It was his unprecedented results in the 1994
British Formula 3 Championship, beating even Ayrton Senna's
record by winning 14 of the 18 races, that brought Jan
Magnussen to the attention of the Formula One team owners.
McLaren boss, Ron Dennis, quickly offered the 22-year-old
first a test and then a race drive in the 1995 Pacific Grand
Prix when Mika Hakkinen was recovering from having his
appendix out. Jan has competed in 25 Grands Prix.
1984 - 1986
Raced go karts in Denmark and won the
Champion of Denmark title in 1985 and 1986.
1987
Won the Junior Karting World Championship.
1988
Won the Junior Australian Go Kart Grand Prix.
1989
Won the Junior Karting World Championship.
1990
Won the Senior Karting World Championship.
1991
Continued karting being the runner-up in the
Scandinavian Karting Championship. Had single-seater debut in
a Formula Ford 1600 at the Danish Jyllands-Ringen circuit.
1992
Competed in the British Formula Ford 1600
Championship, finishing third in the Championship with seven
wins. Won the prestigious Brands Hatch Formula Ford Festival.
1993
Competed in the Formula Vauxhall Lotus and
Opel Lotus European Championships. Made his Formula 3 debut
for Paul Stewart Racing, finishing 4th and 3rd in his two
races.
1994
Competed in the British Formula 3
Championship for Paul Stewart Racing with Dario Franchitti as
his team mate, and won the title, winning 14 of the 18 races
along the way. He was given a test with the McLaren Grand Prix
team and drove their McLaren-Peugeot MP4/9.
1995
Competed in touring car racing for the
German factory Mercedes AMG team, again with Dario Franchitti
as his team-mate. Finished 8th in the DTM and runner-up in the
ITC series, winning one ITC race at Estoril, Portugal. Was
official test driver for the McLaren Mercedes Grand Prix team.
The highs and lows of the year were substituting for an ill
Mika Hakkinen at the Pacific Grand Prix in Aida, Japan, where
he finished tenth in the McLaren-Mercedes, and breaking a leg
in a scooter accident and missing six races.
1996
Competed again for the German factory
Mercedes AMG team in ITC, and for the third consecutive year
was teamed with Dario Franchitti. Continued as McLaren
Mercedes test driver. Also raced for the Penske factory Indy
Car team in Mid Ohio and then did the final three races of the
season for the privateer Hogan Penske team.
1997
Competed in Formula One with the newly
formed Stewart Grand Prix Team in the Stewart-Ford, partnering
Brazilian, Rubens Barrichello. His best qualifying position
was sixth in the Austrian Grand Prix at the A1-Ring and his
highest race finish was seventh in Monaco.
1998
Competed again for the Stewart Grand Prix
Team in the Stewart-Ford with Rubens Barrichello. Poor results
at the beginning of the season resulted in him being replaced
by Jos Verstappen following the Canadian Grand Prix, in which
his 6th place was the best result of his 25 race Grand Prix
career. His reputation and availability brought him to the
attention of Panoz Motor Sports and he tested the Panoz GTR-1
at Road Atlanta on the 23rd November. He immediately impressed
the team management and was offered and accepted a drive for
1999.
1999
Driving for Panoz Motor Sports in the
American Le Mans Series and the Le Mans 24 Hour race with
team-mates Eric Bernard, David Brabham and Johnny O'Connell in
the Panoz LMP-1 Roadster S. A win at Mosport and a second at
Laguna Seca were among the results which secured him 6th place
in the drivers' Championship.
2000
Will be driving for a second season with
Panoz, partnering David Brabham in the Panoz LMP-1 Roadster S
in the American Le Mans Series. Drove magnificently in the wet
to win at Nurburgring, and 2nd places at Charlotte and
Silverstone have been highlights of the year so far.
