Magnus Racing R4R Daytona 24H Midnight report

No. 4 eBay Motors/Children’s Tumor Foundation/Racing4Research Porsche GT3 Team Fighting Back at Rolex 24 At Daytona as the Clock Strikes Midnight
Team Runs As High As Sixth Early On Before Being Knocked Off Course And Brake Issues

#4 Magnus Racing: Justin Bell, Ryan Eversley, Daniel Graeff, Ron Yarab Jr.

Photo by: Eric Gilbert

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida (January 29, 2012) – The No. 4 eBay Motors/Children’s Tumor Foundation/Racing4Research Porsche GT3 team was working its way back through the field as the Rolex 24 At Daytona hit the Midnight Hour tonight with team drivers Ryan Eversley, Justin Bell, Daniel Graeff and Ron Yarab all taking turns at the wheel.

The race moved off to a promising start for the No. 4 Porsche with Eversley climbing from his 17th starting spot to the top 10 in the race’s opening hour.

“The first stint was very good, we moved from 17th up to seventh,” Eversley said. “The opening stint was great for me personally, because I was racing against some of the best guys in the world and held my own, plus we wanted to get the eBay car and Children’s Tumor Foundation up in the top-10.”

The Children’s Tumor Foundation/Racing4Research program increases awareness of neurofibromatosis (NF) and raises funds for research to find a cure for the debilitating disease. The program’s fifth-year campaign at the 50th Anniversary Rolex 24 At Daytona has the double support of leading online companies eBay Motors and Quicken Loans Inc. The Rolex 24 Racing4Research program has become the annual kickoff event for CTF fundraising each year and donations can be made at www.racing4research.org.

The effort is getting a major boost from a live webcast from the event that is available now through the eBay World’s Fastest Car Show website, and the eBay Motors mobile app, which can be downloaded at http://mobile.ebay.com. Viewers can watch and listen to the challenges the teams and drivers are going through during the twice-around-the-clock classic in addition to on-the-scene reports from Eversley, Bell and other team drivers.

In the race, Bell took over from starting driver Eversley only to be spun off course by another competitor just after reaching sixth overall in the GT class standings.

“We had a little contact with another car when Justin was driving, so that put us back some laps, because we got stuck and stalled,” Eversley said. “The difficult thing we experienced is with the brakes. They’ve been acting up since the second hour. We’re not really sure what’s wrong with them. We can’t stop locking them up all the time, so I’m going to try some stuff when I go out there to try to fix it.”

The No. 4 eBay Motors/Racing4Research campaign will also be featured later this year in a second season episode of The World’s Fastest Car Show Hosted by Justin Bell, a unique web, mobile and app-accessible show available only at eBay Motors and on eBay Mobile. Bell will also be giving live reports during SPEED’s broadcast of the Rolex 24 from inside the No. 4 Porsche during his driving stints.

The No. 4 eBay Motors/Children’s Tumor Foundation/Racing4Research Porsche GT3 ranked 22nd in the GT class, eight laps down, as the race hit Midnight and the eight hour and 30 minute complete mark.

The 50th Anniversary Rolex 24 At Daytona concludes on Sunday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. Live coverage on SPEED resumes on Sunday morning at 9 a.m. ET/ 6 a.m. PT.