The 2011 Grand-Am Rolex 24 at Daytona was an up and down event for Craig Stanton and the Magnus Racing team. After starting from third and leading the latter half of his first stint, Craig handed the #44 Porsche over to team owner John Potter. Richard Lietz drove the third stint followed by Marco Holzer.
After several hours of uneventful running, Richard Lietz made an unscheduled pit stop during his first stint when a rear sway bar linkage on the Magnus Porsche broke. After removing the linkage, the team sent Richard back out on track with the rear sway bar disconnected.
The turning point for Craig and the team occurred around 11:00 PM, Saturday night. With Craig behind the wheel, the car ran out of fuel while the track was under full course yellow. Because the pits were closed, the team were unable to stop for fuel on the previous lap. During his stint, Craig reported a possible cracked exhaust header, which would have resulted in decreased fuel mileage.
After being towed back to the garage, the team confirmed that the header was indeed cracked and proceeded to replace the damage component. After spending some time in the garage performing repairs, the team sent the #44 Porsche back on track with John Potter behind the wheel. This moment was a big blow to Craig and the team as they lost valuable laps during their time in the garage.
The team made progress throughout the night, consistently moving up the leader board. In the pre-dawn hours, a large fog bank moved over the circuit reducing visibility to dangerous levels. The race was run under a full course caution for nearly three hours before the fog lifted.
By 12:00 PM Sunday, the team had moved up to fifth position. While other teams began to experience problems, the Magnus Racing Porsche continued running strong. The final decisive moment occurred at 1:20 PM when the #66 TRG Porsche suffered from a gearbox failure, sending them to the garage for a lengthy repair. Richard Lietz, who was driving at the time, and the #44 Porsche moved to fourth position shortly thereafter.
Craig took the wheel for the final time Sunday after Marco finished up his last stint. During that stop, the team bled the brake system out of precaution subsequent to Marco reporting possible brake issues.
At 3:30 PM Sunday January 30th, Craig and the Magnus Racing team saw the checkered flag, signifying the end of an arduous 24 hours. The team finished fourth in GT, a slight improvement on their fifth place finish the year prior.
While the Rolex 24 at Daytona is one of the biggest races on the calendar, the 2011 racing season is just getting underway. Showing a strong performance at Daytona in the team’s sophomore season, Craig is optimistic 2011 will fair well for both himself and the entire Magnus Racing family.
