The American Krohn Racing #57 Ferrari 430 GTE Team, with drivers Tracy Krohn, Nic Jönsson and Michele Rugolo, are competing for the first time as a team at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari circuit in Imola, Italy.

Italian driver Rugolo has many years experience driving the circuit based near the Ferrari factory and built in 1952. He set up the car and qualified it on the 4,909 kilometer track. His time of 1:46.219 earned the third GTE-Am qualifying position. Jönsson had only raced at Imola once previously on a different circuit configuration. It is Krohn’s first visit to the circuit and he was only seconds off Michele’s fastest time after extensive simulator training to learn the 21-turn counter clockwise track.

Tracy Krohn (Team Owner/Driver): “Imola is a great track to drive. It is really pretty and really fast, very technical. It’s got everything you want. It’s got elevation, lever changes, fifty cars; it’s just going to be a fun race. It might rain and we think we’re prepared for that. If it rains, it rains and we’ll just go out and do our business and we’ll do fine. There will be a lot of cars off the track in different places. The thing we have to watch for inside in the high speed curves is cars coming around.”
Nic Jönsson (Driver): “The prototypes, obviously, are very aggressive. It is a pretty narrow track and not very long either. There are not a whole lot of places to pass under braking so I think the prototypes are going to be something you definitely have to keep an eye out for. You must give them plenty of room because they don’t care so much about that car in there. They dive in and are like a tank.”
Michele Rugolo (Driver): “During the race it will be very important to be very consistent and pay attention to the other cars trying to overtake. The track will be very dirty. It’s not possible to pass very much, especially in the chicanes. The weather should be fine for the people watching but not so fine for the drivers. It will be very warm in the car. It will be tough – because of the warm temperatures and because of the track and because of the cars. Let’s see if something good can happen after the disappointment with the Le Mans race.”

The #57 Krohn Racing Ferrari 430 GTE-Am will start from the third position in the GTE-Am class with Nic Jönsson as starting driver. Sunday’s 6 Hours of Imola race is the fourth stop on the seven race 2011 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup Series. Krohn Racing was crowned the inaugural ILMC GTE-Am winner at the 12 Hours of Sebring. They finished eighth at Spa and were classified with a DNF at the 24 Hours of Le Mans after a blown motor sidelined then before the 11th hour.

(Based upon Krohn Racing press information)

Photo : IMOLA 6 HOURS (ITALY), 2ND JULY 2011. The Krohn Racing Ferrari F430 GT in qualifying.