Laguna Seca: Krohn Racing race report

Risi-Krohn Ferrari Team Finishes in the Top Ten in Challenging ALMS Race at Laguna Seca

The Krohn-Risi Ferrari finished in the Top Ten in a challenging and chilly American Le Mans Series Monterey presented by Patron six-hour race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Saturday.

The No. 61 Risi-Krohn Ferrari team of Tracy W. Krohn and Nic Jonsson had a relatively trouble-free race, especially considering there were ten caution periods and they were competing in the extremely competitive GT class. Luck, both good and bad, played a part for many teams today. Although the Risi-Krohn team was unlucky twice by losing a lap to the GT class leaders during caution periods, they also survived a potentially detrimental collision. Tracy Krohn was at the wheel when he was cut off by a GTC class car at Turn 5. The two cars spun in tandem like synchronized swimmers, but he managed to keep the car under control and was able to continue without having to make an additional pit stop.

TRACY W. KROHN, Krohn Racing Team Owner, Risi-Krohn Ferrari Driver:

"It was just totally insane out there today. There was so much contact. There was so much grit on the track. Every time I came through the corkscrew it was like a different turn, a different line every single time. It was never boring. It was relatively well behaved in that there weren't as many "P" (prototype) cars as there had been in past years but there was still a lot of contact with the "P" cars. I know I got hit a couple of times and spun around twice. All-in-all the car was very good. It felt like mechanically it was very sound, very predictable. Nic did a great job. The car itself was very good. We had a little bit of bad luck with yellow flags in that we got stuck behind the leader and lost two laps. It was very unfortunate but that's okay because in the end we got a top ten so we should be satisfied with that.

GT is clearly the most competitive class in this series. It is just really, really close. Sometime you come up on somebody and you think, 'okay I'm going to do this" and you make a move and somebody blocks you and you get stopped or somebody comes inside of you and it's just very close racing. It's very cool. Everybody out there is a good driver. I'm very impressed with the quality of drivers here, particularly the GT class. It's just really fun to watch. I'm just fortunately to have a very good seat for that."

NIC JONSSON, Risi-Krohn Ferrari Driver:

"I think this was a great warm up for Tracy and I for Le Mans in about three weeks. There was a lot of contact out there today as there always is at Laguna Seca, but we survived. We ran all six hours and finished in the Top Ten, in ninth place. I personally feel very respectable. We are driving against all factory cars out there. That's the only thing these guys do. We also race in a different series full time so we don't get to drive this car very much. So I'm very pleased with the whole result and my own performance. I managed to run leader pace for my second and third stint so I was very pleased with that running with the leaders. Tracy did a fantastic job keeping the car on the track and clean. He also ran very good consistent lap times. He improved quite a bit since we started out running here on Thursday. Both Tracy and I dropped our times about two seconds. I was running right there where we needed to be pace-wise and Tracy was running a fantastic pace as well. I feel very good about this going into Le Mans (June 12-13). We have a very good car, a well prepped car. The Risi guys always do a good job for us. This car is going to fantastic fun and good for us at Le Mans."

The Houston-based Risi Competizione team will ship both Ferrari F430s to France for the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June. The team's transporters will leave Monterey at midnight tonight and a team of drivers will work in tandem in order to get back to Houston on Monday. The mechanics will then work diligently to repair and prepare the Ferraris before their departure to France on Thursday.

-source: krohn racing