The Krohn Racing team came into the 53rd annual running of the Rolex 24 with high hopes of a podium finish. Frenchman Olivier Pla, development driver of the Ligier chassis, qualified and started the car, as dictated by the rules of the IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar championship series. The Krohn Racing team completed a total of 172 laps and followed three other Prototype class cars to suffer a DNF (did not finish) in this year's twice-around-the-clock endure. They team had completed a total of eight pit stops prior to their withdrawal.
GARY HOLLAND, Krohn Racing Team Manager:
"We had to retire from Daytona 24 Hours with some issues that is being investigated. We are obviously disappointed, but we will investigate all the causes and make sure to come back stronger for our next event. We will inform the media in due course of the causes of this failure. I don't want to speculate what it is without all of the facts in front of us."
ALEX BRUNDLE, Starting Driver, No. 57 Krohn Racing Ligier JS P2 Judd:
"The car felt really good out there today and it's a credit to everybody on the team. We were making progress towards the leaders. Then we had some kind of engine issue on the banking which has yet to be properly defined by the team. I lost power. There was a lot of smoke and, unfortunately, that was it. All I could do was get the car back. Now it seems like the guys have assessed it and it is terminal. We're out of the race, which is a shame because the car felt excellent and we had excellent pace to end the race so soon." Prior to Brundle's final stint, he had recently pitted for fuel and was in his third stint, before he would turn the car over to Nic Jonsson, who now will not drive. Team owner/driver Tracy W. Krohn was second in the driver rotation and made a few notes about the tires during his stint.
OLIVIER PLA, Starting Driver, No. 57 Krohn Racing Ligier JS P2 Judd:
On starting the race and his first stint: "The race start was okay. I could hold my position through the first stint. The car felt great and I could keep up with the pace of the leader. Obviously, as we've known before, it was not easy on the straight line speed. We are not as fast compared to the other cars. This is really a problem, especially when you catch up to a car down in the ‘bus stop'. We just know exiting the corner if a more powerful car is close behind then we have lost the edge. We kept tires for the second stint when everyone was changing tires, which was unfortunate to go out with the rear tires so gone because we could have gained position since the car was so good. We stopped for the third stint and went out on fresh tires the car felt great, was very consistent and fast. Except for the straightaways, where we'll never be fast, the car was fantastic down in the corner, breaking real hard and the ‘bus stop'. If we can push harder in the next hours, I'm expecting something good to come of it."
TRACY W. KROHN, Krohn Racing Team Owner/Driver, No. 57 Krohn Racing Ligier JS P2 Judd:
On his double stint of the race: "The first part of it was pretty ugly. The tires were just not set right and we had too much pressure in the rears and not enough in the front. We had a lot of oversteer and loose at entry and exits (to the corners) and I had to keep on track and it slowed me down immensely. After that stint we put some new tires on and it took them a while to get warm."
The next race for the Krohn Racing team will be the 12 Hours of Sebring, in Sebring, Florida on March 21, 2015.
