Krohn Racing finishes seventh at Rolex 24 at Daytona

Daytona Beach, Fla. - After 24 grueling hours, Krohn Racing finished the 52nd Annual Rolex 24 At Daytona race in the seventh position in the GT Le Mans class, besting their starting position by two places despite a few challenges. The Houston-based team started Saturday's twice-around-the-clock enduro from the ninth position against a contingent of factory-backed teams.

#57 Krohn Racing Ferrari F458 Italia: Tracy Krohn, Nic Jonsson

Photo by: Trevor Horn

After a few minor issues and a penalty for passing under caution, the green and blue Ferrari was taken to the garage in the early morning hours after contact was made with a GTD car during one of Bertolini's many stints. The Krohn Racing team made repairs in fewer than 20 minutes, but returned to the track18 laps down from the class leader.

Once the sun rose over Daytona International Speedway, electrical issues brought the Krohn Ferrari back to the garage, where the crew made repairs and got back on track. Tracy Krohn piloted the Prancing Horse to the checkered flag in their first run in a Ferrari GT car in ten years of competition at the 3.86-mile Daytona superspeedway circuit.

TRACY W. KROHN, Krohn Racing Team Owner/Driver, No. 57 Krohn Racing Ferrari F458 GTLM: "I had a great time this weekend, though we had quite a number of issues. I lost power going into the bus stop, which was pretty unbelievable. I lost power a second time, but I was able to get the car started in the bus stop and went on through. Something in the electrical system went wrong and we also had some radio issues. Other than that, the car handled quite well. We adjusted throughout the race and the car got better and better, and the guys work so hard. They just had a really hard weekend. The Risi guys chipped in and helped with everything they could. We're glad to have finished, although I'd prefer to be at the top of the podium."

NIC JONSSON, Driver, No. 57 Krohn Racing Ferrari F458 GTLM: "We had a lot of issues throughout the night, with electrical fires, the air jack getting stuck and other small issues that made it very difficult to have a good result here. However, the guys worked really hard and they didn't give up. They got the car back out there every time we had an issue. It's always a good thing to finish a race, but I think we're going to have to put this behind us and go to Sebring with a new outlook. It was an okay weekend, but we hope for a better race at Sebring."

ANDREA BERTOLINI, Driver, No. 57 Krohn Racing Ferrari F458 GTLM: "It was a really strong experience. I felt immediately at home, like coming into a family. All the guys did a really amazing job during the weekend, especially during the race. We had some problems and the team was really great. I am proud to be part of this family. Everyone helps to solve the problems. At the end, it's good, because we finished seventh. We had electrical problems, as did many other cars. We changed the setup during the race and dropped the rear wing, which made us much faster. We learned something for next time, and we look forward to improving our performance."

PETER DUMBRECK, Driver No. 57 Krohn Racing Ferrari F458 GTLM: "It's a great experience here. It is a fantastic track and a great race, where four classes all ran within a couple of seconds of each other at the end of 24 hours. It was an interesting race for us with a few issues, but it was a fantastic event and I am happy with our result."

HAYDEN BURVILL, Krohn Racing Engineer: "We had a lot of escalating electrical problems during the night and at one point the whole car shut down and only some of the systems recovered. One of the casualties was the transponder, which is imperative to the timing and scoring. We got our issues fixed and ran the rest of the race smoothly. Tracy took the checkered flag, and it's been an effort we're proud of this weekend."

JEFF GLOVER, Krohn Racing Team Manager: "We had a few obstacles. A few mechanical and electrical challenges, which brought us back to the garage. All things considered, it's good to have finished such an important endurance event with a newly relocated team and fresh faces, so we're happy to be there at the end."

Krohn Racing will compete next at Sebring International Raceway for Round Two of the IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. The Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring will begin at 10:30 a.m. EST on Saturday, March 15.