I made it to the garage for replacement and the Corvette Racing guys were able to fix it and get us back out on course. We were down, but not out.
And then the alternator went.
At this point we knew that was pretty much it – we weren’t going to win. But the guys kept on fighting and pushing. They replaced the alternator and then replaced the batteries at nearly every pit stop, making them very long.
But the No. 73 kept going, as Corvette Racing always does. I must say that once the steering rack was replaced, on-track the car was super fast. We were all able to push it to the limit all the time and produce some really fast lap times.
We finished fifth in class, ten laps behind the leader. Not what we wanted. But that’s Le Mans for you.
I really felt for all of the Corvette Racing team. There were a bunch of issues that came up with the cars that we’d never had before, at least not in my experience. At one point in the race both cars, the No. 73 and No. 74, were in the garage at the same time having major work done to them during the race. These were for huge things – not small things.
It was just so disappointing for all of us. We had a rough time and the No. 74 car had it even worse than my car. Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner, and Richard Westbrook were in control of the race for the longest time and then they crashed in the 18th hour, and the guys had to virtually rebuild the car to get it back out there. But they did.
Again, that’s Le Mans. Sometimes there isn’t an opportunity to show off how much work you’ve done over the year and how fast your car actually is.
So next steps for the entire team, which have already started of course, is to go back and look at everything that happened at Le Mans, from practice to qualifying to the race. The Corvette Racing team will learn exactly what didn’t go right, improve upon everything and fix any problems, and no doubt will be back next year even stronger. You can’t make sure nothing goes wrong at a racetrack, but the team is one of the best at improving and never giving up.
No doubt though that next year at Le Mans there will be another young star to keep an eye on – my co-driver Jordan Taylor. It was his first time at Le Mans this year and I think he was a little bit nervous at the start of the race, but the more he drove the better he got. By the end of the race his lap times were on par with everyone else. He did a fantastic job and I’m sure he’s ready to go back.
Now it’s time to get back to the 2012 ALMS season and go for the championship. The Corvette Racing team is rebuilding our Le Mans cars and the No. 73 will be returning to the No. 3 for the next race at Lime Rock Park.
Talk about a change – from more than eight miles to less than 1.5 miles. I like Lime Rock, it’s a very fun track. It’s challenging - it seems like you’re always swapping paint and bumping each other – and I’m really looking forward to getting back there. I really think that Antonio (Garcia) and I are going to get some wins and I think we’ve had a shot at winning for the first three ALMS races this season, but small things got in our way.
Those small things are gone now and Antonio and I are ready to put together a string of wins at Lime Rock.
But that’s not until July 7. I need to race before then, so I’ll be running in a Camaro Cup event in Denmark and then heading to Silverstone to watch my son Kevin get his first miles in a Formula 1 car – albeit an older one. He is shaking down Mika Hakkinen’s championship winning car for McLaren that the Finn will drive up the hill at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
As always, thank you for your support and we’ll see you at the track very soon!
Jan
A winner in all 12 previous seasons of the American Le Mans Series, Jan Magnussen, a four-time class winner at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, drives the No. 3 Corvette Racing C6.R in the ALMS GT category with Antonio Garcia. For more information, visit www.janmagnussen.com.
The race for the No. 73 Corvette started off a little rough. Personally I was battling a cold and some fever, but luckily once I got behind the wheel of the car the adrenaline took over and I was pretty much 100 percent.
Unfortunately the No. 73 wasn’t 100 percent however. We had some issues in practice and qualifying that we needed to take care of and we didn’t really nail the setup for the start of the race. My first stint was pretty poor in terms of speed and the car was understeering so much that my front tires were in a rough state.
Over the next few stints, between myself and co-drivers Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor, the Corvette Racing team was able to make changes to the car to fix our handling issues. The guys did a great job and soon the car was very fast and although we were nearly a lap down, we were right on pace and gaining on the competition, as they were having some issues.
Then the steering rack broke.
I was driving when it broke. I first noticed it on the Porsche Curves. It wasn’t as dramatic as it sounds, but the steering felt strange, very notchy. The car was also pulling a bit but I made it to the garage for replacement and the Corvette Racing guys were able to fix it and get us back out on course. We were down, but not out.
And then the alternator went.
At this point we knew that was pretty much it – we weren’t going to win. But the guys kept on fighting and pushing. They replaced the alternator and then replaced the batteries at nearly every pit stop, making them very long.
But the No. 73 kept going, as Corvette Racing always does. I must say that once the steering rack was replaced, on-track the car was super fast. We were all able to push it to the limit all the time and produce some really fast lap times.
We finished fifth in class, ten laps behind the leader. Not what we wanted. But that’s Le Mans for you.
I really felt for all of the Corvette Racing team. There were a bunch of issues that came up with the cars that we’d never had before, at least not in my experience. At one point in the race both cars, the No. 73 and No. 74, were in the garage at the same time having major work done to them during the race. These were for huge things – not small things.
It was just so disappointing for all of us. We had a rough time and the No. 74 car had it even worse than my car. Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner, and Richard Westbrook were in control of the race for the longest time and then they crashed in the 18th hour, and the guys had to virtually rebuild the car to get it back out there. But they did.
Again, that’s Le Mans. Sometimes there isn’t an opportunity to show off how much work you’ve done over the year and how fast your car actually is.
So next steps for the entire team, which have already started of course, is to go back and look at everything that happened at Le Mans, from practice to qualifying to the race. The Corvette Racing team will learn exactly what didn’t go right, improve upon everything and fix any problems, and no doubt will be back next year even stronger. You can’t make sure nothing goes wrong at a racetrack, but the team is one of the best at improving and never giving up.
No doubt though that next year at Le Mans there will be another young star to keep an eye on – my co-driver Jordan Taylor. It was his first time at Le Mans this year and I think he was a little bit nervous at the start of the race, but the more he drove the better he got. By the end of the race his lap times were on par with everyone else. He did a fantastic job and I’m sure he’s ready to go back.
Now it’s time to get back to the 2012 ALMS season and go for the championship. The Corvette Racing team is rebuilding our Le Mans cars and the No. 73 will be returning to the No. 3 for the next race at Lime Rock Park.
Talk about a change – from more than eight miles to less than 1.5 miles. I like Lime Rock, it’s a very fun track. It’s challenging - it seems like you’re always swapping paint and bumping each other – and I’m really looking forward to getting back there. I really think that Antonio (Garcia) and I are going to get some wins and I think we’ve had a shot at winning for the first three ALMS races this season, but small things got in our way.
Those small things are gone now and Antonio and I are ready to put together a string of wins at Lime Rock.
But that’s not until July 7. I need to race before then, so I’ll be running in a Camaro Cup event in Denmark and then heading to Silverstone to watch my son Kevin get his first miles in a Formula 1 car – albeit an older one. He is shaking down Mika Hakkinen’s championship winning car for McLaren that the Finn will drive up the hill at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
As always, thank you for your support and we’ll see you at the track very soon!
Jan
A winner in all 12 previous seasons of the American Le Mans Series, Jan Magnussen, a four-time class winner at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, drives the No. 3 Corvette Racing C6.R in the ALMS GT category with Antonio Garcia. For more information, visit www.janmagnussen.com.
FIA WEC Six Hours of Spa
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