KINETIC'S PRO-DRIVER, NIC JONSSON WINS GRAND-AM VERIZON 250
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Nic Jonsson & co-driver, Ricardo Zonta
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May 4, 2009
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Jönsson and the Krohn Racing team posted their first victory in the Proto-Auto Lola Ford today at the Verizon Wireless 250 at New Jersey Motorsports Park, in Milleville, New Jersey. Round 3 on the 2009 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series schedule was a race filled with rain from start to finish. The Thunderbolt Raceway was true to its name today as treacherous weather conditions were a factor; however, that could not stop the No. 76 Krohn Racing Ford Lola of Nic Jönsson and Ricardo Zonta.
The No. 76 entry was clearly the dominant car on the wet 2.25 mile, 14-turn road course. Jönsson, originally from Sweden and now living in Buford, Georgia, took the lead on lap 14 until lap 35 when he turned the car over to Zonta. Coming out of the pit stop in sixth position, Zonta of Curicuba, Brazil, took his time to climb to the top of the leaderboard, capturing the top spot on lap 58. He masterfully pulled away from the struggling field to win with a 44.752 margin of victory in the 87 lap race.
Nic Jönsson comments:
"We qualified fourth and the guys got the car put together well. We had rain all day but we had a good car in the rain. I got a good start and got up to P3 in Turn 1. A yellow came out right away for a few laps. I took the lead about 15 minutes in to the race (on Lap 14) and stayed out front. There were some cautions periods and it got pretty treacherous out there. When the rain started coming down harder, it started developing puddles on the track. It was a good move on Grand-Am's part for safety to throw the caution when it got so bad out there."
"I was in the lead for 22 laps and able to open up a good gap when we went green again. We pitted about an hour and half into the race. Ricardo got in and he knew what he had to do to make up the laps we lost pitting. He got in there and started charging towards the front. He took the lead from (Max) Angelelli about 45 minutes from the end and never looked back from there. He finished with nearly a 45-second lead."
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Jonsson battling rainy conditions
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"All victories are special. This is particularly special though because I know how much time and effort the team has spent. Ricardo and I have the easy job of driving the car. The guys back at the shop have had a lot of long days. The engineers have done a tremendous job to develop this car to get it to where it is today. Also thanks to Tracy for allowing us to do this. Obviously without his support we wouldn't have been able to do this. It feels very good to win this first one in the Proto-Auto Lola. I'm very emotional. I've been with Tracy for six years and we won the first one for team together in 2005. Now being able to take the first win in the Proto-Auto Lola and I'm still with the team is very emotional for me. I can't express how lucky I feel to be part of the Krohn Racing team. It's been a long time coming so it's very sweet to be on podium!"
Krohn Racing's last victory was in July 2006 at Barber Motorsports Park with Colin Braun and Jörg Bergmeister, their third that season. The Krohn Racing team went on to capture the Grand-Am Rolex Daytona Prototype Driver's Championship that year. Nic Jönsson's last Grand-Am DP victory was in 2005, with team owner/driver Tracy W. Krohn, at the Six Hours of the Glen in Watkins Glen, NY, also under rainy conditions.
Jönsson's next race will be round 4of 12, will be the Verizon Festival of Speed at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, CA on May 15-17, 2009. That race will be televised live on May 17 at 4:00 p.m. ET. Visit www.nicjonsson.com to view Nic's busy 2009 schedule.
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