WEC 24 Hours of Le Mans test day
Magnussen relishes "really cool" first Le Mans experience
Kevin Magnussen has described his first experience of the Le Mans 24 Hours as “really cool” after clocking his first laps of the Circuit de la Sarthe in the official test day on Sunday.
Jamie Klein
Edited: Aug 16, 2021, 10:41 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The ex-Formula 1 racer and current Chip Ganassi Racing IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship driver is set to make his Le Mans debut this weekend at the wheel of a High Class Racing-run Oreca 07 LMP2, sharing a cockpit with his father Jan and fellow countryman Anders Fjordbach.
On Sunday, the trio ended up 12th in the LMP2 class with Magnussen setting the car’s best time of 3m33.680s in the afternoon session. That compared with a 3m31.105s set by class pacesetter Paul-Loup Chatin.
Read Also:
- Le Mans test day: Glickenhaus tops test ahead of Toyota
- Gallery: Le Mans 24 Hours test day in pictures
“The first few laps around here just feel special,” reflected Magnussen, who was named as part of Peugeot’s 2022 Le Mans Hypercar squad earlier this year. “You’ve watched it on TV for so many years and then when you go and do it yourself, it’s really cool.
“I knew I would like the track; it’s cool, not only because of the history but also because it’s really unique. You don’t get a ‘street’ circuit like this anywhere else in the world.
“We had a few small technical issues during the morning session, plus the three red flags, which interrupted the testing programme a bit, but the afternoon went much better. We got a lot of good laps, data and feedback to work on so it’s a good start.
“I feel pretty comfortable with the track now and I need to let the other two drivers get some laps behind the wheel from here on. All in all, I’m happy.”
Magnussen’s father Jan, a veteran of 22 Le Mans starts and a four-time class winner with Corvette Racing, added that the novelty of sharing a car at Le Mans with his son was not detracting from the task at hand of being competitive in the LMP2 class.
“Obviously being here with Kevin is super special, and hard to put into words,” said Magnussen Sr. “It’s fantastic, but Le Mans is Le Mans and that takes over. It’s about being competitive, doing better and finding lap time and speed everywhere.
“We were just talking about it and noted how little the father/son thing has taken up space today and how much competition has taken up the time. I’m super happy about that. [We have] been very focussed on the job that we’re here to do.”
High Class’s second entry, which will be shared by IMSA regular Ricky Taylor, Aston Martin factory driver Marco Sorensen and Dennis Andersen, was 14th-fastest of the 25 LMP2 entries on Sunday, and fourth of the cars entered in the Pro-Am subclass.
Taylor set the car’s fastest time of 3m33.839s, less than two tenths slower than Magnussen.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Ogier appears set for Toyota Hypercar run in WEC rookie test
Next article What to expect from the all-female Richard Mille Racing Team at Le Mans
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jamie Klein
Super Formula Fuji: Ayumu Iwasa wins as Kakunoshin Ohta misses chance to seal title
Super Formula
Super Formula
Fuji II
Super Formula Fuji: Ayumu Iwasa wins as Kakunoshin Ohta misses chance to seal title
Super Formula Fuji: Igor Fraga wins while Kakunoshin Ohta closes on title
Super Formula
Super Formula
Fuji II
Super Formula Fuji: Igor Fraga wins while Kakunoshin Ohta closes on title
More from
Jan Magnussen
Bourdais, Moss headline second batch of Sebring's 75 all-time greatest drivers
IMSA
IMSA 5 h
Bourdais, Moss headline second batch of Sebring's 75 all-time greatest drivers
Jan Magnussen to make Le Mans return in LMP2 class
WEC
WEC
Jan Magnussen to make Le Mans return in LMP2 class
Magnussen: "Hard to comprehend" extent of Le Mans bad luck
WEC
WEC
24 Hours of Le Mans
Magnussen: "Hard to comprehend" extent of Le Mans bad luck
More from
High Class Racing
Two IMSA LMP2 drivers on probation for causing crash
IMSA
IMSA
Two IMSA LMP2 drivers on probation for causing crash
WEC squad High Class Racing enters full IMSA LMP2 season
IMSA
IMSA
WEC squad High Class Racing enters full IMSA LMP2 season
Kubica joins High Class LMP2 squad for Bahrain WEC races
WEC
WEC
Bahrain
Kubica joins High Class LMP2 squad for Bahrain WEC races
Latest news
Spy shots of 2027 NASCAR Ford Mustang testing at Charlotte, but what's different?
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
1 h
Spy shots of 2027 NASCAR Ford Mustang testing at Charlotte, but what's different?
Five key takeaways from F1's big African Grand Prix reveal in Rwanda
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 2 h
Five key takeaways from F1's big African Grand Prix reveal in Rwanda
Niels Koolen makes switch to Abel Motorsports ahead of 2027 Indy NXT campaign
Indy NXT
IndL Indy NXT 3 h
Niels Koolen makes switch to Abel Motorsports ahead of 2027 Indy NXT campaign
GT World Challenge Portimao: All you need to know about season finale featuring Max Verstappen
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance
WCEE GT World Challenge Europe Endurance 4 h
GT World Challenge Portimao: All you need to know about season finale featuring Max Verstappen
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe