Tracy Krohn's Le Mans reflections

24 HOURS OF LE MANS, Sunday, 18 June 2006

"The idea was raised via Vincenzo Tota, Jeff Hazell, Jörg and

Nic. 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.

"The timing seemed to work right because I didn't want to

interfere with the series that we're in so there was the issue of

the making the test given that we had the race at Watkins Glen

on the Saturday. We solved that by taking a private jet and

flying through the night and made the afternoon session so

that we could qualify. I got maybe 12 or 13 laps total which

certainly wasn't enough to learn the course.

"The next time that I got in the car was in the wet. Still not knowing the track at night in really

bad rain to get in the night qualifying laps was a very daunting experience. That was a real

challenge. Not just for me but for some really good drivers - I mean really great guys like Max

Papis and Andy Wallace that told me they had problems with it too. The good news was that

was the hardest it got.

"Then it was really getting to know the track

in the dry and in light - and then learning in

the dark and finding that I could get as good

a pace at night as in the day. All the time I

was building my confidence. The first few

laps in the race were simply amazing -

taking it all in and feel comfortable with the

track. And the rest of it was gaining the

experience to find the times. I made a couple

of mistakes and had a couple of spins but on the other hand I didn't hit anything. With more

time on the track I'm sure my times would be matching some of the times up there now.

"Coming to Le Mans has been a bit like being a golfer and

going to St. Andrews. It's like getting on that course for the first

time and realising that it's a difficult golf course that's been

there for 600 years. Being broken into components it's quite

simplistic but as a whole and at speed it's daunting with

everything happening so fast and brake points can be missed

so easily and then you're into a wall or into someone else.

There's just no margin for error. Now I think about it, the more I

drove it the more I appreciated it. I was thrilled by all of the

support and enthusiasm and tradition surrounding the event -

it's been awesome.

"The highpoint for me was definitely the first stint in the car. On one hand I was trying not to

lose focus but on the other hand I could help but think ' Hell - I'm at Le Mans!'. I'm coming

back - repeatedly.

"The team performed extremely well. The crew members did a fantastic job - we had great pit

stops - these guys are champions. They've all been here before - Nic and I were the

newcomers. I have high praise for the team and my team-mates. Jörg had an unfortunate

incident. Nic was practically flawless.

"Next time I'll know how to manage my time more

efficiently. I now have a blueprint of the track in my

mind - including bumps and grip levels and visual

markers. I think the more laps you have of a track

is the formula for certainty. So those times will

continue to get better.

"It's been beyond all reasonable expectation - I had in my mind what the track would be like,

what the crowd would be like but it's been truly different. I didn't appreciate the speed

difference between P1 and GT2. Another thing was the level of professionalism on the track .

The level of respect from all the drivers has been quite remarkable.

"The way you win is you persevere - and that's the way we'll win here. We'll come back here

-and one day we'll win."