- Home
- TV Shows
-
TV Schedule
-
SPEED Showcase
-
- NASCAR
-
- Formula 1
- Auto Racing
- Moto Racing
- Cars
- Bikes
- Store
- Social
- Mobile
- Deals
- Videos
- Photos
GRAND-AM
IN THE COCKPIT: Jan Magnussen, Rolex 24
Looking back at the Rolex 24, we had the pace to do well but ran into some issues through the race...
Stevenson Motorsports battled a string of bad luck in the Rolex 24. (Photo: John Dagys)
Looking back at the Rolex 24, we had the pace to do well but ran into some issues through the race. I think the team proved that in the first couple of hours of the race. We were not the fastest car on track but we were consistent and were slowly taking advantage of some situations, really just like we had planned.
We knew we weren't going to beat them on raw speed, so we approached the race a little differently. It all went according to plan. John Edwards got the car into the lead and was doing a great job and then by the time I was ready to get into the car, we were in the top 5 and looking good.
But then it all started to go downhill from there. From the beginning of my stint, I started off by hitting a tire in one of the pit boxes further down the pit lane. It was a bit of a miscommunication between me and my team. That gave us a stop & go plus 30-second penalty.
We also had problems in that pit stop with one rear tire that wouldn't come off, so I had to do an extra stop. Those two incidents put us almost a lap down.
A little bit later in that stint, we had a refueling issue, so the stint was cut short a bit. I had to go in, refill, went back out and shortly after that, lost the front brakes. So we had to go to the garage and fix the car. That effectively put us out of the race, 15 laps back.
We managed to catch some of the laps back, eight to be exact. But towards the end of the race, the gearbox started to give up and finally broke with two and a half hours to go. That was a shame that the team didn't even get the opportunity to finish the race.
It was pretty disappointing, I'd have to say, because the team did a fantastic job. I don't know where all of these problems suddenly came from because we didn't have any issues in testing.
I'm still proud of the team as they did a great job. It's really unfair that these things started to happen. It's bad luck, I guess.
It's super disappointing when you go laps down as you want to be in the fight, battling with the guys around us. I get super disappointed, but I'd have to say that I don't really lose any motivation.
I know when I get in the car, I still push like hell. It's just a different challenge. The mission changes a bit and you now focus on catching up some of the time lost. You get to go racing at Daytona with all of the different people and cars around you. It's fantastic. I was still enjoying myself, even though we were effectively out of it. I had some good racing still going on.
One of the ways of getting laps back is through the safety cars, but you still have to be in the right spot when it comes out. The leader needs to be behind you, or if he pits during the safety car, there's an opportunity for a wave-by. It's a complicated process and something I rely on my crew to help instruct me.
It almost becomes impossible for a driver to make the right decision to get your laps back. You can make the right call in terms of staying out when the pits are closed. But to try and gain your lap back is very, very difficult unless you have all the facts, and the crew usually only has that. So if you lose radio contact with them, you're in trouble.
I also unfortunately had that situation during the race. Luckily it didn't really affect anything because it was just a normal run and I did a normal pit stop when we were low on fuel. It would have been a huge headache if we had a safety car and the whole procedure with DP and GTs pitting, the wave-around, etc.
After the disappointing run we had this year, I'm absolutely looking forward to returning to Daytona in 2014, with the new Corvette C7.R. The Corvette GT car has good downforce, good power. I don't think the GTE cars have the top speed of the GRAND-AM GT cars but the cornering speeds and braking speeds are much better.
It's going to be fantastic to watch. The GTE cars are so cool, with the way they're built and the way they look; it's a really badass car. They're going to be fantastic around Daytona.
But before then, we still have one more ALMS season to run, and we've already been preparing for the first round at Sebring. Just before the Rolex 24, we had our pre-season testing with the Corvette and are confident we'll show up fully prepared in March.
I can't wait to get the season going again. Last year was frustrating in the way how it all ended up. Having been in the lead of the championship halfway through the season and then seeing things go away wasn't fun.
But I'm looking forward to getting going again and building on what Antonio (Garcia) had learned as a driver-team last year. Hopefully we can get a championship out of it.
Jan
A winner in 12 of the 13 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 knew we weren't going to beat them on raw speed, so we approached the race a little differently. It all went according to plan. John Edwards got the car into the lead and was doing a great job and then by the time I was ready to get into the car, we were in the top 5 and looking good.
But then it all started to go downhill from there. From the beginning of my stint, I started off by hitting a tire in one of the pit boxes further down the pit lane. It was a bit of a miscommunication between me and my team. That gave us a stop & go plus 30-second penalty.
We also had problems in that pit stop with one rear tire that wouldn't come off, so I had to do an extra stop. Those two incidents put us almost a lap down.
A little bit later in that stint, we had a refueling issue, so the stint was cut short a bit. I had to go in, refill, went back out and shortly after that, lost the front brakes. So we had to go to the garage and fix the car. That effectively put us out of the race, 15 laps back.
We managed to catch some of the laps back, eight to be exact. But towards the end of the race, the gearbox started to give up and finally broke with two and a half hours to go. That was a shame that the team didn't even get the opportunity to finish the race.
It was pretty disappointing, I'd have to say, because the team did a fantastic job. I don't know where all of these problems suddenly came from because we didn't have any issues in testing.
I'm still proud of the team as they did a great job. It's really unfair that these things started to happen. It's bad luck, I guess.
It's super disappointing when you go laps down as you want to be in the fight, battling with the guys around us. I get super disappointed, but I'd have to say that I don't really lose any motivation.
I know when I get in the car, I still push like hell. It's just a different challenge. The mission changes a bit and you now focus on catching up some of the time lost. You get to go racing at Daytona with all of the different people and cars around you. It's fantastic. I was still enjoying myself, even though we were effectively out of it. I had some good racing still going on.
One of the ways of getting laps back is through the safety cars, but you still have to be in the right spot when it comes out. The leader needs to be behind you, or if he pits during the safety car, there's an opportunity for a wave-by. It's a complicated process and something I rely on my crew to help instruct me.
It almost becomes impossible for a driver to make the right decision to get your laps back. You can make the right call in terms of staying out when the pits are closed. But to try and gain your lap back is very, very difficult unless you have all the facts, and the crew usually only has that. So if you lose radio contact with them, you're in trouble.
I also unfortunately had that situation during the race. Luckily it didn't really affect anything because it was just a normal run and I did a normal pit stop when we were low on fuel. It would have been a huge headache if we had a safety car and the whole procedure with DP and GTs pitting, the wave-around, etc.
After the disappointing run we had this year, I'm absolutely looking forward to returning to Daytona in 2014, with the new Corvette C7.R. The Corvette GT car has good downforce, good power. I don't think the GTE cars have the top speed of the GRAND-AM GT cars but the cornering speeds and braking speeds are much better.
It's going to be fantastic to watch. The GTE cars are so cool, with the way they're built and the way they look; it's a really badass car. They're going to be fantastic around Daytona.
But before then, we still have one more ALMS season to run, and we've already been preparing for the first round at Sebring. Just before the Rolex 24, we had our pre-season testing with the Corvette and are confident we'll show up fully prepared in March.
I can't wait to get the season going again. Last year was frustrating in the way how it all ended up. Having been in the lead of the championship halfway through the season and then seeing things go away wasn't fun.
But I'm looking forward to getting going again and building on what Antonio (Garcia) had learned as a driver-team last year. Hopefully we can get a championship out of it.
Jan
A winner in 12 of the 13 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.
Latest Gallery
LATEST HEADLINES: AUTO-RACING
-
LE MANS: Lotus LMP2 Cars Seized By Court
BREAKING: Lotus T128s reportedly seized by local courts over financial… -
VIDEO: 8Star LM24 Tuesday vBlog
8Star Motorsports driver Jason Bright checks into SPEED.com ahead… -
LE MANS: Adess Pushes Ahead With LMP1 Project
German firm, designers of the Lotus T128 LMP2 car, prepared to build… -
LE MANS: Post-LM24 Test BoP Adjustments Explained
John Dagys gets insight from ACO Sports Director Vincent Beaumesnil… -
LE MANS: Bouchut's LM24 Milestone
French driver set for 20th Le Mans start in debut of Lotus T128...… -
LE MANS: Aston Martin Unveils LM24 Art Car
Aston Martin Racing, Gulf unveils winner of their livery design competition...… -
LE MANS: LM24 LMP2 Preview
John Dagys takes a team-by-team look at this year’s LMP2 class… - More News
