Magnussen Crashes Out After Palou Contact Prior to Halfway

Image: IMSA

Kevin Magnussen has crashed out of the Motul Petit Le Mans after rear-ending the No. 93 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 of Alex Palou just prior to halfway mark in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season finale.

Magnussen’s No. 25 Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 got caught out by Palou, who was on an out lap on slick tires while on a drying Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, which saw the Dane’s GTP car catch air and slam into the Turn 3 barriers.

The Dane climbed from the BMW under his own power while the five-time NTT IndyCar Series driver sustained rear-end damage but continued circulating around the track while under the race’s seventh full-course caution.

Magnussen was evaluated and released from the trackside medical center, per an IMSA spokesperson.

It came less than five minutes after the two MSR Acuras collided while battling for the lead, while in the hands of Colin Braun (No. 60) and Renger van der Zande (No. 93).

Van der Zande was handed a drive-through penalty for incident responsibility.

The chaos up front gave the lead to the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R of Ricky Taylor ahead of Frederik Vesti’s No. 31 Action Express Cadillac.

Dries Vanthoor was third in the No. 24 BMW, which had led in the hands of co-driver Sheldon van der Linde.

A 30-minute red flag period for lightning in the area saw the race resume behind the safety car with five hours and 55 minutes remaining, with the green coming back out 17 minutes later.

LMP2 was led by the No. 18 Era Motorsport Oreca 07 Gibson of Jacob Abel just prior to halfway, while Jack Hawksworth (Vasser Sullivan) and Albert Costa (Conquest Racing) paced GTD Pro and GTD, respectively.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John