Rolex Quote board: Jan Magnussen
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| Jan Magnussen will be piloting the #3 Corvette in the GTLM class at this weekend's Rolex 24 at Daytona |
Daytona Beach, FL, USA, Tuesday, January 20, 2015: Danish ace Jan Magnussen is ready to return to his winning ways as the 2015 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship kicks off with the Rolex 24 at Daytona this weekend.
Magnussen, teammate Antonio Garcia and Corvette Racing pulled off a four-race winning streak last year with the new Corvette C7.R.
The team debuted the new car at the season opening Rolex 24 but suffered "new car issues" – Â� at both Daytona and Sebring. The season made a dramatic turn when Magnussen and Garcia posted their first of four consecutive wins starting in the streets of Long Beach. Now with 12 months of development under their belt, Magnussen and Corvette Racing have their sights set on reaching success in the endurance events starting this weekend at Daytona in the historic 24-hour race.
Corvette Racing has achieved past success at the Rolex 24, winning the race overall in 2001 with Ron Fellows, Johnny O'Connell, Franck Freon and Chris Kneifel.
Magnussen and Garcia will again be joined by IndyCar ace Ryan Briscoe aboard the No.3 Corvette this weekend while Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner have a new teammate in Frenchman Simon Pagenaud in the No.4 machine.
Cars will hit the track for the first time on Thursday with qualifying for the GT Le Mans class scheduled for 4:25pm.
The weekend's 24-hour battle goes green at 2:10pm on Saturday and will be shown on the FOX networks in the US, as well as live streaming on IMSA.com
JAN MAGNUSSEN Q&A
Q: With a year's development under your belt, how confident are you entering the season opener at the Rolex 24 at Daytona?
A: "Last year coming into Daytona we had a brand new car in the C7.R and unfortunately had a couple of reliability issues in the race.
"We've now had 12 months to sort the car, we learned what it likes and learned how to win. We're going into this year's race a lot better prepared and I can't wait to get started.
"Any 24 hour race is an enormous challenge but I am confident that the Corvette Racing guys, Antonio, Ryan and myself in the No.3 car will be able to challenge very strongly." – Â�
Q: How big a challenge is the Rolex 24 at Daytona compared to the Le Mans 24 Hour?
A: "They are both very challenging races, but very different as well. You have a lot of high speed flat out running at Daytona with a bunch of hairpins to contend with on the infield.
"At Le Mans you have a greater variety of fast and medium corners and the traffic is also very different.
"At 8.5 miles Le Mans is much larger than the 3.81 miles you have here at Daytona. We have a similar number of cars so the traffic tends be busier here at Daytona.
"For the GT Le Mans class, Daytona is different too as you have to deal with the slower GT Daytona class traffic while keeping an eye on the prototypes.
"At Le Mans you are just racing a bunch of similar cars while keeping an eye out for the LM P1 cars which obviously come up on you very quickly." – Â�
Q: How important is having the rear camera and radar system in the Corvette?
A: "That is certainly a huge help, especially the radar system which warns you whether cars are coming on your left or right and helps you easily identify the closing speed.
"Having contact out on track with other cars can ruin your race really easily but this system is a massive help inside the car.
"Even if the camera system fails, the radar still works and you can gauge by the color and size of the arrow where the other car is and where it is going." – Â�
Q: With rain forecast for Friday and possibly for the start on Saturday, how will that affect your race?
A: "I can't recall running in the wet at Daytona so that will certainly be interesting when you are running flat out on the banking.
"Sometimes in that kind of weather we can have issues with the rear camera but the radar still operates well so that shouldn't be a major problem.
"We'll be ready to race, come rain or shine." – Â�
Q: How competitive do you think the GT Le Mans field will be this year?
A: "Sadly we've lost the Vipers but the level of competition will still be very fierce. Last year the Aston Martin wasn't fast here but at the Roar test they were right on the pace.
"I think everyone is going to have to be at the top of their game because any car in the GT Le Mans class is capable of winning the race.
"It really is a 24 hour sprint race so we'll have to push very hard from flag to flag." – Â�
Q: How disappointing was last year's Adjustment of Performance (AoP) changes instigated by IMSA?
A: "Sadly we went from winning four races in a row to being virtually last. It was a very tough call because although we had so much success; we didn't have the fastest car at the time.
"It all came down to faultless preparation by Corvette Racing, great strategy, good starts and nice clean races by Antonio and myself.
"It was disappointing to watch our championship lead eroded but that was last year and we're not focusing on that.
"We have a new championship ahead of us and that is where our attention is. Hopefully any AoP balancing this year won't result in such dramatic performance differences." – Â�
Q: How have you spent the off-season between Petit Le Mans and the Rolex 24 at Daytona?
A: "Because my year is so busy with the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship and racing in the Danish Thundersports Championship back home, it can be difficult for me to really improve and enhance my fitness throughout the year while travelling.
"The off-season" short as it is "really is a time for me to work hard to build my fitness, endurance and stamina so I can enter the year in the best shape possible.
"With all the frequent flier miles and hotel nights over the year, once the season starts my in-season fitness goals are more about maintenance and recovery.
"We're now ready to hit the track and I can't wait until Thursday to get things rolling. It's going to be a great year." – Â�
Jan Magnussen