American gentleman driver Tracy Krohn has vowed to return to Le Mans and win his class after sampling the greatest endurance race in the world for the first time last weekend.
Texas based businessman Krohn, who provided the drivers and budget for Peterson/White Lightning Racing's GT2 class attack on the 74th edition of the Le Mans 24 Hours, may not have got the finish he wanted but that hasn't dimmed his enthusiasm for an event he now wants to conquer.
Starting as one of the class favourites in the Porsche 991 GT3 RSR he was sharing with factory Porsche driver Jorg Bergmeister and his regular Grand Am Rolex Series partner Nic Jonsson Krohn played himself in cautiously to the nuances of the 8.45-mile Le Mans circuit.
Despite several minor spins as day turned to night, the #90 team were still in contention for the class win as the race approached its half way mark but shortly after Bergmeister turned the fastest lap of the race for the team the German driver went off around the back of the circuit and did terminal damage to the car.
Even though Krohn and his team were therefore unable to challenge for class honours in the latter stages of the event, the man who put his name to the #90 P-WL entry was still able to offer a candid reflection on a momentous couple of weeks for him and his fellow drivers.
“The idea (to do Le Mans) was raised via Vincenzo Tota, Jeff Hazell, Jörg and Nic,” said Krohn. “Jörg was driving for Peterson/White Lightning and it came up that there was a car available for Le Mans. I thought long and hard for maybe three or four seconds and the answer was yes.”
After agreeing to run with the #90 team there was the small obstacle of the mandatory test day to overcome as Krohn, Jonsson and Bergmeister were all scheduled to compete in the Grand Am race at Watkins Glen the day before the test day in France.
