Louis Krages

Louis Krages, more commonly known by his pseudonym John Winter, was a German racing driver and businessman.

Career

Krages used the racing pseudonym "John Winter" to prevent his family, mainly his mother, from learning about his hobby. After debuting in a Porsche 911 during 1976, Krages competed in the Deutsche Automobil Rundstrecken Serie, where he scored several podiums. Krages joined the more prestigious DRM series in 1978; he also made his 24 Hours of Daytona and 1978 [24 Hours of Le Mans|24 Hours of Le Mans] debuts the same year. After several years with on-off racing commitments in the DRM and World Sportscar Championship, Krages drove alongside his friend and team owner Dieter Schornstein in a Group C Porsche 956 during a large part of the 1984 [World Sportscar Championship|1984 World Sportscar Championship season], including Le Mans. The following year, driving as John Winter, he won the 1985 24 Hours of Le Mans with the 956 of Joest Racing, partnering 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. 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. Despite his fears that she might disapprove of such a dangerous pastime, Krages was instead encouraged to carry on racing. During 1985, Krages also won a race at the sparesely-attended AVUS round of the DRM.
Krages spent many seasons competing in the German Interserie series, usually racing privately entered Porsches, taking the title in 1986. That year, he also returned to defend his Le Mans victory alongside Ludwig and Barilla, though an engine issue caused their retirement. Krages ended up competing at Le Mans 10 times. Apart from his victory, his best finish was third in a Joest Racing Porsche 962 in 1988. He also won the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1991 for Joest in the same car. In addition, Krages 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, Krages, 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 competing under his real name, in the season which turned out to be his last. He only scored points at the Norisring and finished 23rd overall.
Krages sold off his business and emigrated to Atlanta where he started up a toy business.
In 2001, suffering from problems in his business and from depression, he died by suicide in Atlanta, Georgia, shooting himself at his home.