Father and son Jan and Kevin Magnussen team up for Le Mans
Former Formula 1 racers Kevin Magnussen and Jan Magnussen will form a father and son line-up at August's Le Mans 24 Hours, joining up with Anders Fjordbach in a High Class Racing LMP2 entry.
With both Jan and Kevin Magnussen competing in sportscars in 2021, rumours of the pair forming a father and son duo were ramping up in recent months, and the news was revealed on Friday morning during a press event in Denmark.
After leaving Formula 1 following six full seasons with McLaren, Renault and Haas, Kevin Magnussen joined Chip Ganassi Racing to race Daytona prototypes in the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar team, making his sportscar debut at the 2021 Rolex 24 at Daytona.
His 47-year-old father Jan, a former F1 racer himself with McLaren and Stewart, has also been a free agent after leaving the Corvette factory team at the end of 2019.
#63 Corvette Racing, Chevrolet Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
In a 16-year stint representing the GM brand in sportscar racing, Magnussen senior won Le Mans' GT class four times, including three consecutive wins in 2004, 2005 and 2006. His last GTLM title in America came in 2018.
After concluding his Corvette career Magnussen switched to the High Class Racing team of his Danish compatriot Anders Fjordbach in the LMP2 class of the FIA World Endurance Championship, forming a trio with Dennis Andersen in the #20 Oreca.
High Class Racing will enter a second car at Le Mans, with Magnussen and Fjordbach moving across to the #49 Oreca and Kevin Magnussen slotting in alongside his father.
It will mark the first time father and son Magnussen share a car, fulfilling a long-time goal of the Magnussen family.
"It's crazy cool that what we have been talking and dreaming about for many years has suddenly become reality," Kevin Magnussen said.
"Le Mans is the greatest race in the world and I can't think of a better experience than competing in that race with my dad.
"It will be the first race that we will run together and my debut at Le Mans. Our goal has been to field a team that can win, and I think we've succeeded."
His father added: "I get goosebumps when I see pictures of the car with both our names on it.
"Father and son sharing a car at Le Mans is a great story in itself, but the fact that we're both doing it in a strong setup with a chance of winning is unique."
The postponed 2021 Le Mans 24 Hours will be held on August 21-22, with the new WEC season getting under way at next week's Spa 6 Hours on Saturday May 1, which will be streamed live on Motorsport.tv.
Related video
How an ingenious fix prevented a movie legend from winning Le Mans
Le Mans 2021 was "last chance" for Magnussen father-and-son pairing
The remarkable fixes Toyota used to avert another Le Mans disaster
The 1-2 finish achieved by Toyota at this year's Le Mans 24 Hours was a result that will have surprised few, given its status as pre-event favourite. But the result was anything but straightforward, as worsening fuel pressure concerns required the team's drivers and engineers to pursue "creative fixes" on the fly. Here is the full story of how it reached the end without a lengthy pit visit
Inside the Le Mans finish too barmy for Hollywood
Team WRT has been at the forefront of GT racing for years and made a successful move to prototypes for 2021, capped by an LMP2 win on its Le Mans debut. It could've been even better had the race been one lap shorter, when its cars ran 1-2, but the stranger-than-fiction reality has spurred the team to reach greater heights
The standout memories of Le Mans 2021
OPINION: With four of the five Hypercar entries unproven in a 24-hour race, it would not have been unexpected for at least one of them to suffer serious reliability trouble. That they all managed to make it through the race relatively unscathed, says GARY WATKINS, was something of a surprise.
Why Toyota's Le Mans victory was not as simple as it looked
Toyota scored its fourth Le Mans 24 Hours victory and a 1-2, with the #7 car of Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Jose Maria Lopez beating the #8. But although it looked straightforward from the outside, Toyota faced serious problem that had to be solved with some quick-thinking and ingenuity
10 things we've learned from the 2021 Le Mans 24 Hours so far
The new dawn for the World Endurance Championship has arrived at Le Mans, as Hypercars prepare to duel for victory in the world's oldest endurance race. Autosport picks out the 10 things we have learned in the build up to the race.
Le Mans 2021: The team by team guide
After a two-month delay due to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 Le Mans 24 Hours is set to get underway with the start of the Hypercar era at the Circuit de la Sarthe
The ex-F1 drivers making a name for themselves in Le Mans' underrated class
Kevin Magnussen will make his Le Mans 24 Hours debut this weekend alongside father Jan in LMP2. But the Danes won't be the only ex-F1 drivers to appear in the hotly contested category this year.
Can Toyota's #7 crew break its Le Mans curse?
One Toyota, normally with the number 7 on the side, always seems to attract the bad luck in the Le Mans 24 Hours. Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez are hoping for a change in fortune this time around, but face significantly more unknowns than in recent years