With about 9 minutes left in the Monterey Sports Car Challenge, Jan Magnussen and the #3 Corvette C6.R came up behind the class leading #45 Flying Lizard Porsche driven by Joerg Bergmeister and the race to the checkered flag was on. In dramatic fashion, the two GT2 cars traded positions and paint a number of times before the final seconds when after a punt by Magnussen in turn 11, both cars turned up the straightway and raced toward the finish line. Magnussen clearly had the faster car but Bergmeister held a line that put Mags hard into the inside wall just shy of the finish line.

Following the crash, Jan was taken to the trackside medical center where he was examined and released.

"It was really good, hard racing," said Magnussen. "I didn't think I even had a chance after I had to give the position back. Going into the last corner I was too far away to make a proper attack, but Joerg parked the car. I didn't see that, so I slid up and hit him a little – he went sideways and I managed to get on the inside. It was a drag race up the hill, and I managed to get ahead of him. Then he turned me into the wall, and he kept turning in. Then I spun around the nose of his car."

The Porsche was credited with the 1.037-second victory while Magnussen's crash propelled him across the finish line for second place. The #4 Corvette C6.R had its own set of unique issues and finished 12 laps down in 10th place.

Following an epic battle such as this, you'll hear both camps defending the actions of their drivers. Porsche fans say that Mags deserved it as he was driving too aggressive. Corvette fans will say that Bergmeister was blocking for much of the final laps and the push on turn 11 was justified. What I saw was two racing teams who both wanted to win and both were racing hard down to the final flag. I actually think we are seeing the beginning of a great rivalry.

The last two points to make:

• 159 days until the 12 Hours of Sebring
• Jake Never Forgets!

The offical press release from Corvette Racing.

Sponsored By:

Bondurant School of High Performance Driving

Related:
Corvette Racing: Mags Wins First Pole for New GT2 Corvette C6.R
Corvette Racing Wraps Up GT2 Testing at Monterey's Laguna Seca

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