Magnussen fastest in first day of Porsche WEC shootout

Ousted McLaren reserve Kevin Magnussen thinks he has put himself in pole position to make the switch to Le Mans with Porsche.

Magnussen is in Barcelona this week, where he is taking part in a ‘shootout’-style test alongside rival Porsche candidates Mitch Evans and Oliver Turvey.

Porsche has a vacancy in its 2016 Le Mans programme due to the fabled 24 hour race’s calendar clash with the inaugural grand prix in Azerbaijan, which has ruled out this year’s winner Nico Hulkenberg.

“It is easy to feel that this probably is the most advanced race car in the world at the moment. I can’t wait to get back in,” Dane Magnussen said after Tuesday’s running.

The 23-year-old told the Danish broadcaster TV2 that the last race car he drove was the McLaren in Australia, when he filled in for the ill Fernando Alonso.

“I’ve been looking forward to it like crazy,” he said on the telephone from Barcelona, where he drove the Porsche, “and I was not disappointed.

“I was a little nervous at first, but that went once I got started. I was the fastest, and that is quite important. All three drivers got the same conditions, so it was quite fair for everyone.”

As for Porsche’s Le Mans-winning LMP1 prototype, Magnussen said: “It’s a really cool car. It’s not as fast as a formula one, but only because of the weight — if a F1 car was as heavy, it would not be able to keep up with the Porsche.”

“So in that way, Porsche has gotten more out of its car than formula one has with its cars. In pure performance, it’s the best I’ve ever driven,” he added.