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Magnussen Ready For Sebring ALMS Challenge
He was second and third in the past two seasons of American Le Mans Series competition, but now Jan Magnussen - one of the original drivers from the first ALMS race from Sebring, 1999 – is out to celebrate the checkered flag for the series with another title win.
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Magnussen drove a Panoz GTR-1 with Johnny O’Connell and fellow Dane John Nielsen in the first series race at Sebring in 1999 – one of only 11 drivers who are still competing this year.
Johannes van Overbeek, Scott Sharp, Bill Auberlen, Tom Kendall, David Brabham, Tom Kristensen, Butch Leitzinger, Stefan Johansson, Dirk Müller and Jorg Mueller are the other drivers still competing this year.
This year's Sebring event will be run for the final time as an American Le Mans Series race. For 2014, the 12 Hours of Sebring will be a round of the new combined championship that brings together both the American Le Mans Series and the GRAND-AM Rolex Series.
The Corvette Racing star finished second in last year’s event after an enormous late race battle with BMW and Ferrari. The 26-time ALMS winner will again team up with Spaniard Antonio GarcÃa and young American star Jordan Taylor.
The 61st Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring goes green on Saturday, March 16th and will be broadcast live on SPEED in the US starting at 10:30 am ET.
European fans can watch the event live on Motors TV.
JAN MAGNUSSEN Q&A
Q: What are the biggest challenges of Sebring?
A: "It's obviously the first race of the year that we really get a chance to see what the competition has to offer.
“There are a few new teams and new cars, particularly the BMWs, and also the new Ferrari. So this will be a good place to judge what the competition is going to be like for the rest of the year.
"It's a tough race to start the season off with but it is an important one in terms of the championship as you can get a few extra points here. A good result here will help you start off your championship in a good way."
Q: There's a lot of competition here, even from Europe. Does that change your outlook at all?
A: "With the Astons being here, it can help us a little bit between us and the competition. They can steal a couple of points but it can go against us in exactly the same way. But the other good thing about them being here is that we also get a little bit of an idea of what we'll be up against at Le Mans as I'm sure they'll be one of the fastest cars there."
Q: How do you put everything from last year behind you and keep focusing on the game?
A: "It just shows that when you're in a championship that's this tough and this close, you have to have everything on your side. You need to have performance, be able to stay out of trouble and certain things to go your way.
"It also shows that luck plays a little part, but you've got to have it. Last year, we really didn't have luck. So I'm hoping that this year we can be as competitive as we were and in those situations where luck will play a part, that it would be going our way."
Q: This is the last year of the ALMS as we know it. What would it mean to finish up the alms with a championship win?
A: "That would be fantastic. I've absolutely loved this series since I got here in 1999. To finish it off before the next age of this series with a championship win would be fantastic and that's absolutely the goal for this year.
"If you look down the paddock today, there's a large percentage of people that have been hired and fired by Don Panoz. I'm sure everyone has their stories about him but mine are all good. He gave me the opportunity to race for his team in his championship.
"I think what he created back then with Panoz Motor Sports, personally for me was a lot of fun. The team he put together with the people, everything was fantastic. The battle we had going with Audi was a cool thing to be part of.
"But the championship and the whole idea of the ALMS being for the fans, he hit that right on the head. To bring the fans in so close to the teams makes fans feel a part of the whole experience instead of just watching through the fence.
"It's fantastic what he has achieved with it and I really hope the many great things about the ALMS gets brought on to the next championship."
Q: For the new Corvette, are you lookng forward to being part of that development program?
A: "It's always exciting when you get to start with a new car and it's development.
"Right now our main focus is Le Mans with the current car. As soon as that is over, we'll get stuck into the new car.
"I'm very much looking forward to it. Everything I know about the car is super, super cool but I'm trying to stay focused on the current car."
PaddockTalk Perspective
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