Krohn Racing confirms Ligier JS P2 effort for 2015

As the 2014 racing year begins to fade into the sunset, plans for 2015 are now being finalized by several teams. 

Krohn Racing, which runs part-time in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship and the WEC, has announced plans to run a Ligier JS P2 in 2015. They currently competes in GT ranks with a Ferrari 458 Italia. Krohn placed tenth in the GTE-Am class earlier this season at Le Mans after being called up at the last second by the ACO.

Switching gears

The team, founded by oil businessman Tracy Krohn, is shifting their focus dramatically for 2015. They are going to leave the GT ranks with the Ferrari 458 and will instead be jumping up to LMP2 with a Ligier JSP2 closed-cockpit prototype, powered by a Judd HK LMP2 engine. The package will be tested on September 25th at NOLA Motorsports Park in Avondale, LA.

"Although competing in the P2 car will be a big step and transition for us, I'm confident that our team can get the new car up to speed,” Krohn said.

The LMP2, built by Onroak Automotive, will be piloted by team owner Tracy Krohn and long-time co-driver Nic Jonsson.

Plans for the car in 2015

The team will be racing at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring and at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. A full time series commitment has not been determined for next season. 

ESM talks about their plans with Motorsport.com

Another team that’s coming close in nailing down their 2015 plans is Extreme Speed Motorsports. ESM will be attempting the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans as part of a deal with receiving the new Honda LMP2 coupes.

We’re going to Le Mans, with the new car, the new coupe, that was our deal with Honda that we would commit to doing Le Mans,” Patron CEO and ESM driver Ed Brown said. Besides Le Mans, the team is still open as to other races, as Brown explains.

We have thought about going there (Le Mans) but the problem with Le Mans is that it’s a non-alcohol sponsor, just like Bahrain

ESM's Robin Hill

“I think you’ll see us absolutely run the North American [Endurance] Championship in the TUSC series and maybe pick up a couple of races here and there, but we need to get past this season and sit down and we really have our plate quite full because the coupes are getting delivered to us mid-November. We’ve got to shake them down quick because of the holidays and be ready for the Roar [before the 24] right after New Years, so I think we’ve just go to take a breath here a little bit and see what we’re going to do,” Brown said.

No alcohol sponsors allowed create issues for ESM in Le Mand bid

ESM Team manager Robin Hill pondered Le Mans with an interesting question. “We have thought about going there (Le Mans) but the problem with Le Mans is that it’s a non-alcohol sponsor, just like Bahrain. So what’s the benefit for Patron?"

"We can go there with some signage on the car and maybe get away with it, but I think both series want us to compete in all of their events and we just have to abide by the rules and WEC goes to two races where there’s no alcohol advertising so that doesn’t bode well for sponsorship return,” Hill told Motorsport.com