Le Mans, France (June 11, 2015)...For the past two evenings at the Circuit de la Sarthe qualifying night sessions were run for this weekend's 83rd Annual 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 13-14, 2015. The No. 40 Krohn Racing Ligier JSP2 Judd team of owner/driver Tracy W. Krohn, Nic Jonsson and João Barbosa took advantage of Wednesday's first session to get all three drivers qualified with a mandatory five laps under the night skies.
Wednesday's drive time focused early on tweaking the set up, working through a few communication issues and allowing Barbosa, who drove the French-built Ligier for the first time, to get comfortable in the car and with his new seat insert.
Weather transitioned from scattered showers to mostly dry conditions for the early qualifying night session, and then back to light rain and dry. The variable weather conditions were similar to what the Krohn Racing team experienced during the Le Mans Test Day on May 31, when they were able to test all four Michelin tire compounds in preparation for the race.
Thursday's evening and night sessions furthered the preparedness of the Krohn Racing team for the race with fine tuning the set up and cycling through the three drivers. After nearly 10 hours of practice and night qualifying practice, the Krohn Team feels they have a comfortable car for the 24-hour race.
The No. 40 Ligier JS P2 of Krohn Racing qualified 17th in the LMP2 class and 31st overall in the 56-car field to start Saturday’s race.
TRACY W. KROHN, Krohn Racing Team Owner/Driver:
"The good news is we have a better car than what we started with. We got some dry laps in so we got a better feel for it and I feel like we're very close to where we need to be with a few tweaks and hopefully we'll check that out in the warm-up. Other than that, I think we have the car where we need it to be. I still have a little bit of work to do. The car had a tendency to be too loose for me, so it was difficult for me to drive at first, but now that we have the rear end balanced I think we'll be a lot better off and have a safer car and quicker car. We had to go through a lot of different configurations to get to where we are now. What we started off with didn't work so we had to go almost 180 degrees to get it to work right, but we're where we need to be now. I feel confident that we have a good car and I feel confident that everyone else feels like we have a good car, too. Hopefully we'll get out there and don't have too many issues on track or in the pits and have a good day."
NIC JONSSON, Krohn Racing Driver:
"I'm glad we finally a good run in last night and today. We actually got some dry running here today, which I think was very beneficial to all three of us in the car. I don't really read too much into qualifying or one lap here because yesterday and tonight more cars than not were having times taken away from them because of not respecting track limits. Cars were not staying on track or using too much of the track coming off of Tertre Rouge or the Porsche Curves and chicane here. We haven't done that. We have tried to preserve the car so I think we'll come into the race looking at race pace. I don't think we are going to be very far off from where we need to be. We're still doing some fine tuning on the car to get a little bit more consistent race car. We have some issues with under steering in some corners and power down in others so we're going to try to get a little bit more consistent car, but it felt like we've been working in the right direction. Tracy got several laps in today in dry and daylight. I feel very confident going into the race, even if we haven't done many fast laps or been the quickest car by any means. We have a smart group of guys at Krohn Racing. We're fortunate to have Joao join Tracy and me for Le Mans. He has a lot of experience here and is a very smart, level-headed guy. It's looking very positive and I can't wait to get the green flag here on Saturday."
JOÃO BARBOSA, Krohn Racing Driver:
"The last almost week has been a great experience in getting to know the team. They are very welcoming and I feel like I'm part of the team now and have been given enough time and enough information to get in the car and start to get comfortable. Yesterday was a little bit more challenging, mostly because the conditions weren't ideal conditions, but today I was able to put a few laps together in a row and get much more comfortable in the car and have a better feeling than yesterday. I left the track last night just thinking a lot about what happened during the day and now today, I have some good information to sleep on and come back better for the race. I think overall it's been great teamwork and we've definitely made some good improvements to the car for the race. I think we'll have a decent pace in the race and we might not be the fastest car out there, but I think in the long runs we are going to be very consistent. Nic and Tracy have done some good laps, as well, and gotten comfortable and are doing a good job. So we just need to put the whole effort together and bring the car home like it is now, with no scratches, and hopefully in a good podium position."
HAYDEN BURVILL, Krohn Racing Engineer:
"The last two days have gone pretty smoothly really. We've had no miscues and we've had variable weather. That is always a good recipe for making a mistake on track at Le Mans. We probably haven't gone as fast as we would have liked to, but we've settled into a position where we know the set-up is going to work in the wet and the dry. I think all the teams are in that same position. It'd be nice to have a little more speed at this point, but I'm comfortable in between now and the warm-up we will resolve all of the notes and all of the set-up changes and tests that we've done and have a good race set-up. The boys have done a good job; it's all gone very smoothly and that's as much of a key part as getting the car to be fast and comfortable for the race. Having the car properly prepared and knowing that we've got all our best parts in the best possible condition is important for everyone - the team, the drivers, everyone involved wants to believe that we're taking the best possible car to the grid and I feel like we're in that position."
Noteworthy:
When Tracy Krohn and Nic Jonsson take the green flag for the 83rd annual 24 Hours of Le Mans, they will set a modern-day record for the longest consecutive Le Mans races as teammates, and break a current tie of nine races with Dindo Capello and Tom Kristensen.
Friday, June 12 will feature a Pit Walk for the fans from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. local time. The drivers will participate in the annual Parade in downtown Le Mans at 5:30 p.m. local time.
A warm-up session is scheduled on race day, Saturday, June 13 from 9:00-9:45 a.m. local time. Pre-race ceremonies commence at 1:00 p.m. local time. The green flag starts the race at 3:00 p.m. local time (10:00 a.m. EDT). Live timing and scoring is available on www.24h-lemans.com/live or follow the race live on www.radiolemans.com.
