Le Mans, France (June 13, 2016)...The No. 40 Krohn Racing Ligier JSP2 Judd LMP2 car started the 83rd annual 24 Hours of Le Mans from the 30th position of 56 cars on the grid, 17th place in the LMP2 class. Team owner/driver Tracy W. Krohn and teammates Nic Jonsson and João Barbosa had two days of successful testing and qualifying of the beautiful green-and-blue liveried Ligier.
Barbosa was the starting driver for the Houston, Texas-based team and had a good first stint. In his second stint he experienced a left rear tire losing pressure while under caution and was able to bring the Krohn Racing Ligier back to the pits without any damage approximately one hour and 20 minutes into the race.
Tracy Krohn was the second driver in rotation and had a brief spin 25 minutes into his stint in the first chicane of the Mulsanne. The No. 40 Krohn Ligier then had a light touch with the No. 30 Extreme Speed Ligier, as they both spun in the same Mulsanne chicane. The Krohn car had to be lifted out of the gravel but was able to proceed on its own and Krohn completed his expected two stints.
Longtime teammate Nic Jonsson, who along with Krohn set a modern-day record for 10 consecutive 24 Hours of Le Mans races as co-drivers, took over the driving duties just before the three-hour mark. He had to serve a penalty for the team for a pit lane speed violation of a stop plus 40 seconds. He drove a total of three stints for approximately two-and-one-half hours.
TRACY W. KROHN, Krohn Racing Team Owner/Driver:
"Well, there’s a lot of drama out there. The track’s very slippery with sand and grit on it. Several guys are doing things you would do in a sprint race not a distance race and they’re making mistakes. Unfortunately, our car just has a lot of understeering. You really have to brake early and turn in early caught me out several times. Anytime I’d try to go a little bit faster, I paid the price for it. I’m sure my next stint will be better; we’ll make it better. It was just one of those things where everything was going wrong, including the traffic. Fortunately, we’re okay and didn’t get hit too bad and we’ll work it out.”
NIC JONSSON, Krohn Racing Driver:
"When I first got in there was a safety car period right away, so I really didn’t get a chance to take advantage of new tires, but they were up to temp (temperature). The car is not too bad. After about half a load of fuel, the car starts getting a little loose into the entry of the fast corners, so that makes it kind of exciting every lap. The car is consistent. After a triple stint on tires there’s really no degradation. Every time we put fuel in, the car gets better entry into the corners for the first half of the full tank and then it goes loose. We have to be careful there. The Michelin tires are very consistent and the Judd Power engine is running great so far. The guys from Krohn Racing have done a great job so far. We’re just out there coasting, right now. We don’t have the leader pace so we have to kind of take the strategy in a little different direction and try to stay out of trouble, complete consistent laps and see what that gives us in the end.”
JOÃO BARBOSA, Krohn Racing Driver:
"It was a good start of the race. I took it real easy and just found the pace out there and getting a good reading. Unfortunately, under a safety car situation, I ran over some debris from the other yellow flags earlier and got a flat tire that had me do an early stop. There’s still a long way to go and we’re a little bit behind, but if we stick with the plan and I’m sure with the good team work I think we can get back out there.”
Viewers in the United States can watch continued coverage of the 24 Hours of Le Mans on FOX Sports 1 Saturday from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. EDT and on FOX Sports 2 from 11:00 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. EDT. FOX Sports 1 continues coverage on Sunday starting at 3:30 a.m., and then moves to FOX Sports 2 from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. EDT. Witness the exciting conclusion of the 82nd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans on FOX Sports 1 from 9:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. EDT.
Live timing and scoring is available on www.24h-lemans.com/live or follow the race live on www.radiolemans.com.
