Houston's Tracy Krohn and his Krohn Racing team crossed the finish line first in the GTE-AM class at the Ninth Annual Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring endurance race in Sebring, Fla., this weekend.
The team's bright green and blue #57 Ferrari F430 GT completed the endurance race incident-free after starting from second, on a grueling day when many were caught up in accidents, failures and penalties. Krohn and co-drivers Nic Jönsson and Michele Rugolo put in fast, consistent performances and together Krohn Racing overcame a serious challenge from the #63 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR.
The two teams swapped positions for first during pitstops back and forth until the Porsche encountered clutch issues late in the race.
Krohn is familiar with Sebring International Raceway, one of the oldest road courses in America. After the race concluded around 10:30 Saturday night, Krohn reflected on the bumpy and brutal course, and painted a picture of the strains that face cars and drivers during a 12-hour endurance race.
"This particular track is so difficult. Whenever you finish this race you feel like you’ve been in a really good fight. That’s what it is. It’s a fight. There are a lot of things that happen on this track every single lap here. It’s dirty, there are a lot of cars, there are guys in different classes coming inside of you at the wrong time, and it is bumpy. I am always sore when I’m done.
"I’m pleased to get through it and it is always extremely difficult on the cars. This Ferrari 430 is a well-sorted automobile and a great race car."
Co-driver Nic Jönsson was jubilant with the result.
"This is my ninth or tenth attempt to win Sebring. I've been twice before and third once and finally to win the 12 Hours of Sebring is one of my dreams. To do that here together with Tracy is just fantastic! I can't be happier. It's almost a dream come true," he said.
Michele Rugolo rounded out the three-person driver team. He arrived unfamiliar with the circuit but picked it up quickly.
"I drove here at Sebring previously in 2005 with the Viper and I didn't remember the track at all. I think it is a really difficult track and it took time to get used to it. During the race I had consistent times and did not make any mistakes. The car was also very easy to drive. (Krohn Racing engineer) David Brown prepared an amazing car. It was very reliable but also easy to drive because this is a very difficult track," he said.
Krohn Racing starts the season with a bang and leads GTE AM points classification with 15 points.
The next race on the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup Series schedule is at the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit in Spa, Belgium on May 7.
Cheering Krohn and the team on to victory were his wife, Laurie Krohn, family and friends, including car enthusiast Paul West, owner of Greatfull Taco in Houston.
Fans cheer at the Krohn Racing team victory.
