Houston, Texas (May 6, 2015)…Krohn Racing is pleased to announce that Portuguese driver Joao Barbosa, now living in Florida, USA, will team up with Krohn Racing as the third driver with team owner/driver Tracy W. Krohn and longtime teammate Nic Jonsson for the 83rd Annual 24 Hours of Le Mans, June 13 - 14, 2015.
Krohn Racing will be participating in the twice-around-the-clock historic endurance sports car race for the tenth consecutive year at La Sarthe circuit in Le Mans, France. It is also Krohn and Jonsson’s tenth year as a driving duo at the French track and eleventh as teammates. This year will be Barbosa’s eighth running at the 8.369-mile/13.469 km circuit. Krohn Racing will be competing for the first time at La Sarthe in the LMP2 class with their new Ligier-Judd, having raced for the past eight years in a Ferrari and in a Porsche their first year in 2006, all in the GT/GTE-Am class. Their Le Mans results record includes three podium finishes in nine attempts, including a single second-place finish (2007) and two third-place finishes (2009, 2012). Krohn Racing finished tenth last year with Brit Ben Collins joining Krohn and Jonsson in a Ferrari F458 GTE-Am entry.
Barbosa currently leads the 2015 IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Prototype Driver Championship standings, where he drives the No. 5 Action Express Racing Chevrolet Corvette DP (P Class). He is the defending champion of both the IMSA TUDOR series and the Tequila Patron North American Endurance, as well as winner of the 2014 and 2010 Rolex 24 at Daytona races. The Ormond Beach, Florida resident has competed at Le Mans seven times with best results of fourth place overall in 2007 with Rollcentre Racing (LMP1 class) and a 3rd place finish in LMP2 class in 2011 with Level 5 Motorsports.
Houston, Texas-based team owner/driver Tracy W. Krohn and his long-time co-driver Swede Nic Jonsson are currently competing in the same No. 40 Ligier-Judd in the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) this season with third driver, Oswaldo (Ozz) Negri, Jr. in the LMP2 class.
“We want to welcome Joao Barbosa to our team for this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans,” said team owner/driver Tracy Krohn. “As you can imagine, we had a lot of interest from drivers to join us this year at Le Mans in the new Ligier-Judd. It’s a competitive package and a step-up up for our team. We’ve already shown a lot of strength in a short amount of time and hope we can do the same at Le Mans. Joao is a great addition because, although he’s not driven the Ligier, he has Le Mans experience and is a fierce and skilled competitor and will suit our team well. He won’t be able to join us at the Test due to his IMSA commitment with the race in Detroit, but we feel he’ll be able to get up to speed in the Ligier rather quickly, come race week.”
“We are delighted to welcome such an experienced and quick driver as Joao Barbosa to Krohn Racing for the Le Mans 24 hours,” said team manager Gary Holland. “His experience and race craft will be very important to us at Le Mans, alongside Tracy and Nic. We are looking at building on from a strong showing at the 12 Hours of Sebring and solid start in the ELMS at Silverstone. The LMP2 class is extremely strong, as both WEC and ELMS races have proven so far this season, however, we think we have the right tools in place to be successful at Le Mans.”
“I was very excited when I got the phone call with the invitation to drive at Le Mans with Krohn Racing,” said Barbosa, the 2004 recipient of the 24 Hours of Le Mans Rookie of the Year award. “I’m not only excited to be able to get back to Le Mans but also to join a top team with a great operation. This opportunity came about when I was talking with one of Krohn Racing engineers and how I would love to go back to Le Mans. He mentioned that there could be a possibility so we kept in touch and I just waited. I was thrilled when I received the phone call to join them. Although we’ve competed on the same circuit in America off and on over the years, I'm really looking forward to spend more time with Nic and Tracy to get to know them better. One of the exciting challenges will be to drive the Ligier for the first time. I've been racing against them in the IMSA TUDOR Championship so I will be able to have an inside look of how good car it is. From what I’ve seen it's a great car, very competitive and I think the overall package will work very well at Le Mans.”
For the 83rd annual 24 Heuers du Mans, the No. 40 Krohn Racing is one of 19 LMP2 entries in the 56-car field. The Houston, Texas-based team is one of seven U.S. entries, which also includes two cars for Extreme Speed (LMP2), two cars for Corvette (GTE-Pro), Riley Motorsports-TI Automotive SRT (GTE-Am) and the Scuderia Corse (GTE-Am) entry.
The next race for the Krohn Racing team is the 4 Hours of Imola ELMS race at Autodromo Enzo & Dino Ferrari, in Imola, Italy on May 16-17, 2015. From there the team will focus fully on Le Mans, with Test Day scheduled for May 31st and on-track race activities beginning on Wednesday, June 10.
For additional information on Krohn Racing, please visit www.krohnracing.com.
