JAN MAGNUSSEN: “WHEN IT COMES TO PURE SPEED, I THINK KEVIN WILL BE DOING THE TEACHING”

Jan Magnussen has gained his legendary status in endurance racing behind the wheel of a Corvette. For the 2021 season, however, Jan completes an all-Danish line-up with LMP2 squad High-Class Racing. We caught up with Jan in the Spa Paddock, where he shared his first experience with the Oreca 07 and talked about his highly anticipated teaming-up with his son, Formula One driver Kevin Magnussen, for the upcoming 24 Hours of Le Mans.

It’s very different. It’s a bit faster, which is nice, but the way you make the car go fast is also completely different to a GT car. It takes a bit of time to get used to it, so getting the necessary testing time during the prologue was very, very important. Currently, we’re still struggling a little bit and we definitely need to improve in certain areas, but I’m very excited to be here.

It’s incredible, to be honest. I got the call to do this, and I jumped on it. High-Class Racing is a great team and I believe we can go places with it!

I still race for the love of it and with the same passion as when I started. I have been very fortunate in the past, but I don’t really have a bucket list. Like every race I participate in I just want to win. I’m still very competitive, and in every race I enter I want to do better than everyone else.

Honestly, on the track, I don’t really notice it. It’s just another GT car for me. Of course, I have such great memories of Corvette racing as I’ve been there for 16 seasons. I went to meet the guys a few times and it’s great to have them here, although they are struggling a bit as well.

Yes, it’s a dream come true really. We’ve been trying to make this work for a long time, and I believe it’s the only and last chance we’ll ever have as well as he’ll be moving to Peugeot next year. It’s going to be great having him here and I’m hoping to share my experience with him during the race. Although, I think he’ll the one teaching me when it comes to outright pace [smiles].