Krohn Racing to join ELMS in 2015

[Jordan Wilkins]

After previously announcing they were swapping their Ferrari F458 GTE car for a new Ligier JSP2 entry, Krohn racing today announced they would move from the World Endurance Championship to the European Le Mans Series for next year, alongside selected Tudor United Sportscar races also.

After taking delivery of the car after a shakedown with regular OAK Racing driver Ho Pin Tung at Estoril last month, regular drivers Tracy Krohn and Nic Jonsson began testing the car at the Circuit of the Americas recently. The team have now announced their plans for 2015 which will see a both a new car to learn but a new championship also. Whilst the team will also contest selected TUSC rounds, likely to be the Daytona 24 Hours, Sebring 12 Hours and Petit Le Mans, their main focus will be the ELMS next year.

This latest move is likely an attempt to increase their chances of attaining an entry to the Le Mans 24 Hours, whilst it will also test them in arguably the premier series for LMP2 entries in sportscar racing. Team owner Tracy Krohn also announced the team could still race it's Ferrari F458 GTE car next year, although he failed to specify whether this would be a full time entry or which series they would race it in.

Alongside this news it has now become apparent the OAK racing team is unlikely to return to the Tudor United Sportscar Championship next year. Team Boss Philippe Dumas explained "We prefer to give our customers [Krohn and Michael Shank Racing, which is scheduled to start racing its Ligier from Sebring] the correct support and work on putting together a strong programme for the WEC. We would like to do Petit Le Mans at the end of the season and then come back with a proper programme in North America in 2016."

With this news that neither OAK racing or Krohn racing will be joining the Tudor United Sportscar Championship full time next year, which is likely to leave Michael Shank Racing as the sole whole season LMP2 entry in the series. With Extreme Speed Motorsport moving to the WEC next year, this shows that the LMP2 class is on the ropes in terms of entries for next year in America. Whilst other entries will boost the grid for the centre piece races, only one full time LMP2 entry must be concerning for the IMSA rule makers.

What are your thoughts on this announcement? Also, with only one full time LMP2 entry, where does this leave the class with the Tudor United Sportscar Championship?

 

[Frederic Schornstein]

I think it is good as IMSA didnt learn a lot last season. The problem in TUSC was, that there were way to many cautions and with this rule set the LMP2 has no chance on restart against a DP and the LMP2 for example cant utilize its advantage like less tire wear, because tires and fuel are done at the same time compared to WEC where they are done seperatel and good tire wear is rewarded.

It must be frustrating in TUSC for P2 teams. Even with the best team, best car and the best driver a caution in the last few minutes means you will loose the race unless you are a full lap ahead.
Something like tephe FCY like in WEC could make TUSC more interestingmfor P2 teams l but at the moment it is racing with an endurance car against a sprint car in races that are split in 5 or 6 sprints, that just doesnt work.

/edit: Had a small look at the Qualy results from COTA where WEC and TUSC ran on the same weekend. In both championships the new Ligier took pole, but in WEC it was a 1.55.5 and in TUSC a 1.57.8 that shows how much pace the LMP2 is missing in TUSC and in WEC you have to do 4 timed laps on one set of tires to qualify and only 1 in TUSC, so the diffrence is probably even bigger.
No idea how the weather was, but I think I remember it was very good conditions in both sessions. In GTE/GTLM the TUSC cars were 2 seconds quicker than in WEC, so a GTLM gets a real challange to overtake in TUSC with a P2.

 

[Taner Selvi]

The thought of DP and LMP2 in same class was absolutly rubbish. Who could be against DP and LMP2 would race in different class. This is absloutly childish ever seen. They screwed ALMS and Daytona class races and made a weird race which is called USCC.

 

[Leemstradamus]

It was a mess, plane and simple this season. They need to start working with Europe and stop trying to go at everything alone. We should have the same gt3 spec car here also. Pretty frustrating.

 

[speedrcr]

No idea how the weather was, but I think I remember it was very good conditions in both sessions. In GTE/GTLM the TUSC cars were 2 seconds quicker than in WEC, so a GTLM gets a real challange to overtake in TUSC with a P2.

Weather for both sessions was not Optimal. There was on and off rain for the TUDOR qualifying. WEC final qualify even had perfect weather though along with a warmer track. Previous days had both weather and cooler temps.

But there's something to be said about handicapping by TUDOR for LM2 in comparison to WEC.

 

[johnnymat]

There have been a number of defections from TUDOR to other series; Oak, ESM and now Krohn. I hope that's the last defection. The people running TUDOR last year had an almost impossible task in front of them ; they made progress during the season , particularly in television viewership , but they still have a long ways to go.