Krohn Racing's determination to improve upon 2012
When Tracy Krohn first formed his own racing team in late 2005, he could little have imagined that within seven years he would be competing on the world’s stage and ending the inaugural year of the FIA World Endurance Championship as second-best runner up to one of the world’s most experienced GT teams in the LMGTE-Am category.
The tall and charming Texan combines his racing with his ‘day’ job as Chairman and CEO of an oil and gas exploration and production company headquartered in Houston, Texas. Since starting his motor sport career, Krohn has benefited from the advice, friendship and driving partnership of US-domiciled Swede, Nic Jönsson, and this was no different in 2012. The addition of Italian driver Michele Rugolo to the cockpit of the distinctive Krohn-green Ferrari 458 Italia added another dimension to the team, one that paid dividends in terms of youth and speed as seen in their results.
Based in Georgia in the USA, it takes a big commitment for North American teams to enter the FIA WEC, but it was one that Krohn Racing embraced wholeheartedly. After a difficult start to the year, the team celebrated its first of five podium finishes at the 24 Hours of Le Mans – a record of great consistency over the eight rounds of the season. That third place in France was one of four, but the highlight was second place at the 6 Hours of Fuji when they were beaten only by another very experienced team, Felbermayr-Proton. Despite these results, there was more than a hint of disappointment among the team in Shanghai at not clinching the runner-up spot, but that was tempered by a determination to do better.
Jeff Hazell, the team’s philosophical Motorsport Manager, said after the Chinese race: “Confucius said ‘When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.’ He was a pretty smart guy, two thousand five hundred years ago. He probably would have enjoyed motor racing.
“We are not quite achieving our goals but we have a lot of goals we want to achieve. We have to just work slightly differently and slightly smarter and harder over the winter with our testing. I’m disappointed that we didn’t manage to win a race this year so we have jolly well got to get that done next year.”
That determination and approach worked well for Krohn Racing in North America, and who would bet against them achieving their goals in 2013.
Fiona Miller
Photo: SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT (SHANGHAI, CHINA), 6 HOURS OF SHANGHAI, SUNDAY 28TH OCTOBER 2012. The Krohn Racing Ferrari 458 Italia of Tracy Krohn, Nic Jonsson and Michele Rugolo.