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BOWMANVILLE, Ontario, Canada, July 22, 2012 - Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen scored their fourth podium finish in five American Le Mans Series races in today's Mobil 1 presents the Grand Prix of Mosport. Their No. 3 Compuware Corvette C6.R started on the GT pole after setting a qualifying record Saturday at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Garcia led the opening 47 minutes in his first race at Mosport, and Magnussen was in contention for the victory on the final lap.
The No. 45 Porsche of Joerg Bergmeister and Patrick Long finished first on the track, but was subsequently excluded from the results for a technical infraction following a post-race inspection. The No. 01 Ferrari of Scott Sharp and Johannes van Overbeek was declared the winner, and the No. 3 Corvette, third across the stripe, was promoted to second. Garcia and Magnussen's runner-up finish vaulted them into the lead in the GT driver standings ahead of teammates Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner, who finished 10th after the Corvette crew changed a malfunctioning transmission in the No. 4 Compuware Corvette C6.R.
The closing laps of the two-hour, 45-minute race featured a Porsche-Corvette-Ferrari freight train as the three cars raced nose-to-tail. Magnussen kept the pressure on the class-leading Porsche for nearly an hour. Van Overbeek joined the fray as the frontrunners encountered traffic, and pulled off a pass on Magnussen coming out of Moss Corner on the last lap.
"I'm sure we had a better car than Joerg, but he was fast in some crucial places that made it impossible to pass," Magnussen said. "I knew I was risking my position, but I had to have a go at Joerg. We got together a little, I lost momentum, and Van Overbeek just went up the inside - it was a fair pass, he saw a gap and went for it."
Garcia drove a strong opening stint in his debut at the fast Canadian circuit. He started from the GT pole, and led the first 30 laps. After pitting under the second of three full-course cautions, the Spaniard emerged ninth in the GT category. He methodically drove back through the field to P2 before handing off to Magnussen at 1:44 into the race.
"My first race at Mosport had a bit of everything," Garcia said. "At the start of the race, Tommy and I had a really clear run, and we could make a safe gap to the BMW and Porsche. When the yellow flags came, things started
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