Lower series racing Born in
Roskilde, Magnussen won the 1992 Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch, then dominated the
1994 British Formula 3 championship with
Paul Stewart Racing, winning fourteen of the eighteen events and breaking
Ayrton Senna's F3 record. Magnussen scored his first British F3 win that April at
Donington Park, also taking pole for the race. He also won at
Brands Hatch, twice at
Silverstone, and at
Thruxton. He won six of the first eight races. He then won again at Donington Park, and both season-ending rounds at Silverstone.
Major series racing Magnussen made his
Formula One debut at the
1995 Pacific Grand Prix in Aida, sitting in for
Mika Häkkinen, who was unwell; becoming the first
Danish to race in the category since
Tom Belsø in
1974. In 1996, Magnussen drove in the
CART series and
International Touring Car Championship. For 1997–1998, Magnussen had a seat in Formula One with the newly founded
Stewart Grand Prix team, owned in part by his old F3 boss
Paul Stewart. Team founder
Jackie Stewart once described him as "the most talented young driver to emerge since
Ayrton Senna", but his performance was underwhelming. He scored his only championship point in his last race in F1, the
1998 Canadian Grand Prix; for the rest of the season he was replaced by
Jos Verstappen. Magnussen started 24 GPs, one less than he entered, because his car was damaged in an accident during the start of the
1997 Brazilian Grand Prix causing him to retire before the restart. at the
1999 24 Hours of Le Mans In 1999, Magnussen participated in seven CART races. In 1999 and 2000, he raced in the
American Le Mans Series with Panoz. In 2001, he drove a Peugeot in Danish Touring Car series (DTC) and raced in eight ALMS races. 2002 he also raced for Peugeot in DTC and in ten ALMS races. Magnussen won the 2008 GT1 and 2013 GT drivers' championships, both with Corvette Racing. Magnussen has participated in various classes in the
24 hours of Le Mans every year since
1999. His best results so far are the victories in the GTS class in
2004 and GT1 class in
2005,
2006, and
2009, each time in a
Chevrolet Corvette with
Oliver Gavin and
Olivier Beretta as teammates in 2005 and 2006, and
Johnny O'Connell and
Antonio García in 2009. Also, Magnussen has participated in the
12 Hours of Sebring every year since 1999, winning the GT1 class in
2006,
2008, and
2009. In 2005, Magnussen drove a
Toyota Corolla in the Danish Touring Car Championship.
Present day Magnussen was still an active driver, competing in the
Danish Touring Car Championship (DTC) until 2010 and in a
Chevrolet Corvette C7.R in the
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with
Antonio Garcia as teammate until 2019 – and in the 24 hours of Le Mans. In the Danish Touring Car series, he drove a Chevrolet Lacetti for Perfection Racing. He won the DTC in 2003 and 2008. in 2010 On 11 June 2010, it was announced that Magnussen would make his
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut driving the No. 09 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet for
Phoenix Racing at
Infineon Raceway. After starting 32nd on the grid, he finished in twelfth position. On 14 June 2010, it was announced that Magnussen and Perfection Racing would not be participating in the DTC, leaving Magnussen and the team to focus on the Scandinavian Touring Car Cup's remaining two rounds. Magnussen drove the No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro with Robin Liddell and Andrew Davis in the 2010 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series season opener, the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Following the Rolex 24, he moved to the team's No. 97 car and competed in the majority of the races with Gunter Schaldach. Magnussen finished 24th in GT points and his best finish was second (Miller) with four top-tens. On 7 November 2019, Magnussen was confirmed to drive in the inaugural
TCR Denmark Touring Car Series for LM Racing in a
VW Golf GTI TCR. On 22 July 2023, Magnussen won
Aurum 1006 km endurance race in Lithuania, driving a Mercedes-Benz AMG GT3 Evo. On 16 September 2024, it was announced that Magnussen would take part in the Walter Hayes Trophy at Silverstone in November, driving a GT Motorsport-prepared Van Diemen RF78 in the same Duckhams colours that adorned his car at the 1992 Formula Ford Festival ==Family==