Preparing for Endurance: Racing at the Rolex 24 at Daytona with a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup
By Efrain Olivares
Magnus Racing is a second year team that has quickly made an impact in endurance racing in North America. The team, which will compete in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series and the American Le Mans Series, achieved a number of standout performances throughout its rookie season last year.
The team’s engineer, Lars Giersing, has engineered four teams to four GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series titles in his career. Teamed with crew chief John Bedell, the two are in charge of preparation on the No. 44 Magnus Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup which is carried out by an experienced crew of sports car and Porsche experts. The accumulated years of experience mean that they know how to prepare a Porsche to withstand the punishment of 24 hours of racing.
For a long distance race, such as the 24 Hours of Daytona, the 12 Hours of Sebring, or the 10-hour Petit Le Mans, the team’s Porsche 911 GT3 Cup is taken completely apart with every component inspected. The list of brand new items installed is extensive, including engine and gearbox (with new gears and a new ring and pinion), radiators and hoses, uprights, axles, clutch, brakes, fuel pumps, and a long list of smaller items. In fact, at this year’s Daytona 24 Hours, the team replaced the engine and rebuilt the gearbox after qualifying and before the race started.
