Tuesday, 25 September 2012 07:59

Krohn Racing Determined to Overcome Point Deficit at 6 Hours of Bahrain

The Krohn Racing Team is more determined than ever to stand on the podium at the 6 Hours of Bahrain race on September 29. After suffering an unavoidable accident on the first lap of the 6 Hours of São Paulo, the Krohn Team was devastated at receiving zero points following their Brazil DNF (did not finish) result.

Team owner/driver Tracy W. Krohn, along with co-drivers Nic Jönsson and Michele Rugolo, have fiercely battled their competitors for the 2012 GTE-Am championship. The poor result in Brazil set them back from second to fourth in the GTE-Am championship. They are bound and determined to make up that point deficit on the 6.299 km long circuit at the Bahrain International Circuit.

This weekend's race will be the first visit to the Sakhir, Bahrain circuit for all three Krohn Racing drivers. The start of the race is at 4:00 p.m., or 16:00, local time on Saturday and will race into the night for six hours.

QUOTES:

TRACY W. KROHN, Krohn Racing Team Owner/Driver, No. 57 Krohn Racing Ferrari F458 GTE-Am:
Krohn Racing had a tough race at Sao Paulo with an accident that put the team out on the first lap. The crew only has a few days to turn the car around with travel, etc. for the Bahrain race. Can they do it?
"They can and WILL get the car turned around. We certainly have a plan and are currently executing on same."

The DNF dropped Krohn Racing from second to fourth in the championship points. How can the team overcome that DNF to stay in the GTE-Am championship?
"Performance counts and we had a really good car at Sao Paulo! It would certainly help if other cars fell off the track, but the reality is that we just need to have really good results going forward."

Bahrain is another new circuit for you and most all of the drivers. How have you been learning this new track?
"I have not actually learned the track yet, but have been on the simulator this past weekend so that I now know where to turn and then I will spend as much time in the car as I can before the race."

What do you enjoy most about going to a new race track and race city?
"It's always fun to go to a new track and a new place, but generally what you learn to enjoy the most is the people and culture and this should be fantastic. Diversity is what makes life worth living and I am looking forward to that with regard to the track and the country of Bahrain!"

NIC JONSSON, No. 57 Krohn Racing Ferrari F458 GTE-Am:
Krohn Racing had a tough race at Sao Paulo with an accident that put the team out on the first lap. The crew only has a few days to turn the car around with travel, etc. for the Bahrain race. Can they do it?
"I have full confidence in the Krohn crew, not just that they will get it done, but the car will be as good as new. We are very fortunate and spoiled to have some of the best crew in the business."

The DNF dropped Krohn Racing from second to fourth in the championship points. How can the team overcome that DNF to stay in the GTE-Am championship?
"The way the point system is structured, it's going to be very tough to win the championship without our competitors having similar problems such as the DNF that we had in Brazil. But we will keep fighting and work hard to try to get a couple of wins in the last few races and see were that will put us in the standings."

Bahrain will be a night race...the first time you'll be racing back under the lights since Le Mans. How much more difficult is it to prepare for a night race?
"It is mainly a focus thing and you looking at things a little different since the lights from other cars make it hard to judge distance etc! Otherwise the prep is very similar to a normal race."

What do you enjoy most about going to a new race track and race city?
"The challenge of learning a new circuit has always been a great motivator to me! You have to figure out the grip level, if the curbing is possible to use, different turn-in points to try to maximize the grip and handling of the car. I also enjoy working with my teammate, Tracy, to help to get him up to speed as fast as possible by looking at video and data. Additionally, it's always great to get to see a new country and different cultures and interesting foods."

MICHELE RUGOLO, No. 57 Krohn Racing Ferrari F458 GTE-Am:
The DNF dropped Krohn Racing from second to fourth in the championship points. How can the team overcome the DNF to stay in the GTE-Am championship?
"Now the situation is becoming complicated, but I think we still can finish the championship in a good position. I think that with a bit of luck we can achieve position two."

Bahrain is another new circuit for you and most drivers. How have you been learning this new track in advance?
"I think I am pretty fast in learning the new circuits and so I think it won't be a big problem. However I'm watching video from YouTube to understand a couple of tricks and we will do like always - a track walk the day before the practice with our engineer, David Brown."

Bahrain will be a night race...the first time you'll be racing at night since Le Mans. How much more difficult is it to prepare for a night race?
"Light in Bahrain should be actually very good so I think it won't make any differences. I was in Singapore this week and I had the experience to see F1 with artificial lights. There are no dark spots at all."

What do you enjoy most about going to a new track and race city?
"It's always nice to travel and to visit news countries and to know new circuits. I'm interested in the culture of the people living there and also I want to know something more about their history."

DAVID BROWN, Krohn Racing Team Manager/Race Engineer:
Krohn Racing had a tough race at Sao Paulo with an accident that put the team out on the first lap with chassis damage. The crew only has a few days to turn the car around with travel, etc. for the Bahrain race. How are you managing to get parts, rebuild the car and prepare it for another 6-hour race in such short time?
"We have ordered new parts for the chassis and a long list of parts to replace those destroyed in the incident at Sao Paulo. The damage was extensive, rendering useless pretty much everything forward of the front wheels. We have inspected the car and have established that fortunately the chassis damage is confined to a single area. Our chassis supplier, Michelotto, have stepped up to ship the parts directly to us here in Bahrain. We have quite a lot to do but we will have the car ready on time."

Bahrain will be a night race...the first time you'll be racing back under the lights since Le Mans. How much more difficult is it to prepare for a night race?
"Visibility may be an issue we'll have to see how well lit the track is, we have the lights necessary to run at night at Le Mans which is pretty dark in most places. The unfamiliarity of the drivers to the track layout will only be heightened in the dark, so plenty of laps will be needed to complete their mental picture of the track layout."

Bahrain is in the heat of the Middle East. Even though the race will be run mostly in the night, how do you overcome the desert temperature's effects on the car? On drivers?
"We have to be particularly aware of the environmental effects on the drivers, the car systems and the tires. We have extra methods to cool the drivers and we will be paying particular attention to their ability to cope with the elevated cockpit temperatures. Even though we have air conditioning in the car it is still a very severe environment. It will be important to keep the drivers cool and well hydrated both in and out of the car, not forgetting the crew too who will be working in difficult conditions. We will monitor the car systems closely to see if we need to implement further cooling regimes to control the temperatures of the car systems."

The DNF at Sao Paulo dropped Krohn Racing from second to fourth in the GTE-Am championship points. How can the team overcome that DNF to stay in the GTE-Am championship?
"Just like every event we enter we are going out to win the race! We had a great opportunity in Sao Paulo but were unfortunate when the car ahead of us hit the back of a prototype car and stopped in its tracks, leaving Michele no room to avoid heavy and severely damaging contact. We are all intensely competitive at Krohn Racing and we want to show that we can win races."

JEFF HAZELL, Krohn Racing Motorsport Manager:
What kind of logistics has been involved for the ordering and shipping of parts to be able to rebuild the Ferrari for the Bahrain race?
"The damage to the chassis was light but not repairable in San Paulo. We have had a new forward cross beam shipped out to Bahrain, along with the adjacent brackets that support the front splitter and radiators. Additionally, we have new aircon' and water radiators and tools and fasteners to effect the repair. It was not really a logistics issue to achieve this."

What will need to be done after the Bahrain race to get the car and crates ready for shipment to another new continent? "We need about three working days to service an undamaged car between back-to-back "fly away" races, so we get a day and a half after each race to work and pack up and at least two days at the next venue before going on track. So barring severe damage the operations are achievable. As we only covered one lap the service which is very mileage dependent is reduced, although we do have to switch over the on car refueling from left to right."

For more information on the sixth round of the 2012 WEC, the 6 Hours of Bahrain, please go to www.fiawec.com.

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