The challenging track conditions at New Jersey Motorsports Park had its effect on the results of the two-car Krohn Racing final results in Millville, New Jersey for the penultimate race of the 2008 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series.
Team owner/driver Tracy W. Krohn and Eric van de Poele grabbed eighth place on the last lap of the 105-lap race, after climbing as high as seventh and suffering an off-course spin in the No. 75 Krohn Racing Pontiac Lola.
The No. 76 Krohn Racing Pontiac Lola entry of Nic Jönsson and Ricardo Zonta had to settle for 13th position after debris in the radiator caused the car to overheat and required an additional five pit stops to the anticipated two-stop race plan. Five cautions for 27 laps and six different cars lead the two and three-quarter hour race.
The No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Ford Riley of Mark Patterson and Oswaldo Negri was the seventh different winner in Grand-Am this season and their first victory of 2008.
Tracy W. Krohn, team owner/driver, No. 75 Krohn Racing Pontiac Lola:
"The start was very predictable. The first lap somebody got booted off and we had a massive amount of debris on the track. We drove around for a little while and had the restart. The car just picked up so much debris on the tires. It was just unbelievable. It took four or five laps before I could get it off. I scrubbed the tires thoroughly before we started the race.
It was just unfortunate because it really took a long time to get it back. Fortunately Eric was able to come back out and just did a great job. There were lots of dust and lots of debris on the track today. So I’m glad we got out of here today without any serious carnage and we’re glad we got out of it with a Top 10 finish. That was really good."
Eric van de Poele, driver, No. 75 Krohn Racing Pontiac Lola:
"We knew it was going to be tough with all the traffic and in fact it was very difficult with the dust on the track as well. When we had to pass a GT car, it was really a challenge because the tires picked up a lot of dust and it was very difficult. It was especially tough after a restart because the pace car was so slow and you couldn’t keep the tires clean and not get pick up.
Except that, I had one spin because I tried to pass a GT and he kept me in the dust and I couldn’t get back on the line and I spun on the dust on the track. I’m still eating that dirt at this moment. Afterwards, the car was perfect with the new tires on and we could rejoin the field and try to improve our position, which I did. Two laps from the end the 01 passed me and I re-passed him on the last lap. It was a good fight, very nice."
Nic Jönsson, driver, No. 76 Krohn Racing Pontiac Lola:
"The team did a great job again this weekend to get a very good car underneath us. My stint was very easy for me to just go out and drive for about a half-hour. I took it very easy and was able to move up from fifth to third. I think we had the quickest car out there today. I think we showed that both in my stint and Ricardo’s stint. Unfortunately, we had some debris hit the radiator and we had to pit seven times, I think, instead of two.
That ruined the race for us. But the Proto-Auto Lola is coming along. The engineers, along with the crew guys, have done a fantastic job this year. I’m very proud to be a part of the Krohn group. We need a little bit of luck, or at least no bad luck. I think if we have no bad luck, we can do the rest on our own. I think we’ve proved that a lot of times this year.
But we’ll go to Miller and get another shot. It will be the last chance this year to see if we can get another podium there and hopefully win. But we have to put this behind us and just go to Miller and try to achieve the best results we can and keep working hard this winter and come back out next year and go for the championship."
Ricardo Zonta, driver, No. 76 Krohn Racing Pontiac Lola:
"The dust and track conditions were very difficult. Cars were spinning off everywhere and there was so much dust on the track. It was impossible to drive. For us it was bad because something got in the radiator. This made us have many pit stops to add water to keep from overheating. It was such a shame because we had a very good car and we felt good about this race."
David Brown, Team Manager, Krohn Racing:
"I am very pleased that the 75 car finished with a good result and had a great day on a day of adversity and in varied conditions. They didn’t have a straightforward race. Very few people did and they solved their problems as they went along. Both of the drivers did an excellent job. The 76 car had a slightly worse day in that we think we got a water leak soon after Ricardo got in the car.
We got hit by a piece of debris, which we think has gone through the radiator. From then on we had a water leak which we were battling for the rest of the race. We think we had a car quick enough to be right at the front of the race and I think we demonstrated that with our lap times during the race.
We had to keep pitting to put water in the car. While we are quite disappointed to not to achieve the results we think we deserve, we’ll go to Miller and we’ll have another go at achieving a good race result this year. And the result the team deserves after the effort they have put in."
The next and final 2008 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series race, Round 14 of 14, will be the Sunrichgourmet.com 1000 race at Miller Motorsports Park in Toole, Utah on Saturday, September 20, 2008.
For more information, please see www.grand-am.com and www.krohnracing.net .
-Barbara J. Burns - also photo
