Kevin Magnussen ready for Petit Le Mans with BMW

The Danish BMW factory driver is set to assist his IMSA teammates in their push for the championship podium when the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season finale takes place this weekend at Road Atlanta.

After a disappointing FIA World Endurance Championship round at Japan’s Fuji Speedway two weeks ago – where Kevin Magnussen and his BMW M Team WRT teammates were forced to retire following a crash – the Danish factory driver is ready to bounce back. This time, he joins the American BMW M Team RLL at the legendary Road Atlanta circuit in Georgia for the IMSA season finale, the ten-hour Petit Le Mans, teaming up with his FIA WEC partner Dries Vanthoor and Philipp Eng.

While Magnussen has served as third driver in IMSA’s endurance rounds at Daytona and Sebring, Vanthoor and Eng have competed in the full championship season. With three podium finishes – including one victory – the duo currently hold third place in the overall standings. The leading Porsche squad enjoys a sizeable points advantage, putting the title realistically out of reach for the BMW drivers – but, as always, nothing is settled until the final race is over.

“While we’ve faced some challenges in the FIA World Endurance Championship this year, BMW has been strong in IMSA, so my job will be to help the team secure a championship podium and, of course, aim for a top result in the race itself,” says Kevin Magnussen.

This weekend will mark Magnussen’s debut at Road Atlanta, as he was forced to miss the 2021 Petit Le Mans due to illness while driving for Cadillac’s factory team. During a break in the Formula 1 calendar, however, he visited Road Atlanta back in 2018, where he watched his father, Jan Magnussen, clinch the GTLM title with Corvette Racing.

“Petit Le Mans is without a doubt one of the highlights of the year, and I’ve really been looking forward to experiencing Road Atlanta from inside the car. It’s a hugely old-school, very classic American racetrack, and with its challenging layout and a long list of competitors, it’s going to be exciting,” says Kevin Magnussen.

Magnussen, Vanthoor and Eng will battle 11 other cars in the top GTP class. In total, more than 50 cars across four categories will take the start in this year’s edition of Petit Le Mans, which goes green on Saturday, October 11, at 12:10 p.m. local time (6:10 p.m. CEST).