TEAM REPORTS (DAYTONA, FLA.) - KROHN RACING Notes and Quotes at the 12-Hour

At the halfway point of the 46th annual Rolex 24 At Daytona the Krohn Racing team held the 11th and 13th positions out of the 66-car field. Fortunately, minimal problem ensued between the sixth and 12th hours of the twice-around-the-clock endurance classic.

The No. 76 Krohn Racing Pontiac Riley of Ricardo Zonta led the race again, shortly after the six-hour mark. Then the water temperature spiked up briefly, and Darren Turner had to pit to add water at 7:45 p.m. A small spin on slick tires during rather rainy conditions caused a flat spot on the tires, which precipitated another pit stop when it became too unmanageable to drive. Turner then turned the car over to Nic Jönsson just before 9:00 p.m. Rains returned, numerous cautions transpired and Jönsson continued with a trouble-free double stint. Zonta then took over the wheel just before 12:00 midnight and after a brake change for the No. 76 entry. He suffered a tire failure, possibly a puncture, less than an hour later. The failure made him spin and hit the wall, causing some body damage to the right side of the car. Prior to the halfway point of the race, Turner became the driver as they held the 11th overall position, completing 348 laps at the 12-hour mark.

The No. 75 Krohn Racing Pontiac Riley, with driver Tracy Krohn at the wheel, continued to have a good, steady stint after the six hour mark. Intermittent rain and cautions on the 3.56-mile circuit didn’t seem to deter Krohn. He turned the car over to Oliver Gavin at 8:00 p.m. in the Top 10. Krohn had climbed as high as fourth overall. His double stint included a two-minute stop for a brake change. At 9:50 p.m., Eric van de Poele began another stint. Approximately 30 minutes later he pitted with problems, thinking he may have run over debris on the track. The car required two stops to repair the problems, and two sets of tires because of issues from the right front damage. More rain and cautions added to the excitement of the race. Krohn returned to the cockpit and suffered a small hit and had right rear bodywork damage shortly after the 12-hour mark.

ERIC VAN DE POELE, Driver, No. 75 Krohn Racing Pontiac Riley:

“For me, this stint that started before 10:00 p.m., was a nightmare because I had a puncture in the beginning. I had to come back because we had another problem with it that required me to pit again. And then we decided to use rain tires and the rain stopped. So I had to drive my stint on rain tires and all the cars passed me. But it was better to do that than to pit under the green.”

OLIVER GAVIN, Driver, No. 76 Krohn Racing Pontiac Riley: “As always with a 24-hour race, it’s very eventful. There are always lots of stories and things that happen with you on the track: Getting caught in very difficult situations with traffic, getting bottled up, other people trying to pass, and getting braced when passing other people. I had a good race with Alex Gurney, Helios Castro eves, and with Patrick Long. That’s one of the great things about this race is that you get to race again people you never raced against before or that you haven’t raced against for a long, long time. The last time I raced against Helios was in 1995 in British Formula 3. Things have changed a lot since then! I’m enjoying it. I got a bit unwell in the car. I seemed to have some fumes in the car and got a bit of carbon monoxide poisoning. I had that last year at Road America and it was pretty nasty. So I radioed the team straight away and I said ‘I think this is what’s happening’. So they got me in and got me out and they got Eric in. If you get that bad, then you’re done out for a long time. I feel a lot better now. (Team Doctor) Vincenzo Tota fixed me up with lots of oxygen. I feel a lot happier.”

TRACY W. KROHN, Team owner/driver, No. 75 Krohn Racing Pontiac Riley: “The car is handling really well. I had a little bit of bad luck. Somebody got into the back of me. One of the Brumos cars hit me coming through Turn One in the back and spun me around and ran him into the wall. I’m not quite sure why that happened but somebody hit me. Maybe it wasn’t him. Maybe it was just a result of that, but that’s the only car I saw. But the car is really good. I think we just hang in there and there’s a lot that’s going to happen in the next 12 hours and just keep turning left.” DARREN TURNER, No. 76 Krohn Racing Pontiac Riley driver: “It’s a bit difficult at the moment because we’re five laps down now. For my first stint, it was quite exciting. I was in the car for a long time; I think over three hours. I was hoping David (Team Manager and Car #75 Engineer David Brown) would take it a bit easy on me for my first-even stint at Daytona, especially considering the longest I’d done in one stint was five or six laps. It was a big different. I was happy with the pace of the car. I got caught out with the slick tires on the wet track. I had a bit of a spin after the pit stop where we made sure the pressure was okay. It’s been running okay. The car is fast, we’ve just been a bit unlucky and we’re losing laps because of it.” RICARDO ZONTA, No. 76 Krohn Racing Pontiac Riley driver: “It was not easy. I had a big tire problem. It exploded next to the banking and I did a crash there. I lost a lot of time because, of that as well, so it was not really a very good stint.”