Jan Ellegaard Magnussen (born 4 July 1973) is a Danish professional racing driver and a factory driver for General Motors. He has competed in Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), NASCAR, the FIA Formula One World Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Career history

Lower series racing

Born in Roskilde, Magnussen dominated the 1994 British Formula 3 championship with Paul Stewart Racing, winning 14 of the 18 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

He made his Formula One debut at the 1995 Pacific Grand Prix in Aida, sitting in for Mika Häkkinen, who was unwell. In 1996 Magnussen drove in the CART series and International Touring Car Championship. For 1997–1998 he had a seat in Formula One with the newly founded Stewart Grand Prix team, owned in part by his old F3 boss Paul Stewart.