Q & A with Texan Tracy Krohn ahead of his home race
Only one Texan will be among the FIA World Endurance Championship drivers lining up for the 6 Hours of The Circuit of The Americas – Tracy Krohn.
As owner/driver for the No.57 Krohn Racing Ferrari 458 Italia, the tall Houston-based driver can’t wait to race his LMGTE Am car at his ‘home’ circuit, alongside long-time driving partner Nic Jönsson, and Maurizio Mediani. The Chairman and CEO of W&T Offshore Inc., an oil and gas exploration and production company headquartered in Houston, Tracy also drove his Ford Krohn Racing Daytona Prototype at The Circuit of the Americas in March’s Grand-Am race.
Krohn Racing finished 3rd in the LMGTE Am championship in 2012, with five podium finishes - one second place and four third place finishes. The trio is hoping that its track knowledge will be invaluable in helping it towards its first class victory of 2013!
1. What will be the best thing about racing in Austin? “The best thing about racing in Austin is that it is in Austin which is really the hometown track for me; it's about a 25 minute flight from Houston and the logistics are just a lot easier! The track is very modern and well designed and presents both high and low risk passing zones.”
2. You are one of the WEC few drivers who have competed at Austin already, tell us a little about the circuit and what you like about it. “First, it is a very physical track. Second, it is most likely to be very hot for the race. With multiple classes, the heat, and the physicality of the track, driver "focus" will be a huge issue, particularly in GT classes as there will be some turns and transitions where it will be hard to get even a very quick look in the mirrors! With all of these factors, and the fact as stated above regarding high and low risk passing zones, there will likely be a good bit of carnage.”
3. Of the remaining four races, which track are you most looking forward to racing at in the WEC? “They are all so different and present such different challenges that I really look forward to all of them! Austin is a very new track with some elevation change and other challenges as I outlined previously. Fuji is an older and narrower track with huge elevation change and very technical especially in the wet, as is often the case. Shanghai is a modern era track that is relatively flat with long straightaways and hard braking zones and some very technical medium to high speed turns. Finally, Bahrain has some moderate elevation change, blind turns, varying conditions due to windblown sand, heat and humidity and again some moderate to hard braking zones that tend to occur with the car loaded to one side or the other. They are all really fun and, of course, we also look forward to seeing the fans in all of these local and exotic locations.”
Fiona Miller (quotes from Krohn Racing)