Le Mans, France (June 14, 2015)...The No. 40 Krohn Racing Ligier JSP2 Judd team had a few minor issues in the first six hours of the 83rd annual 24 Hours of Le Mans race. However the following six hours proved to be more challenging.
The biggest setback for the popular Krohn team occurred shortly after the seven hour mark (10:00 p.m. local time), when the Ligier-Judd stopped unexpectedly on track. After driver Joao Barbosa managed to maneuver the car to safety off the circuit, he was able to restart it and get it back to the pits. The Krohn Racing team spent a lengthy time in the pits methodically going through the possible culprits and diagnosed an electrical problem. The crew replaced numerous electrical components and sent the car back out one hour and seven minutes later and many laps down.
Barbosa returned to the cockpit and drove through the day-to-night set and return the Ligier to Tracy Krohn just after the nine-hour mark. The Texas native managed a lengthy driving stint of three-and-a-half hours that included a couple short off-track ventures that were quickly resolved. The No. 40 Krohn car was called to pit lane by Race Control, as it was reported to have only one rear tail light. A replacement of the rear tail fin.
Krohn relinquished the Ligier-Judd to Nic Jonsson at 2:30 a.m. (local time), just before the once-around-the-clock timeframe expired. Jonsson is scheduled to drive another triple stint though the early morning hours.
Although currently 16th in class and 43 overall, the Krohn Racing Team plans to continue to persevere around the 8.369-mile circuit. Seven cars have already withdrawn at the half-way mark and other teams have suffered numerous prolonged garage sessions.
JOÃO BARBOSA,, Driver, No. 40 Krohn Racing LMP2 Ligier JS P2-Judd:
“Unfortunately, we had some kind of electrical issue when I was in the car. On the straight line the car just shut down. I had to reset the car twice so it would start and luckily it did and I was able to bring it back in and to the pits. Electrical problems are never easy because it is very difficult to see where the problem is located. The crew did a great job and just had to replace a few parts and now we’re back out again. We lost a lot of time to even think of some other good result, but let’s bring the car to the end. At Le Mans it’s always difficult and if you can bring the car to the end it is always great for the guys who work so hard the past couple of weeks.”
TRACY W. KROHN, Krohn Racing Team Owner/Driver, No. 40 Krohn Racing LMP2 Ligier JS P2-Judd:
"First of all, I made one mistake going into the gravel trap at the end of the Mulsanne. I drove through it but flat-spotted my tires and it was too hard to drive for very long so we had to come in and change tires. Then I got out on the next set of tires and did it again, but not at the same place. I flat spotted the front tires and I just drove through it. The car was fine, it just rattled me. My eyes were vibrating pretty good. The balance on the car was really good. There’s a lot of crazy stuff going on out there. There’s cars spinning out, cars burning, cars stopped on the side of the road, cars off in the Porsche curve. Every curve that I can think of, there was a car off or spun somewhere. There’s just a lot of carnage that I don’t recall seeing this early at this race, so who knows what’s going to happen. We had a pretty bad electrical problem and it knocked us back a long ways, but we’re not going to finish last if we finish, for sure. There’s going to be a lot of people that are not going to finish this race that are ahead of us. We're going to challenge them all."
