The Brazilian driver, current leader in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, has participated seven times in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a fourth place overall finish as a best result in 2007 with Rollcentre, and an LM P2 class podium finish in LM P2 in 2011 with Level 5 Motorsports for his last appearance at Le Mans.

Since 2008, João Barbosa has been in the U.S., first in the Grand Am Series, then in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship when the Grand Am Series merged with the American Le Mans Series in 2014. That year he won at the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the second time along with Christian Fittipaldi and Le Mans native Sébastien Bourdais, and in 2015, he won, with the same teammates, at the 12 Hours of Sebring, all while dreaming of returning to Le Mans.

João Barbosa: "This opportunity came about when I was talking with one of Krohn Racing engineers and how I would love to go back to Le Mans. He mentioned that there could be a possibility so we kept in touch and I just waited. I was thrilled when I received the phone call to join them. Although we’ve competed on the same circuit in America off and on over the years, I'm really looking forward to spend more time with Nic and Tracy to get to know them better. One of the exciting challenges will be to drive the Ligier for the first time. I've been racing against them in the IMSA TUDOR Championship so I will be able to have an inside look of how good car it is. From what I’ve seen it's a great car, very competitive and I think the overall package will work very well at Le Mans."

Barbosa will join Krohn Racing and the Ligier JS P2 powered by Judd, one of the rare prototypes in the LM P2 class equipped with Michelin tyres. Last year, the Texan outfit accepted a last minute invitation to the 24 Hours of Le Mans and managed to cross the finish line. With 10 consecutive participations, the Krohn Racing team, with its green and blue livery, has become one of the pillars of endurance, with three class podium finishes.

Krohn Racing's next stop is Imola, Italy on May 17th for the second round of the ELMS. Then the Houston, Texas outfit - whose European base is located near the Circuit des 24 Heures - will head to Test Day on May 31st.

Cécile Bonardel / ACO (quotation from team press release) - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO

Photo: Copyright - Michael L. LEVITT

PHOTO: SEBRING (FLORIDA, U.S.), SEBRING INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY, TUSC, 12 HOURS OF SEBRING, SATURDAY MARCH 21 2015, PODIUM. João Barbosa, at right, with Sébastien Bourdais and Christian Fittipaldi, will be at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Krohn Racing after having won at the 12 Hours of Sebring in March.