Yahoo Autos Kevin Magnussen Will Run the 24 Hours of Daytona With His Father
Haas Formula 1 driver Kevin Magnussen will race the 2023 24 Hours of Daytona in a Porsche, aligning with MDK Motorsports and their new 992-generation 911 GT3 R. He will be joined by Mark Kvamme and his father, former Corvette Racing legend Jan Magnussen. The car will compete in the pro-am GTD class.
It is a return to the American GT ranks for Jan Magnussen, who ran as a Corvette Racing factory driver from 2004 to 2019. He has continued racing in Europe, but has not entered Daytona since leaving Corvette after the 2019 season. While his son is signed for just Daytona, he is expected to drive in all four IMSA endurance races contested by the new MDK entry.
The younger Magnussen has been racing sports cars since he was dropped by Haas after the 2020 season, spending 2021 in a Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac in the U.S. and preparing to spend 2022 with Peugeot's new factory 9X8 program before he was abruptly brought back into the fold at Haas earlier this year. Magnussen also made a spot start in last year's race with Ganassi, months before the beginning of his planned deal with Peugeot and his unexpected return to Haas. He raced with his father in the 2021 24 Hours of Le Mans, but has never raced with him in the U.S. and has never raced with him while active as a Formula 1 driver.
Kevin Magnussen joins Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll as active Formula 1 drivers to run the race, although Lando Norris notably ran the race before beginning his Formula 1 career. It is an encouraging sign for sports car racing as a whole, a return to a time when F1 drivers could routinely race in endurance classics like Daytona and, most notably, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. With factory entries in the new GTP and Hypercar classes exploding, drivers like Magnussen will have more and more opportunities to fight for overall wins in top-level cars if their schedules permit.
The 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans falls on a bye week for both Formula 1 and IndyCar, although drivers hoping to compete would need either an FIA platinum designation or some sort of waiver to skip the mandatory test day a week earlier. While the platinum-rated Magnussen could theoretically enter that race without skipping any time with Haas, no plans have been announced yet. For now, the focus is on the 24 Hours of Daytona.
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