RPM Racing on top in 992-AM heading into 12H ESTORIL

News | July 6, 2023

Fresh from its first class win of the season in Monza, RPM Racing goes into this weekend’s inaugural Hankook 12H ESTORIL at the top of the 992-AM Teams’ standings, hoping to retain its advantage, explains Tracy Krohn. 

 

Words – James Gent

Images – Nico Mombaerts

At this year’s Hankook 12H MONZA, Tracy Krohn, together with Niclas Jönsson and Philip Hamprecht, netted his first class win in the 24H SERIES, six years on from his maiden race with CREVENTIC in Portimão. 

 

An early puncture aside, the 992-AM class win was the height of what, so far, has been a strong year for RPM Racing. A scheduling clash meant the German team could not compete at Spa-Francorchamps, but a solid run at Mugello – minus an on-track shunt with RD Signs - Siauliai racing team’s Lamborghini – meant the #907 Porsche 992 GT3 Cup finished 3rd in 992-AM at this year’s 24H SERIES powered by Hankook European season opener. Granted, the rigorous demands of the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza meant the RPM Porsche suffered a puncture in the early going on Saturday, and lost further time with an ECU issue on the Sunday. Even despite this, Tracy, Jönsson and Hamprecht were able to manage the Porsche home for their first win of the season at Monza, just one lap down from an overall 992 podium spot.

“We come out there to win,” Tracy explains. “We know we’re not always going to win, but we always try and we do our best, and I believe the RPM guys have done an excellent job prepping the car and doing the things that we need to do.

 

“We had an ECU failure on the second day at the start of the [Hankook 12H MONZA], which cost us a little bit of time. But that’s endurance racing. You just have to adapt to what the conditions are, and the particularities of the racetrack, and things like that, and [RPM] do pretty well under adversity. We realized, if we ran the kerbs hard, we were going to pop some tyres, and so at Monza, we actually slowed down a bit to avoid harming the tyres.

 

“You can’t predict the way that things are going to happen. All you can do is continue to keep the wheels moving and going around the track. So, being able to be resilient and go through the things that are difficult requires a little bit of patience. Fortunately I’m a little older, and a little slower, so patience is a virtue for me!”

The Monza win and Mugello podium mean RPM Racing is now 12 points clear of nearest rival Red Ant Racing (#904) in the 992-AM standings, with both teams set to compete both at this weekend’s Hankook 12H ESTORIL – a venue that, handily, Tracy raced at in both 2015 and 2016 for the European Le Mans Series’ 4H Estoril – and at the Hankook 24H BARCELONA on 15-16-17 September. The goal is simple: to win. 

 

That however will be no easy task, with 992 competition in the 24H SERIES this year including reigning class champion Red Ant Racing (#903), 2021 991 Teams’ champion Willi Motorsport by Ebimotors, and series stalwarts Red Camel-Jordans.nl and HRT Performance. Big names to conquer if RPM Racing hopes to end its season on top in 992-Am…

 

“At the Nürburgring, we race against a bunch of these teams as well, so we know how good they are, and we know how good their drivers and their equipment can be. But we’re going to stick around, and we’re looking forward to Estoril and Barcelona, and continuing on with RPM Racing. 

 

“We’ve got a very good relationship with them. We’ve had good consistency with team members, and that’s also hard to achieve. So I’ve got a lot of confidence in the equipment, I’ve got a lot of confidence in the drivers, and I believe that Lukas [Moesgen, team manager] does an excellent job running his team, and keeping things moving. That’s one of the reasons why we started with these guys, rather than taking Krohn Racing personnel, and shipping them across the pond every month or so. I’m looking forward to the rest of the season, and a little bit of heat and some summer fun!”

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