Magnus Racing4 Research Daytona 24H Friday report

No. 4 eBay Motors/Children’s Tumor Foundation/Racing4 Research Porsche GT3 Team Ready To Roll And Raise Funding in 50th Anniversary Rolex 24 At Daytona

Ryan Eversley, Justin Bell, Daniel Graeff and Ron Yarab Team for Neurofibromatosis Research

#4 Magnus Racing Porsche GT3: Justin Bell, Ryan Eversley, Daniel Graeff, Ron Yarab Jr.

Photo by: Eric Gilbert

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida (January 27, 2012) – A cautious yet productive run through Friday’s rainy final practice session for this weekend’s 50th Anniversary Rolex 24 At Daytona left the No. 4 eBay Motors/Children’s Tumor Foundation/Racing4Research Porsche GT3 team ready to race and raise funds for the fight against neurofibromatosis (NF) in tomorrow’s day-long race. The green flag for the historic Golden Anniversary running of America’s premier 24-hour race drops this Saturday, January 28, at 3:30 p.m. ET with live television coverage on SPEED beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET/11:30 a.m. PT.

Team drivers Ryan Eversley, Justin Bell, Daniel Graeff and Ron Yarab all had ample time at the wheel of the No. 4 eBay Motors/Children’s Tumor Foundation/Racing4Research Porsche GT3 the last two days at Daytona. While Friday’s final wet sessions were skipped by many teams, the No. 4 Porsche made the most of some limited laps in the final practice run before tomorrow’s Rolex 24 race start.

“We went out this morning just to try the car,” Bell said. “We had an error issue that we wanted to clarify on the data. It wasn’t much fun, I can assure you, in the slippery conditions. After last night’s practice, we’re very confident in the pace of our car. We’re going to rely heavily on the yellow flags, full course yellows and the wave-bys to gain position. This race will be down to the last yellow flag until the finish.”

Eversley drove the opening laps in the wet session.

“We needed to bed in some brakes so went out, did the brakes, and while we were doing it, the car felt really good in the wet conditions,” Eversley said. “So we worked on just kind of getting a lap out of it, and I think we were in the top 10 pretty easily. I ran around with Wolf Henzler for about a lap and a half and on our in laps we both had 52.1s or something. I’m pretty sure he wanted to stay out and go P1 as well but it was nice to have the car in the top 10 and not kill ourselves to do it. The focus was to get the car ready for the race.”

The Children’s Tumor Foundation/Racing4Research program increases awareness of neurofibromatosis (NF) and raises funds for research to find a cure for the debilitating disease. The program’s fifth-year campaign at the 50th Anniversary Rolex 24 At Daytona has the double support of leading online companies eBay Motors and Quicken Loans Inc. The Rolex 24 Racing4Research program has become the annual kickoff event for CTF fundraising each year and donations can be made at www.racing4research.org.

Friday’s practice also included another dry run of a special webcast from the Magnus Racing pit. The webcast will run the entirety of Rolex 24 race and is available through the eBay World’s Fastest Car Show website, and the eBay Motors mobile app, which can be downloaded at http://mobile.ebay.com. Viewers can watch and listen to the challenges the teams and drivers will go through during the twice-around-the-clock classic, and get on-the-scene reports from Bell and the other team drivers.

The No. 4 eBay Motors/Racing4Research campaign will also be featured later this year in a second season episode of The World’s Fastest Car Show Hosted by Justin Bell, a unique web, mobile and app-accessible show available only at eBay Motors and on eBay Mobile. Bell will also be giving live reports during SPEED’s broadcast of the Rolex 24 from inside the No. 4 Porsche during his driving stints.

The extra online media exposure from eBay Motors and SPEED.com should be very helpful in this year’s Racing4Research campaign. Graeff has been a driver and avid supporter of the program from the beginning.

“The good news is we have great chances,” Graeff said. “We’re in great position, only a second off the very top of the field, who are the best in the world. We’re not too shabby as a team, either. The only challenge is another 20 to 30 guys behind us are another second off of us. I think this is going to be one hell of a race. It’s going to come down to being smooth, fast and smart, and having a great car at the end. It sounds obvious, but it’s not so easy.”

Graeff and his teammates will kick race weekend off with a CTF/Racing4Research dinner Friday night.

“Tonight is a very special moment that kicks off the real reason why we’re here, which is to raise money for the Children’s Tumor Foundation, supported by eBay Motors and Quicken Loans,” Graeff said. “We’re going to meet the kids and families and have a wonderful evening with them. The children share how they raised money in their own communities to have this special weekend at Daytona and tell their own personal stories. They have amazing stories. The fact that they are dealing with hospital stays, pain, pain meds and all kinds of stuff like that, yet raise, in some cases, $60,000 to $70,000 in their own community becomes real fuel for our fire, our competitive spirit to come out here on Saturday and do what we’ve got to do for them.”

The 50th Anniversary Rolex 24 At Daytona starts tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. local time.