This weekend, the F1 podium finisher will be teaming up with nine-time MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi in the Spa 24.
Less than a fortnight ago, Magnussen was racing a Hypercar with the BMW squad Team WRT. This week, the Dane is in GT3 machinery for the same team.
Magnussen is very much enjoying his time with the Belgian outfit as he has a chance to win whatever race he enters.
Bathurst could be next on that list. Team WRT are regulars at The Mountain with Rossi, and Magnussen did not shy away from his desire to race there.
“That is a massive privilege with BMW, they do a lot of racing,” Magnussen said in a media conference with Speedcafe.
“I can take a look at the global motorsport calendar, and start to look at Bathurst or Nordschleife, or Spa 24. It’s a lot of fun.”
Magnussen was asked if competing in the Bathurst 12 Hour was at the top of that list.
“I don’t know… I just said there are so many cool races out there, and BMW are doing them all,” he explained.
“I think Team WRT is a very cool place as a racing driver because there are so many opportunities, being with the manufacturer that are doing so many things, and being competitive in so many things.”
This week the F1 podium finisher will tick one of these races off the bucket list, the Spa 24.
But how did an ex-F1 driver and a two-wheel star end up racing together?
“We were in Qatar. We were out having dinner with the team and Vale [Valentino Rossi] was like, ‘We should do Spa together’ and I said ‘yeah cool’,” he chuckled.
“I’m very much looking forward to sharing the car with one of the biggest sports icons in the world and hopefully going for the win there too.”
The duo will share the BMW M4 with Rene Rast, a three-time DTM champion.
Team WRT won the Intercontinental GT Challenge opener at Bathurst early in the year while fellow BMW outfit ROWE Racing claimed the Nurburgring 24 honours.
The third round this weekend at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium will also act as a round of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Series, featuring a record 76 cars.
“They it’s a lot of people here who’ve been in the organisation for many, many years, and you can feel that that that experience is really helping them in the way they’re getting organised, in the way they solve problems and go about the racing,” said Magnussen.
“It’s a very, very good team and BMW as manufacturer, supporting us with a great support on the engineering side and design, I think it’s, it’s a really, really good setup.”
The 24 Hours of Spa can be viewed via the venue’s social media platforms and will be live on Speedcafe.
Discussion about this post