Corvette Racing driver Jan Magnussen knows what it’s like to ride the fast track to stardom at an early age. The Dane swept through the junior open-wheel categories in Europe, blitzing the 1994 British Formula 3 championship and was shot into Formula 1 by McLaren the following year at the age of 22.

Now 40, the defending ALMS GT champion (ABOVE) finds himself in unfamiliar territory as his 21-year-old son Kevin – another young phenomenon – prepares to make his F1 debut in Australia this weekend with McLaren (BELOW). The merits of that tale alone – of a son following in his father’s footsteps with the same team 19 years apart – is interesting by itself, but it takes on an added dimension as the elder Magnussen will also be competing this weekend, vying for yet another win at the famed Twelve Hours of Sebring in Florida.

Father and son will be separated by a numerous time zones, but the F1 veteran says he’ll manage the best he can when he’s free.

“That’s just the rules we have to play by right now. I’m still very active in my career, and obviously the timing could be better, so I’ll be concentrating on what I’m doing and when I’m done, get back to Kevin’s stuff,” Magnussen told RACER. “Obviously, I’d have loved to have been in Australia for his debut, but that’s not possible, so I’ll go to Malaysia and see his second race.”

With the Antipodes so far ahead of Sebring, Magnussen will be able to catch Kevin’s sessions at Albert Park late at night, and he says he’ll try to lose as little sleep as possible,

“Because of the time difference to Australia, when he’s in the car, I’m not,” Mags explained. “His stuff will be on late night and early morning, so I can keep an eye on it. It’s a big race for us – 12 hours – so I can’t sit up all night watching TV or the live timing. And I so badly want to be there with him and I’m so proud of him, but I’m here with a job to do myself.”

Mags’ main priority is to try and steer his Corvette C7.R (BELOW) into Victory Lane, and after a promising debut for the brand-new cars at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, he confident a win is within reach.

“We are looking at a good result here, to get both cars on the podium and go for the win, and I believe we can do that,” he added. “The Corvette C7.R is very fast and has great potential, but it is the car’s first race here so we can’t make any big statements right now. We expect the Porsches to be fast again, so we’ll see how they go, but it’s a long race and we’re confident we can have success here.”

We know Jan will be rooting for Kevin from afar, but does he expect his son to do the same?

“I hope he just concentrates on what he’s doing!” Mags said with a laugh. “I really don’t know what to expect this weekend. I’m sure he’s going to be thinking about how I’m going at Sebring, but he has a big responsibility of his own. So if I don’t get any calls or texts from Kevin, I forgive him in advance.”