Kronos Racing announces LeMans effort

Kronos Racing has submitted an entry request to the organizers of the 2011 24 Hours of Le Mans for a Lola-Aston Martin LMP1 with Vanina Ickx as first designated driver. The Belgian team, which in recent years has collected an impressive string of successes in rallying for Peugeot and Citroën (European Champion in 2003 with Bruno Thiry, WRC Junior title in 2005 with Dani Sordo, WRC Champion in 2006 with Sébastien Loeb and IRC Champion in 2008 with Nicolas Vouilloz and in 2009 with Kris Meeke) goes back to its roots, track racing, with a Le Mans project. In 1999 and 2000, Kronos Racing’s Peugeot 306 GTIs had won another great endurance race, the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. Vanina Ickx was part of the effort at that time.

Last year, Vanina Ickx drove the Lola-Aston Martin at Le Mans and in some events of the Le Mans Series. This year, Orbello Racing, owner of this outstanding sportscar, has entrusted Kronos Racing to prepare and race the car. The agreement covers the 2011 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans (pending the acceptance of the entry by the organizers) and possibly, other events of the Le Mans Series (LMS) and the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (ILMC), depending on budget deals currently being discussed. At the moment, Vanina Ickx is the only driver already appointed.

“We are extremely motivated to take up this challenge’’, commented Jean-Pierre Mondron and Marc Van Dalen, managers of Kronos Racing. “Le Mans is one of the very mythical races in motorsports and it would be a privilege to compete in it, especially in the LMP1 category and with such a performing car. For some time, we have been looking forward to going back to endurance racing at the highest level and the opportunity we now have with Vanina Ickx is a fantastic one. We are at the initial stage of the project, still discovering the car and the new environment, but our team has proven in the past to be able to diversify and adjust quickly. We have taken all the necessary administrative steps with the ACO and await with confidence the decision of the selection committee".