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Jan Magnussen, Kevin Magnussen Want To Co-Drive Chevrolet Corvette C7.R

If you watch any Formula One racing, you might be familiar with the name “Kevin Magnussen”. The Danish racing driver, who competes for the Ferrari-powered Haas F1 Team alongside Frenchman Romain Grosjean, is none other than Jan Magnussen’s son – yes, that Jan Magnussen, who pilots the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship along with Antonio Garcia.

As it turns out, Jan Magnussen and his son would very much like to drive together, splitting time in one of GM’s factory Chevrolet Corvette C7.R race cars, and they’re trying to make that happen as early as next season.

Kevin Magnussen, who is still under contract with Haas F1, wouldn’t take Antonio Garcia’s place racing Chevrolet’s No. 3 entry for the full season. Instead, he and his father are trying to arrange for him to be the car’s third driver on the handful of three-driver long-distance races that Corvette Racing runs each year: the 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring, 24 Hours of Le Mans, and Petit Le Mans (10-hour race). In theory, then, we could see a Magnussen-Magnussen-Garcia Le Mans entry in the near future.

Jan Magnussen at Le Mans in 2016.

Jan Magnussen at Le Mans in 2016.

Unfortunately, with Kevin Magnussen still very much a competitor in the Formula One World Championship, he would only be free to compete in two of the four races in 2019 – Daytona and Le Mans. Corvette Racing wants consistency in its three-driver teams.

“Corvette can easily see the possibilities of driving Le Mans with a Magnussen father and son team,” Jan Magnussen recently told Danish outlet BT. “They actually think that’s a great idea! But Corvette needs a four-run run.”

“We are working on it, but not very seriously and I do not think it will happen in 2019,” the younger Magnussen told BT. “I’m not GT driver, but I want to ride with my dad, and Daytona is a legendary race. And that would be a good [warm-up] for Le Mans. But as I said, we do not work very seriously for 2019 – both my dad and I feel we have a few years to succeed.”

Corvette Racing’s No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R entry heads into the final round of the 2018 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with the advantage in points, despite not having won a single race this season. The team failed to capture its ninth 24 Hours of Le Mans win in 20 years of racing, with a best-in-class result of fourth, and one car that didn’t manage to make it to the finish line.

Aaron Brzozowski is a writer and motoring enthusiast from Detroit with an affinity for '80s German steel. He is not active on the Twitter these days, but you may send him a courier pigeon.

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