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Louis Krages

German racing driver (1949–2001)

Louis Krages
Born	Klaus Louis Kragés (1949-08-02)2 August 1949 Bremen, West Germany
Died	11 January 2001(2001-01-11) (aged 51) Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Nationality	German
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years	1978 – 1979, 1984 – 1986, 1998 – 1991, 1993
Teams	Porsche Kremer Racing Joest Racing
Best finish	1st (1985)
Class wins	1(1985)

Louis Krages (born Klaus Louis Kragés, 2 August 1949 – 11 January 2001), more commonly known by his pseudonym John Winter, was a German racing driver and businessman.

Career[edit]

Krages used the racing pseudonym "John Winter" to prevent his family, mainly his mother, from learning about his hobby. As John Winter, he won the 24 Hours of Le Mansin1985 with the Porsche 956ofJoest Racing, with Klaus Ludwig and Paolo Barilla. Winter drove a single stint in the early hours of Sunday in support of his teammates for less than an hour, most of it behind the safety car.^[1] After the success and the publicity involved, his alter ego was revealed to his family when, the next day, his mother picked up a newspaper, with a picture of Krages on the rostrum.^[2][3]

Winter spent many seasons competing in the German Interserie series, usually racing privately entered Porsches, taking the title in 1986. Winter was also a regular entrant at Le Mans, competing 10 times at the race. Apart from his victory, his best finish was third in a Joest Racing Porsche 962 in 1988. He would also win the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1991 for Joest in the same car and also drove in the IMSA GTP until 1993, the year he won at Road America with Manuel Reuter, when the series ended, making the car obsolete.

In 1994, Winter, along with the team, defected to DTM, driving an Opel Calibra. In Round 10, Race 1 at AVUS, he was involved in fiery accident, in which his car disintegrated in a fireball. For the following year, driving a privateer Mercedes-Benz C-Class, he reverted to his real name, which he competed throughout the season and which was also his last.

Krages sold off his business and emigrated to Atlanta where he started up a toy business.^[3][2][4]

In 2001, suffering from problems in his business and from depression, he committed suicideinAtlanta, Georgia, by shooting himself, at his home.^[2][3]

Racing record[edit]

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results[edit]

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1978	Porsche Kremer Racing	Dieter Schornstein Philippe Gurdjian	Porsche 935-77	Gr.5 SP	182	N/C*
1979	Porsche Kremer Racing	Axel Plankenhorn Philippe Gurdjian	Porsche 935-K3	Gr.5 SP	273	13th	5th
1984	New-Man Joest Racing Schornstein Racing Team	Volkert Merl Dieter Schornstein	Porsche 956	C1	340	5th	5th
1985	New-Man Joest Racing	Klaus Ludwig Paolo Barilla	Porsche 956B	C1	374	1st	1st
1986	Joest Racing	Klaus Ludwig Paolo Barilla	Porsche 956B	C1	196	DNF (Engine)
1988	Blaupunkt Joest Racing	Frank Jelinski Stanley Dickens	Porsche 962C	C1	385	3rd	3rd
1989	Joest Racing	Frank Jelinski Pierre-Henri Raphanel	Porsche 962C	C1	124	DNF (Water leak)
1990	Joest Porsche Racing	Stanley Dickens Bob Wollek	Porsche 962C	C1	346	8th	8th
1991	Konrad Motorsport Joest Porsche Racing	Bernd Schneider Henri Pescarolo	Porsche 962C	C2	197	DNF (Overheating)
1993	Joest Porsche Racing	Manuel Reuter Frank Jelinski	Porsche 962C	C2	282	DNF (Engine)

• Note *: Not Classified because did not cover sufficient distance (70% of their winner) at the 12, 18 or 24-hour intervals.

Complete 12 Hours of Sebring results[edit]

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1986	Joest Racing	Giampiero Moretti Randy Lanier	Porsche 962	GTP	10	DNF (Engine)
1987	Joest Racing	Sarel van der Merwe Danny Ongais	Porsche 962	GTP	281	4th	4th
1988	Joest Racing	Frank Jelinski Paolo Barilla	Porsche 962	GTP	309	2nd	2nd
1990	Joest Racing	Henri Pescarolo Bob Wollek	Porsche 962	GTP	261	11th	6th
1991	Joest Porsche Racing	Frank Jelinski Henri Pescarolo	Porsche 962C	GTP	295	4th	4th
1992	Joest Racing	Bernd Schneider Frank Jelinski	Porsche 962	GTP	221	DNF (Engine)
1993	Joest Porsche Racing	Chip Robinson Manuel Reuter	Porsche 962	GTP	180	DNF (Accident)

Complete 24 Hours of Daytona results[edit]

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1978	Kremer Porsche Racing	Josef Brambring Dieter Schornstein	Porsche 935-K2	GTX	635	5th	3rd
1991	Joest Racing	Frank Jelinski Henri Pescarolo Hurley Haywood Bob Wollek	Porsche 962	GTP	719	1st	1st
1992	Joest Racing	Bernd Schneider Massimo Sigala Oscar Larrauri	Porsche 962	GTP	327	DNF (Engine)
1993	Joest Porsche	Bob Wollek Manuel Reuter Frank Jelinski	Porsche 962	GTP	190	DNF (Engine)

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Winters World

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