Co-driver of the No. 3 Corvette Racing C7.R, Jan Magnussen, was involved in a wreck with Porsche factory driver Richard Lietz during a practice session for the Oak Tree Grand Prix in August that left him with a minor concussion. As a result, Magnussen had to sit out the race and turn his seat over to Jordan Taylor, effectively ending his chances at winning an IMSA driver’s championship this year with teammate Antonio Garcia.
Before the Oak Tree Grand Prix, Magnussen and Garcia were ahead of SRT Motorsports’ Jonathan Bomarito and Kuno Wittmer in the Tudor United Sportscar Championship Driver’s standings. Now that position belongs only to Gavin, as the points Magnussen lost in his 1-race absence cannot be made up in the two races left in the season. However in a recent editorial piece published in Sportscar365, the veteran GT driver pledges to keep pushing onward, saying “there is still a team and manufacturer title to fight for as well the driver championship for Antonio.”
“It won’t change how we approach the weekend at all,” Magnussen said of the upcoming race at Circuit of the Americas. “It will just be a mental thing for myself but I’m quite happy to help Antonio win the championship and that’s really all that has changed because I’ll still be 100 percent focused on winning for Corvette Racing and Chevrolet and then hopefully Antonio’s will follow.”
Magnussen applauded the response from Corvette Racing both in regards to safety and repairing the damaged No. 3 car. He said “safety comes first at Corvette Racing” and mentioned the “fantastic effort” the team put forth in getting the car repaired and back in the grid in time for qualifying in only two hours.
Lietz did not make it out of the two-car wreck as lucky as Magnussen and suffered a broken arm. The Dane wished the fellow racing driver well and added he hopes “he’ll be back behind the wheel soon.” As for Magnussen, he’ll return to duty for the Lonestar Le Mans race at Circuit of the Americas on September 20. You can read his full account of the accident and Corvette Racing subsequent response here.
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