by Russell Atkins at Le MansWhile compatriot Tom Kristensen speeds to a seemingly unstoppable eighth Le Mans 24 Hours crown up at the front of the pack, Jan Magnussen is having to fight somewhat harder for glory in the GT1 category at La Sarthe as Corvette find themselves in the somewhat unusual position of having to chase Aston Martin down.
The Dane – together with team-mates Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell – has been embroiled race-long in a frantic scrap for class honours with the two works, Prodrive-run British Racing Green machines. Trailing them by around a lap at the ten-hour mark, Magnussen is nevertheless confident the battle has a long way still to run, despite an unscheduled coming-together with the #1 Audi along the way…
“I came around turn one,” the former Formula 1 star explained to
Crash.net Radio. “It isn't quite flat for us – maybe in a prototype I don't know – but I turned in, was quite far through the corner and then he (Marco Werner) just whacked my wheel. He went in really late. Luckily nothing happened to our car – I just had to go across the sand – but I saw his rear bodywork had come off.”
That little incident aside, the race has thus far run relatively smoothly for the American machine, though Team Corvette Racing have seen their challenge reduced to just the one entry following the early mechanically-based retirement of the sister car of Oliver Gavin, Olivier Beretta and Max Papis. It may be a particularly competitive GT1 field this year, but Magnussen remains optimistic the 'Yellow Peril' – which has claimed class victory in the legendary round-the-clock classic in each of the last three years – will be in the thick of the fight all the way to the chequered flag.
“It hasn't been bad,” the 33-year-old acknowledged. “Now we're in third and the car is working well, and when things are going well for us we can catch them a little bit. I think right now we're where we're supposed to be in terms of speed. We knew the Aston was going to be fast, and sure enough it's faster than us.
“We're pretty pleased with the way the car is handling. The last stint was a little bit frustrating with traffic and of course I'm concerned about reliability, but we haven't had any problems. It's still early though; there's a lot of time to go yet.
“The competition in GT1 this year is the toughest so far. The two Astons we're fighting with now are the two Astons we're fighting with normally, but this time we've got those two ahead and a couple more behind so for sure it's tough. We've just got to keep our heads down, keep at it, try to be consistent and make as few mistakes as possible. Our chances of success are just as strong as in the last three years.”
