Krohn Racing continues to climb the timing charts

The popular green-and-blue liveried Krohn Racing Ferrari F458 of Tracy W. Krohn, Nic Jönsson and Michele Rugolo continues to climb the timing charts at the 24 Hours of Le Mans race. At the 12-hour mark, the Krohn Team was sitting in the third position in class and 34th overall.

#57 Krohn Racing Ferrari 458 Italia: Tracy Krohn, Nic Jonsson, Michele Rugolo

Photo by: Eric Gilbert

The driving trio has maintained steady paced laps, as attrition has played a role in the team’s progression. After a start near the back of the 56-car field, the No. 57 Krohn Racing Ferrari F458 has progressively improved their position. Other than struggles with the tires and a few brief off-road spins, the car has maintained a steady and solid pace.

MICHELE RUGOLO, No. 57 Krohn Racing Ferrari F458 GTE-Am:
“It started to be difficult compared to the first stint because the track is full of gravel. I think most of the drivers are starting to be tired so they are starting to make mistakes or they go out and bring all the gravel back on the track. Sometimes, especially in the new chicane on the Mulsanne straight line, where there is the new asphalt, the gravel is dark so you cannot see. When you are overtaking, the cars are slippery.

The car had good balance with the soft tires at night it’s pretty much okay. I did have a puncture so we had to pit earlier. But even the other cars had some problems so it was okay. I think I kept the position pretty well. We are P3 now (in class) and not really too far from the other cars. It’s still a very long race.”

NIC JONSSON, No. 57 Krohn Racing Ferrari F458 GTE-Am:
“I got in to a pretty good rhythm there the first stint of mine. I finally got some laps in daylight because I haven’t had that before during this week. It was nice to find my brake points and all the turning stuff. Our Krohn Racing Ferrari 458 is running pretty good right now. We are in cruising mode right now trying to get into the nighttime and go through the night. There was a huge crash down on the Mulsanne during my stint between two cars and then we were cruising around for about 45 minutes. The tires cooled down tremendously so I talked to David (Race Engineer David Brown) on the radio and we decided to come in and put fuel and hot tires on. I think that was the right decision because it was very difficult out there with the cold tires and I think it would have taken a long time to get the tires to the proper pressure and temps. Now we have Michele out there and need to keep cruising. I’m going to get back in around 2:00 a.m. so I’m going to go eat and have a little nap.”

TRACY W. KROHN, Krohn Racing Team Owner/Driver, No. 57 Krohn Racing Ferrari F458 GTE-Am:
“I made a couple of mistakes picking brake points at the Mulsanne. The first time I ran through the gravel pit and got out, although it flat-spotted the tires. The second time, I think I picked the right brake point but I had somebody inside of me and unforced error but it’s still an error. If I would have tapped out a little earlier it wouldn’t have happened, but I didn’t do it. Then I also spun at the second chicane on the second to the last lap of my stint. There was a lot of oil or gravel or something on the track and it happened in the first chicane as well and it happened in the second chicane but somebody had thrown some oil down on the track there so it was real slippery. It was unforced errors on my part basically but we’re still in third so we’re going to keep at it. It’s really dark out there but you know that going in. It’s slippery and the track has gotten damp so that's part of it and it’s what happens at night here.”

DAVID BROWN, Krohn Racing Team Manager/Race Engineer:
“We are bashing around Le Mans, as previously expressed. It’s that time of day as the 12-hour mark approaches. We are about to change the brakes for the only time in the race. Michele is getting ready to drive the first of three stints he’s going to do. We are on the softest tires we have and it’s about as cold as it’s going to get.”