Louis Krages (racing driver)

Louis Krages

Nation:	Germany
DTM
First race:	Diepholz 1992
Teams (manufacturers)
1992, 1995 Zakspeed ( Mercedes-Benz ) 1994 Joest ( Opel )
statistics
Starts Victories Poles SR 48 - - -
Podiums:	-
Overall wins:	-
Points:	14th

Klaus louis krages aka John Winter (* 2. August 1949 in Bremen ; † 11. January 2001 in Atlanta , USA ) was a German racing driver and businessman in 1985, the 24 Hours of Le Mans on a Porsche 956 C of Joest Racing won .

Career

1985: Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, together with Klaus Ludwig and Paolo Barilla

Louis Krages used his pseudonym "John Winter" to keep his racing activities a secret from his family, especially his mother. According to his own statements, he feared that his mother would disinherit him if she found out about his hobby. However, when he won Le Mans in 1985, he was no longer able to keep his secondary occupation a secret in view of the numerous reports in the media.

He contested most of his races for Reinhold Joest's team . In 1994 Krages survived a serious racing accident at the German Touring Car Championship in an Opel Calibra V6 4 × 4 V6 on the AVUS with minor burns. In the 1995 season he competed for the last time in the German Touring Car Championship, as in 1992 in a Mercedes-Benz C-Class DTM from Zakspeed .

Krages had to give up his hobby after he had lost a large part of his private fortune as a result of bad economic decisions before a competitor took over his timber trading company. He left his hometown and went to the USA.

In January 2001 he was found shot dead in his Atlanta apartment. The police assumed a suicide .

statistics

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1978	Porsche Kremer Racing	Porsche 935/77	Dieter Chimney	Philippe Gurdjian	not classified
1979	Porsche Kremer Racing	Porsche 935K3	Axel Plankenhorn	Philippe Gurdjian	Rank 13
1984	Dieter Schornstein Racing	Porsche 956	Dieter Chimney	Volkert Merl	Rank 5
1985	New-Man Joest Racing	Porsche 956B	Klaus Ludwig	Paolo Barilla	Overall victory
1986	New-Man Joest Racing	Porsche 956B	Klaus Ludwig	Paolo Barilla	failure	Engine failure
1988	Blaupunkt Joest Racing	Porsche 962C	Frank Jelinski	Stanley Dickens	Rank 3
1989	Joest Racing	Porsche 962C	Frank Jelinski	Pierre-Henri Raphanel	failure	Leak in the water cooler
1990	Joest Porsche Racing	Porsche 962C	Bob Wollek	Stanley Dickens	Rank 8
1991	Joest Porsche Racing	Porsche 962C	Henri Pescarolo	Bernd Schneider	failure	overheated cylinder
1993	Joest Porsche Racing	Porsche 962C	Frank Jelinski	Manuel Reuter	failure	Engine failure

Sebring results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1986	Momo Joest Racing	Porsche 962	Randy Lanier	Giampiero Moretti	failure	Engine failure
1987	Joest Racing	Porsche 962	Sarel van der Merwe	Danny Ongais	Rank 4
1988	Joest Racing	Porsche 962	Paolo Barilla	Frank Jelinski	Rank 2
1990	Joest Racing	Porsche 962C	Henri Pescarolo	Bob Wollek	failure	accident
1991	Joest Porsche Racing	Porsche 962C	Henri Pescarolo	Frank Jelinski	Rank 4
1992	Joest Racing	Porsche 962C	Bernd Schneider	Frank Jelinski	failure	Engine failure
1993	Joest Porsche Racing	Porsche 962C	Manuel Reuter	Chip Robinson	failure	accident

Web links

Commons : Louis Krages  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• “Racing driver John Winter found shot” , Die Welt , January 17, 2001
• John Winter at motorsportmemorial.org (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "Racing driver John Winter found shot"