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.

Louis Krages
Born
Klaus Louis Kragés

(1949-08-02)2 August 1949
Died11 January 2001(2001-01-11) (aged 51)
Atlanta, Georgia, United States
NationalityGermany German
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years19781979, 19841986, 19981991, 1993
TeamsPorsche Kremer Racing
Joest Racing
Best finish1st (1985)
Class wins1 (1985)
The '24h of Le Mans 1985' winning Joest-Porsche 956C of Ludwig, Barilla and "Winter"
John Winter - Opel Team Joest - Opel Calibra V6 exits The Esses, 1994 DTM Donington Park.

Career

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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 Mans in 1985 with the Porsche 956 of Joest 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 died by suicide in Atlanta, Georgia, shooting himself at his home.[2][3]

Racing record

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Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

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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

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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

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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

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  1. ^ "The gentleman drivers of sportscar racing, and why gradings matter". www.autosport.com. 2021-08-21. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  2. ^ a b c "Rennfahrer John Winter erschossen aufgefunden - WELT". DIE WELT (in German). 2011-11-16. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  3. ^ a b c "Germany?s most popular privateer Winter dies. | DTM | Crash". www.crash.net. 2001-01-19. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  4. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-09-13. Retrieved 2009-10-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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Sporting positions
Preceded by Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans
1985 with:
Klaus Ludwig
Paolo Barilla
Succeeded by