| Bell’s Surreal Start to 2025, Magnussen’s Return, and Gatting and Gounon’s Relationship January 17, 2025By Holly CainIMSA Wire Service |
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – It couldn’t be more of an understatement to say the last three weeks of Townsend Bell’s life have been unexpected and life-changing – a surprise ask by his friend, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship team co-owner Jimmy Vasser (along with team co-owner James “Sulli” Sullivan) to compete in the Rolex 24 At Daytona – and then much more radically, weeks later, having to evacuate his home in California as the wildfires approached. It is Bell’s first driving role in three years, and he will be doing double duty on track as a driver in the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 in the Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) class and in the booth as a broadcaster during the NBC telecast of the famed race. He arrived in Daytona Beach with a suitcase – one of the few belongings he quickly grabbed from his home in Pacific Palisades as he and his wife evacuated with the fires quickly moving toward his neighborhood. “It’s certainly the most devastating scene I’ve ever witnessed in person and in an eerie way it kind of reminds me of the 60 seconds after the [fatal] Dan Wheldon crash in Vegas,” Bell said. “It’s funny how it triggers that memory. Totally different situation, but utter disbelief. “Just like I climbed out of the car after the [fatal Wheldon] crash versus when I went back to my neighborhood after the fire, you’re like, ‘No way this has just happened.’” Bell said he was ironically on the phone discussing his new job in the broadcast booth for the 2025 IndyCar season when his wife came into the room and told him the fires had reached their neighborhood and they needed to leave. Now. They evacuated to his wife’s parents’ home, but days later, Bell went back to his house and got his racing helmet, ear plugs and racing shoes – renting a scooter to reach the house with the roads closed because of the emergency situation. He remembers that experience well. “I lived in neighborhood that burned down except when I turned the corner, the house that I live in was still standing and the fireball was at the top of the hill kind of coming down the canyon,” said Bell, a 2014 Rolex 24 class winner in GTD. “So, I went inside and called my wife and said, ‘I need to know the three things you need the most right now.’” In 11 minutes, Bell said he packed for his three jobs – racing and commentating – coming up in the next three weeks. His house in Pacific Palisades was among only a couple dozen still standing in the entire neighborhood – two homes he owns in Malibu, however, burned to the ground. “Just a surreal experience,” said Bell, who estimates it may be six to 12 months before he and his wife can go back to their home to live, but notes sadly, some of his close friends have lost everything. “Having said that, what an incredible effort from all the first responders that didn’t sleep for days and did everything they could to defend a 70-mph blowtorch.’’ Of being in Daytona Beach this week, Bell concedes, “to have a little escape right now, is actually welcome.’’ Magnussen Eager for Sports Car Return Only a year ago at this time, Kevin Magnussen was preparing to compete in the 2024 Formula One season. This month, the son of sports car legend Jan Magnussen begins a season in sports cars – something he says he so genuinely looks forward to. Magnussen will co-drive the No. 24 BMW M Team RLL Hybrid V8 competing in the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class in next week’s Rolex 24 – his third start in the historic twice-around-the-clock race and first since 2022. He will compete fulltime in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) as well – and racing stateside in three IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup events at Daytona, Sebring and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. He fondly remembers coming to the IMSA races as a kid with his father, a four-time sports car champion who won nearly 50 races – the experiences stocking a lifelong love of the sports car kind. Magnussen, who spent a decade competing in F1, said he is looking forward to the career transition and eager to improve on a pair of fifth-place finishes in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season-opener at Daytona – and his car was fastest in Friday’s two-hour afternoon practice. In 10 previous career IMSA starts, he has a victory – from pole position – at Detroit’s Belle Isle course in 2021. “I came here so much as a kid and grew up at these races in a way and always knew I wanted to be a part of that,” said Magnussen, 32, who said this opportunity was “absolutely” where he wanted to transition. “As a young boy you look up to your dad and want to do what he is doing. I guess for many drivers, Formula One is like the pinnacle which it is for me as well, but I certainly have an extra passion for sports car racing because I grew up with it.’’ “It’s more pure. … sports car racing in general, I think people love what they do more than they do in Formula One because it’s so competitive [in F1] it can be kind of cold in a way. I arrived here and see everyone smiling and looking forward to the race and everything. It’s a different vibe, different environment.’’ High Speed Romance Racing has provided not only a brilliant career for French-born driver Jules Gounon, 30 and Danish driver Michelle Gatting, 31, but the sport has also given the talented pair of racers an opportunity to fall in love. Racing circuits feel right at home for the couple, who will compete in different classes in the weekend’s Rolex 24 At Daytona. They met at a track three years ago and have been happily together at full speed ever since. Gounon, who now calls the small European municipality Andorra home, won the GTD PRO class in the 2023 Rolex 24. He’ll be driving the No. 75 75 Express Mercedes-AMG GT3 in that class this weekend. Gatting is competing with the accomplished Iron Dames, co-driving the No. 83 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) in the GTD class – her car pacing the morning session. “Of course, we met a race track,” Gatting said with a smile. “That was not the intention at all, but he used his French charm and made sure I knew who he was. It was very romantic and something, hopefully, we can look back at in many years and smile about it. It was very old-school and romantic and at a racetrack where we basically spend all our time.” The romance has certainly never proven to be distracting. In fact, the first weekend they were “officially” a couple they found big success. |
| “The first weekend we really were both together, we both won – I won the 24 hours of Spa and he won in Gold Cup for the first time for a woman,” Gounon recounted with a smile. The couple – both, coincidentally, born on December 31 – say they are well aware of one another on track even though they race in different classes. Away from the track, there is direct competition. “It’s quite competitive, probably more so from my side,” a smiling Gatting shared. “I really want to try and beat him way more than him. With everything in our life, we are very competitive. If we play UNO or tennis, it’s extremely competitive.’’ Adds Gounon with a grin, “She hates to lose and a few times at home we don’t speak for a few hours [if that happens]. But I don’t let her win. “I think it’s good we are not in the same category [on track] and have to fight against each other.’’ They have certainly found a way to make both their relationship and careers thrive. “Once the race starts, we are so focused on our own race,” Gounon said. “In the end, we are race car drivers. We love each other. We focus on our jobs and in the end we can debrief. “It is unique thing to go out to dinner with your girlfriend or boyfriend and speak about technique about the car. It’s certainly not your everyday conversation after work.” |
