After having debuted with McLaren in 1995, Jan Magnussen, now 42 years old, competed in 24 Grand Prix with Jackie and Paul Stewart's outfit in 1997 and 1998. Then he turned to a career in endurance. In 1999, he was at the start of his first 24 Hours of Le Mans, at which he finished 11th. He drove prototypes until 2003: first at the wheel of a front-engine Panoz, then an Audi R8 (fourth in 2003). In 2004, he became a factory GT driver with Corvette. With Monaco native Olivier Beretta and British driver Oliver Gavin, he won three consecutive class victories (2004-2005-2006), and his best overal result (fourth in 2006). After a fourth win in 2009 (that time along with American driver Johnny O'Connell and Spaniard Antonio Garcia), he is still today one of Corvette's pilars, at Le Mans as well as in the American Le Mans Series then the Tudor United SportsCar Championship in the U.S.

Just like his father, Kevin Magnussen (23 years old) came up in Formula 1 and with McLaren, in a full season in 2014 with the 2009 World Champion, Jenson Button. He finished 11th overall, with a podium finish in his first Grand Prix (second in Australia). Replaced by Fernando Alonso, now he has been selected by Porsche to test  the 919 Hybrid, along with New Zealander Mitch Evans and British driver Oliver Turvey. "The Porsche 919 Hybrid is the first race car I have driven for months, and it’s an amazing car with amazing power. It is easy to feel that this is probably the most advanced race car in the world at the moment. I have a few things to work on, especially getting on top of braking. As you can’t see the front wheels here, you don’t really know when you’re locking up, so that is something to get used to and there is also a lot less visibility compared to a single seater. So there are a few things to get used to, but the first impression is really good and I enjoyed it a lot."

Awaiting a future participation in the 24 Hours of Le Mans or in the World Endurance Championship? We shall see...

Jean-Philippe Doret / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO
(Quotations from Porsche Motorsport press release)

Photo: MONTMELO (CATALONIA, SPAIN), CIRCUIT DE CATALUNYA, TUESDAY NOVEMBER 10 2015. Kevin Magnussen getting to know the Porsche 919 Hybrid.