Magnussen ruled out of Daytona 24 Hours after surgery
Haas Formula 1 driver Kevin Magnussen will not take part in the Daytona 24 Hours after undergoing a surgery on his left hand last week.
Photo by: SRO
Magnussen’s participation in the flagship round of the IMSA SportsCar Championship was plunged into doubt when doctors discovered a cyst that needed to be removed prior to the start of the Formula 1 season.
While the surgery was successful, the Danish driver has been advised against competing in the Floridian endurance race to make a full recovery in time for his primary campaign in F1.
The 30-year-old was due to drive a MDK Motorsport-entered Porsche 911 GT3 R with father Jan Magnussen, Mark Kvamme and Trenton Estep in the GTD class of the twice-round-the-clock enduro.
His place in the #53 Porsche crew will now be taken by Jason Hart, who also drives for the team in the Porsche Carrera Cup North America.
“I’ve been advised by the doctors not to drive the race next week,” said Magnussen.
“The surgery went well, but I need to rest as much as possible to be fit for fight before we begin preparing for the F1 season.
“It’s a shame. I’ve been looking forward to that fantastic race and to get a new chance to drive with my father and MDK Motorsports. I’m wishing the team a great weekend at Daytona.”
#43 AF Corse - MDK Motorsports Ferrari 488 GT3: Kevin Magnussen, Jan Magnussen, Mark Kvamme
Photo by: SRO
The Magnussen son-and-father duo most recently shared a Ferrari 488 GT3 for the same MDK Motorsport team at the Gulf 12 Hours in December.
They also completed their dream of racing at the Le Mans 24 Hours together in 2021 when they were part of the High Class Racing crew in the LMP2 class.
Kevin Magnussen previously finished fifth overall at Daytona in 2021 while driving a Cadillac DPi.-V.R for Chip Ganassi.
Magnussen was due to focus on his second F1 return season with Haas in 2023 following his Daytona outing, while his father Jan has signed a deal for the entire four-round Michelin Endurance Cup leg of IMSA with MDK.
“We’re glad that Kevin’s surgery went successful, and we all wish him a speedy recovery,” says team owner and driver Kvamme.
“As we have already stated, our drivers’ and team members’ health are always our number one priority.
“We’re also happy to announce that Kevin will be replaced at Daytona by our Porsche Carrera Cup driver Jason Hart.
“Jason and I raced together at Le Mans last year and I was very impressed with his long-time experience, talent and dedication to his craft. This is going to be another exciting challenge for MDK Motorsports."
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Quartararo: Marquez's Honda MotoGP exit "woke a lot of people up" at Yamaha
Vinales: Aprilia MotoGP win has a “different value” to Suzuki, Yamaha triumphs
The experiment WEC could revisit to magnify its boom period
Komatsu: Magnussen a team player despite reason to be “pissed off”
Haas: Jeddah F1 “Unsportsmanlike” accusations were “complete bullshit”
The driving style secrets of F1's current stars
Red Bull in no rush to finalise 2025 F1 line-up
Oliveira reckons MotoGP “looks too easy” on TV now
The short-term pain that hides a very real Williams improvement
WEC Imola: Ye fastest to lead Ferrari 1-2 in practice
How canny Porsche strategy snatched Daytona spoils from Cadillac
How a battle of two US titans will grip IMSA in 2024
How IMSA's GTP revival proved worthy of its name
How Porsche's Daytona hiccups evoked the premiere of its Group C king
Subscribe and access Autosport.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.
Top Comments