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Le Mans / ALMS
IN THE COCKPIT: Jan Magnussen, Monterey
Of course I’m happy for the No. 4 car and a one-two finish for Corvette Racing is fantastic, but I love to win.
Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia finished second in last weekend's American Le Mans Monterey presented by Patron. (Photo: John Dagys)
Well that was a bit of a crazy race at Laguna. I’m quite happy with the result. Of course when you’re that close you’d like to get a win out of it, but after six hours of hard racing and everyone was so close, you just have to charge the whole time. No waiting.
We did have an opportunity to get out in the front of the field during the second-to-last caution period after everyone pitted, but for some reason my car didn’t start. We’re going to have to look into why that happened, but it could’ve been my mistake. Whatever the reason, we restarted in fifth place and after that it was a hard charge to get back to the front.
Of course I’m happy for the No. 4 car and a one-two finish for Corvette Racing is fantastic, but I love to win.
The race itself had a couple of good passes for me. The GT class is so much fun. Things happen all the time!
The first big move was when I was able to pass a BMW and the Falken Porsche at the same time. Both of them were involved in a really hard battle and they both got a bit crossed up coming onto the front straight. It was pretty easy to drive by them, but you’ve got to make the correct decision about which way and when to go. Those two were fighting very hard!
The second pass was the one that eventually gave me the second spot, around a BMW. It was one of those opportunities where it looked like something was going to happen and I tried to follow the prototype through the corner, but he didn’t go in as fast as I thought he would. I had to lock everything up, drop in behind him and try to make it stick.
It was one of those times where I had to grab it when I could. It was great fun – I wasn’t sure how it was going to end up, but it finished up pretty good.
After that last pass I did have a few flat spots on my Michelin tires. I called it into the pits and they called back to tell me that they were monitoring the tire pressures for me and the tires were holding up well. I ended up locking up two more times, so it ended up smoothing itself out.
I’ve got to give some kudos to Michelin. These were the best tires we’ve ever had at Laguna Seca – Michelin did a fantastic job. Of course we did a lot of work on the car to the point that it’s almost completely different from 2011, but there is no question that all the work that Michelin has done contributed greatly to the one-two finish.
After the three race run we’ve had, the No. 3 car is very competitive. It’s only a matter of time until we win a race. I think we could’ve done it in the first races, but we’ve had some small things get in the way. Once we get those out of the way, we will win.
My teammate Antonio Garcia has done a fantastic job in the No. 3 car this year. He’s very easy to work with and we both have a similar idea of what we want in our race car and there’s no doubt we can challenge for the title.
But we first will have to get a win from that No. 4 car! Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner have done a great job in the past couple of races. There’s quite a bit of competition inside the Corvette Racing team, and that’s what makes us strong – we push each other very hard.
Of course I’m happy for them, having won two races in a row. It shows the guys that all the hard work they’ve done over the winter has worked out for them. It’s not been easy for them and Tommy and Ollie didn’t have an easy go of it in Long Beach or at Laguna. They were able to take advantage when it mattered.
So for us, it’s not just about beating the Porsches, BMWs and Ferraris, but our teammates as well.
And nowhere does it matter as much to beat them, and everyone else for that matter than at our next race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. That’s the one that matters. We’ve had three pretty good races, but they’ve not been perfect and hopefully we’ve gotten all the bugs out of the way and we can just go out there and be what we need to be – perfect.
Jordan Taylor will be driving with Antonio and I, and we’ll all do our best to help him prepare him. The Corvette Racing team will accommodate him as much as they can by getting him as much time in the car as possible. He’s a very mature 21-year-old and very easy to work with, and I don’t think it’s going to be an issue for him for his first time at Le Mans.
Le Mans is a special place and experience does count. We will make sure that Jordan has everything he needs. It’s our biggest race and I think we have a good chance of winning it.
But first is another 24 hour race for me…at the Nurburgring!
I’ll be driving a Callaway Corvette with Tommy Milner and Richard Westbrook. What a place that is. I did a four-hour race there recently. I did two stints and only managed 11 laps! I can’t wait to get back out there to try it at night.
It’s a brutal place, with traffic like you wouldn’t believe. I believe there’s going to be 180 cars entered for the race in 10 separate categories. It’s a very big challenge and safety-wise it’s a little bit…different!
Want to know what it’s like? Kind of a combination of Road America and Mosport, with 200 corners. I’ve done that four-hour race and I did a lap record in a Corvette Z06 (see video above). I kind of know my way around the track but I’m still trying to figure out where I should be on the track. Sometimes you shouldn’t be on the racing line because the car goes light…and when it lands you land on the racing line. Or if you’re off you land on the grass. Then you might be in trouble.
Plus the car I’m driving has 600 horsepower and there are Renault Clios out there with 180 horsepower. Talk about a big speed difference – it’s crazy.
And I’m hearing it’s quite the party. Like Le Mans, people set up camps, but from what I’ve been told there are a half-million people that come to this race. It should be fantastic!
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.
We did have an opportunity to get out in the front of the field during the second-to-last caution period after everyone pitted, but for some reason my car didn’t start. We’re going to have to look into why that happened, but it could’ve been my mistake. Whatever the reason, we restarted in fifth place and after that it was a hard charge to get back to the front.
Of course I’m happy for the No. 4 car and a one-two finish for Corvette Racing is fantastic, but I love to win.
The race itself had a couple of good passes for me. The GT class is so much fun. Things happen all the time!
The first big move was when I was able to pass a BMW and the Falken Porsche at the same time. Both of them were involved in a really hard battle and they both got a bit crossed up coming onto the front straight. It was pretty easy to drive by them, but you’ve got to make the correct decision about which way and when to go. Those two were fighting very hard!
The second pass was the one that eventually gave me the second spot, around a BMW. It was one of those opportunities where it looked like something was going to happen and I tried to follow the prototype through the corner, but he didn’t go in as fast as I thought he would. I had to lock everything up, drop in behind him and try to make it stick.
It was one of those times where I had to grab it when I could. It was great fun – I wasn’t sure how it was going to end up, but it finished up pretty good.
After that last pass I did have a few flat spots on my Michelin tires. I called it into the pits and they called back to tell me that they were monitoring the tire pressures for me and the tires were holding up well. I ended up locking up two more times, so it ended up smoothing itself out.
I’ve got to give some kudos to Michelin. These were the best tires we’ve ever had at Laguna Seca – Michelin did a fantastic job. Of course we did a lot of work on the car to the point that it’s almost completely different from 2011, but there is no question that all the work that Michelin has done contributed greatly to the one-two finish.
After the three race run we’ve had, the No. 3 car is very competitive. It’s only a matter of time until we win a race. I think we could’ve done it in the first races, but we’ve had some small things get in the way. Once we get those out of the way, we will win.
My teammate Antonio Garcia has done a fantastic job in the No. 3 car this year. He’s very easy to work with and we both have a similar idea of what we want in our race car and there’s no doubt we can challenge for the title.
But we first will have to get a win from that No. 4 car! Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner have done a great job in the past couple of races. There’s quite a bit of competition inside the Corvette Racing team, and that’s what makes us strong – we push each other very hard.
Of course I’m happy for them, having won two races in a row. It shows the guys that all the hard work they’ve done over the winter has worked out for them. It’s not been easy for them and Tommy and Ollie didn’t have an easy go of it in Long Beach or at Laguna. They were able to take advantage when it mattered.
So for us, it’s not just about beating the Porsches, BMWs and Ferraris, but our teammates as well.
And nowhere does it matter as much to beat them, and everyone else for that matter than at our next race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. That’s the one that matters. We’ve had three pretty good races, but they’ve not been perfect and hopefully we’ve gotten all the bugs out of the way and we can just go out there and be what we need to be – perfect.
Jordan Taylor will be driving with Antonio and I, and we’ll all do our best to help him prepare him. The Corvette Racing team will accommodate him as much as they can by getting him as much time in the car as possible. He’s a very mature 21-year-old and very easy to work with, and I don’t think it’s going to be an issue for him for his first time at Le Mans.
Le Mans is a special place and experience does count. We will make sure that Jordan has everything he needs. It’s our biggest race and I think we have a good chance of winning it.
But first is another 24 hour race for me…at the Nurburgring!
I’ll be driving a Callaway Corvette with Tommy Milner and Richard Westbrook. What a place that is. I did a four-hour race there recently. I did two stints and only managed 11 laps! I can’t wait to get back out there to try it at night.
It’s a brutal place, with traffic like you wouldn’t believe. I believe there’s going to be 180 cars entered for the race in 10 separate categories. It’s a very big challenge and safety-wise it’s a little bit…different!
Want to know what it’s like? Kind of a combination of Road America and Mosport, with 200 corners. I’ve done that four-hour race and I did a lap record in a Corvette Z06 (see video above). I kind of know my way around the track but I’m still trying to figure out where I should be on the track. Sometimes you shouldn’t be on the racing line because the car goes light…and when it lands you land on the racing line. Or if you’re off you land on the grass. Then you might be in trouble.
Plus the car I’m driving has 600 horsepower and there are Renault Clios out there with 180 horsepower. Talk about a big speed difference – it’s crazy.
And I’m hearing it’s quite the party. Like Le Mans, people set up camps, but from what I’ve been told there are a half-million people that come to this race. It should be fantastic!
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.
Monterey
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