Krohn Racing - 2011 Rolex 24 At Daytona 6 Hour Race Report

Daytona, The No. 76 Krohn Racing Ford Proto-Auto Lola started from the 15th position on the grid for the 49th annual Rolex 24 At Daytona. Qualifying driver Ricardo Zonta was the first Krohn driver at the wheel and did a double stint, turning it over to Nic Jönsson in first place during a caution. The driver change was a speedy 14-second turnover from one driver to the other.

Ricardo Zonta, starting driver of the No. 76 Krohn Racing Ford Proto-Auto Lola: “The start was good. The car was easy to drive. We worked quite well with saving fuel. We gained some position. The crew work very well and very quick on the pits tops. We are now leading.”

Jönsson’s first stint went relatively smooth other than a quick spin in the “bus stop” portion of the track, which put him back to fourth place. He and Terry Borcheller (#9 Action Express Porsche Riley) were racing hard and Nic went wide on Lap 84. He got off in the marbles and spun off. His tires were at the end of their life cycle. He pitted thereafter for tires and fuel and went back out in fourth position. He complained of tire problems during his second stint, but was able to bring the green-and-blue ford-powered machine in to the pits in first place for team owner/driver Tracy W. Krohn’s first round in the car.

Nic Jönsson, driver of the No. 76 Krohn Racing Ford Proto-Auto Lola: “I think we got a bad second set of tires. It has changed the whole handling of the car so we’ve been struggling a bit out there for the last hour. Before that we were running out front and keeping the pace. It was all good otherwise. The car is good. We are just trying to stay out of trouble and keep the car in one piece. Otherwise everything is running very smooth and very good.”

Tracy completed a single stint from nearly the four-hour mark for about 90 minutes and through a couple of caution periods. He struggled with the handling of the car but was able to keep it in Top 10 and turn it over to Frenchman Nicolas Minassian in P6 shortly before 9:00 p.m. ET.

Tracy W. Krohn, owner/driver of the No. 76 Krohn Racing Ford Proto-Auto Lola: “The car was decidedly loose the entire time. We tried some different tire arrangements with the car and apparently they didn’t help much. We’re not sure if we had splitter problem or what, the car just isn’t performing like it was in the last practice at all, or even for Ricardo. We still haven’t figured it out. It’s pretty ugly out there; there’s a lot of oil. There are a lot of cars spinning around, so we got pretty lucky in a couple cases. It was real close. The brakes are a little bit off. It’s a tough car to drive right now.

HOW IS THE ROUSH YATES MOTOR? “The motor is doing great. No issues with the motor. The motor is real strong, in fact, I had to dumb it down just a little bit to keep from getting off the corners too quick because of the back end. The motor hasn’t missed a beat and the transmission has been great.”

HOW IS THE COMPETITION OUT THERE? “It’s real dicey out there. Every single lap is different. “There’s some slick spots off to the outside of the driver and every turn if you missed it a couple of inches, you’re going to pay for it.”

YOU’RE ON A BREAK NOW, WHAT’S ON YOUR SCHEDULE? “I’m going to go and get a little rest, a bite to eat and be back here in just a few hours.”