Just three weeks after the 24 Hours of Le Mans race, the Krohn Racing Ferrari 430 GTE-Am #57 team dashes off to Italy for 6 Hours of Imola race. Round four of the seven-race Intercontinental Le Mans Cup global series will be held at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari circuit near Bologna and Maranello, home to Scuderia Ferrari, on July 3rd.

Team owner Tracy W. Krohn and co-driver Nic Jönsson will again pair for the second six-hour race of the season. Third driver, Italian Michele Rugolo, has been entered but is expected to only act as a coach at not take the wheel in the race. The trio won the first ILMC round of the 2011 season at the 12 Hours of Sebring in the GTE-Am class and posted a DNF at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Krohn and Jönsson paired at the 6 Hours of Spa for an eighth place finish. Contenders for the ILMC GTE-Am champion this season, Krohn Racing will focus on points this weekend. Currently third in the standing and 20 points off the leading GTE-Am team, Krohn hopes to make up their points deficit and continue their championship challenge.

Tracy W. Krohn (Krohn Racing Team Owner/Driver): “Racing at Imola is going to be another great experience. It’s a track with so much history and in a beautiful country. I like Imola because, for one thing, my wife is really looking forward to going to Italy (laughing). That’s a really good reason! Second, a lot of very famous drivers have been there and had great success and also great tragedy there as well. I’m looking forward to it. Plus one of our drivers is from that area (Michele Rugolo), so that will make it a little more fun. I think that the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup gives a fair chance to people that don’t do this as a living as their primary source of income. We do it for fun and profit, but it’s not a primary source of income for me. Whereas Nic, of course, is a professional driver and that’s what he does for a living. I think that having that combination goes back to the roots of motorsports. You have people who enjoy the sport and want to do it but not married to it.”

Nic Jönsson (Krohn Racing driver): “I think for any race car driver, of course, the pinnacle of your career would be to drive for Ferrari Formula One, but very few people get that opportunity. If you are in the family of Ferrari and are racing, well then it’s obviously very special and they have this following of these fanatics, Ferrari fanatics. I don’t think it really matters for them who wins in a Ferrari as long as it’s a Ferrari that wins. I think we’ve gotten a phenomenal reception from everybody in the ILMC. It’s a little bit different ballgame over here in Europe. Racing is more of big industry in Europe and in the states it’s a little more open which is, I think, great for the fans. It’s not taken quite as seriously over in the states. The great thing you have with this series and in Europe are that the fans are extremely educated. They are educated, not just about the drivers, but also the whole team. The fans like our green colors, they can’t miss us on the track, for sure.”

(Based upon Krohn Racing press information)

Photo : LE MANS 24 HOURS, 11TH-12TH JUNE 2011. The Krohn Racing Ferrari was forced to retire due to an engine failure after 10 hours of racing.