Corvette Racing’s Jan Magnussen heads north of the US border this weekend as he, Antonio Garcia and the No. 3 Corvette Racing team take on Ontario’s Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.Magnussen is the winningest driver on the entry list for this weekend’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Mobil 1 Sportscar Grand Prix. The Danish ace has five class victories already, the most recent coming in 2014.
In the last five years, Magnussen and Garcia have stood on the podium at CTMP a total of five times, the win in 2014, two third place finishes in 2015 and 2016, and a runner-up finish last year.
The pair are also on a hot streak of podiums, scoring four consecutive podium finishes, and three consecutive second place finishes in IMSA competition. The team nearly won last weekend in Watkins Glen, with Antonio Garcia finishing less than half a second behind the No. 911 at the stripe in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen.
The recent run of good results by the Corvette Racing crew has tightened up the championship considerably, Magnussen and Garcia now sit tied for second just one point behind the lead in the standings.
Magnussen’s former Corvette Racing teammate Ron Fellows is part of the ownership group for Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. The venue has been a very happy hunting ground for the American team in the past, with Corvette scoring 11 victories at the track.
Magnussen and Garcia are hoping they can add to that total and break their streak of 13 podium finishes without a win dating back to VIR 2017, as well as take control of the championship standings for the first time this season.
First practice in Canada kicks off on Friday, July 5th at 11:20 AM.
Jan Magnussen Q&A
Q: Corvette Racing and yourself have found massive success in Canada, what about this place suits you guys so well?
A: “I think Canadian Tire Motorsport Park is really good for us because it’s such a high-speed course. It has the highest average speed of anywhere we race in the IMSA series.
It’s a track that really allows us to stretch our legs in the C7.R and use every drop of that American horsepower.
“But, it’s also a tricky track to negotiate during the race. It’s only 2.459 miles, but we have all of the IMSA classes there, so you have to be aware of traffic and manage your own race well. Plus, with it being a two-hour, 40-minute race, you have to be aggressive on strategy and make the most of every pit stop.
“Thankfully for us, Corvette Racing is great at putting together strategy for us and they’re the best in the pits, so we always end up with a shot at the end of the race.”
Q: With such a close finish at Watkins Glen, how badly do you want to get a good result this weekend?
A: “Watkins Glen hurt, for sure. While we were super happy to get on the podium and really close up the championship points gap, we were so so close.
“It’s almost more painful to finish second by less than half a second than to be 10 or 15 seconds behind.
“But, finishes like that only make us more hungry. If we didn’t want to end this streak of non-wins before, man do we want to now!
“With such a short gap between races, we’re going to be as amped up going into the weekend as we were when the checkered flag fell, and hopefully that serves us well.”
Source. Paul Ryan Media
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