Kevin Magnussen relishing ‘real racing’ return as BMW start Daytona 24 Hours on pole

Thomas Maher
Kevin Magnussen drives for BMW in WEC and IMSA in 2025.

Kevin Magnussen's #24 starts from pole position for the 2025 Rolex 24 at Daytona.

Kevin Magnussen is looking forward to being “much more competitive” in the “real racing” environment at the Daytona 24 Hours.

With his Formula 1 career almost certainly over, Magnussen has returned to the world of sportscar racing and races in the Daytona 24 Hours this weekend as part of the team in pole position.

Kevin Magnussen’s crew on pole position for Rolex 24 Hours

For the second time in his career, Kevin Magnussen has a chance of being on the winning team at the prestigious Daytona 24 Hours.

Following the conclusion of his first stint with Haas after 2020, Magnussen raced for Chip Ganassi’s Cadillac team and proved one of the stand-out performers as he was a strong contender for outright victory in 2021 – his team’s challenge curtailed by a puncture.

Returning to F1 with Haas at the start of 2022, Magnussen’s career in F1 has now almost certainly ended, resulting in his move back into sportscars to race with BMW’s LMDh programme with the M Hybrid sportscar.

For the season opener in IMSA, the Rolex Daytona 24 Hours, Magnussen is part of the driver line-up for the pole position #24 car as Dries Vanthoor topped qualifying with a 1:33.895.

Magnussen thus has a great chance of tasting podium success again, and said he’s relishing the prospect of taking part in “real racing” again.

“I’m very much looking forward to going into something that I feel is real racing, if you want – not to take anything away from Formula 1, but for me, it’s kind of been- there are Formula 1 drivers and then there are racing drivers. And I’ve always felt like a racing driver – also a Formula 1 driver, but very much a racing driver,” he said, as quoted by Autoweek.

Moving from F1, Magnussen said he expects to be racing towards the front of the field with BMW – a very different situation to fighting in the midfield with Haas.

“Where I came from [F1], only 10 first cars get points,” he said.

“Here, it’s a long race. You need to keep the car clean. Of course, if you’re fighting for the win at the very end, you go for it. That’s clear. But it is a very different situation with BMW.

“I’m going to be much, much more competitive, I think, towards the front of the field, than I’ve been in Formula 1. And so, it’s a very different risk-and-reward situation.”

When asked to compare the sprint nature of F1 to the endurance challenge of the 24 hours of racing ahead of him, Magnussen explained, “I’m looking forward to some great racing. I’ve been in IMSA before, and I know the racing is great. Sometimes in this Daytona 24, it’s the first race for all the drivers and you’re excited to get on track.

“It’s a little bit like they let the cows on the grass in the beginning of year and sometimes they get a little bit excited, even though there’s 24 hours to go on the first lap.”

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With Magnussen returning to sportscars, the challenge of racing the current-spec hybrid cars means the Danish driver is up against it due to needing time to acclimatise to the intricacies of such complex machinery.

“It’s a big challenge, because one of the biggest races is the first one [in IMSA],” Magnussen said.

“I’ve come straight off from one season that finishes very late in the year. So actually, I’ve not had that much progression.

“I had a test in Qatar with the WEC car, basically the same [car], a simulator day and then just communicating with all the engineers trying to memorise everything and get into all the wording of all the different systems.

“It’s a lot of studying. I’m trying to remember it all. The more laps you get the more second nature it just becomes and so it’s a pretty big step to go straight into the Daytona 24, but it’s also very exciting and a big challenge, and something that I’m very proud. And Dries put it on pole, so I couldn’t be happier.”

Speaking to PlanetF1.com ahead of his return to sportscars, Magnussen said he’s looking forward to getting stuck into series in which multiple manufacturers have a chance of victory.

“I think, in Hypercar at the moment, it’s a balance of performance category so I think it’s easy to look, and say, ‘Okay, there are some cars that have done a good job in the last couple of years’ – going back, Toyota, Ferrari, they look like the strongest cars there, but it is a balanced performance category.

“So, at the end of the day, I think it’s the operational side that actually will decide the most.

“I think it’s important to be with a big manufacturer where the funding is there and the stability is there, and you know that the operation is going to be proper. After that, you need to go with the right people.

“With BMW, there is a lot of strength there, so I’m really looking forward to it. I’m hoping that we can fight for wins in some of these big classic races that everyone wants to win!”

The Rolex Daytona 24 Hours gets underway at 18:40 UK time on Saturday evening.

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