Porsche and Corvette have had some controversial battles over the past two races with contact between the two affecting the final race outcome.

But the close hard fought battles between these legendary GT brands is nothing new.

Back in 2009 at the final round of the American Le Mans Series the fight came down to the final lap – in fact, down to the last few meters of the race.

These guys are pure racers. The first thought that went through Jan Magnussen’s mind as he was spinning was “maybe I could win this race going backwards across the finish line!”

“Coming into the last corner I had realized I was probably going to finish second,” Magnussen said.

“But Joerg braked quite early. I think he was trying to control my pace to try to make sure I didn’t get a run on him.

“We touched at corner entry which unsettled his car and I was able to get up the inside with a run. He kept moving me over towards the wall and just after I had my nose in front we had contact and I spun across his nose.

“We were so close to the line that my first thought was to keep my foot in the gas and even if I crossed the finish line backwards, I could still take the win.”

Bergmeister’s Flying Lizard Motorsport Porsche just beat Magnussen to the line – just before the Corvette suffered a hard hit to the wall.

While that was his third consecutive second place finish at Mazda Raceway Laguna, Magnussen would later go on to taste victory here in 2013 and 2014.

There were no hard feelings between the two – they were still more than happy to stand next to each other a few years later in 2012 when they celebrated their 100th ALMS start along with Butch Leitzinger and Bill Auberlen at Lime Rock. (pictured right)

“Unfortunately the rear of my Corvette was just behind Joerg’s nose as we crossed the finish and I hit hard,” the Dane said.

“That was a big hit and I ended up with a broken tailbone and a couple of broken ribs! It was lucky it was the last race of the year.”

Despite the drama that befell the No.3 Corvette at Sebring and the No.4 machine at Long Beach, Magnussen is not going to back down from a fight.

“We are always going to race hard,” he said.

“Regardless of what happened in the past couple of races – if things get tight at the finish we’re going to give as good as we get.”

The battle between Porsche and Corvette – plus Ferrari, Ford and BMW – will continue this afternoon during qualifying at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca at 4.55pm.