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 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 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 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.Spurring 2012, p.241 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.Clarke 1997, p.101 Autocar Jun 15 1988 He also won the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1991 for Joest in the same car. "John Winter" won the , an annual award presented by Porsche AG to recognize the world's most successful privateer racing driver competing with Porsche machinery in a customer racing team, in 1988 and 1991.

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.

Racing record Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 1978 Porsche Kremer Racing Dieter Schornstein Philippe Gurdjian Porsche 935-77Gr.5SP182N/C* 1979 Porsche Kremer Racing Axel Plankenhorn Philippe Gurdjian Porsche 935-K3Gr.5SP273 13th 5th 1984 New-Man Joest Racing Schornstein Racing Team Volkert Merl Dieter Schornstein Porsche 956C1340 5th 5th 1985 New-Man Joest Racing Klaus Ludwig Paolo Barilla Porsche 956BC1374 1st 1st 1986 Joest Racing Klaus Ludwig Paolo Barilla Porsche 956BC1196DNF(Engine) 1988 Blaupunkt Joest Racing Frank Jelinski Stanley Dickens Porsche 962CC1385 3rd 3rd 1989 Joest Racing Frank Jelinski Pierre-Henri Raphanel Porsche 962CC1124DNF(Water leak) 1990 Joest Porsche Racing Stanley Dickens Bob Wollek Porsche 962CC1346 8th 8th 1991 Konrad Motorsport Joest Porsche Racing Bernd Schneider Henri Pescarolo Porsche 962CC2197DNF(Overheating) 1993 Joest Porsche Racing Manuel Reuter Frank Jelinski Porsche 962CC2282DNF(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 Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 1986 Joest Racing Giampiero Moretti Randy Lanier Porsche 962GTP10DNF(Engine) 1987 Joest Racing Sarel van der Merwe Danny Ongais Porsche 962GTP281 4th 4th 1988 Joest Racing Frank Jelinski Paolo Barilla Porsche 962GTP309 2nd 2nd 1990 Joest Racing Henri Pescarolo Bob Wollek Porsche 962GTP261 11th 6th 1991 Joest Porsche Racing Frank Jelinski Henri Pescarolo Porsche 962CGTP295 4th 4th 1992 Joest Racing Bernd Schneider Frank Jelinski Porsche 962GTP221DNF(Engine) 1993 Joest Porsche Racing Chip Robinson Manuel Reuter Porsche 962GTP180DNF(Accident)

Complete 24 Hours of Daytona results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 1978 Kremer Porsche Racing Josef Brambring Dieter Schornstein Porsche 935-K2GTX635 5th 3rd 1991 Joest Racing Frank Jelinski Henri Pescarolo Hurley Haywood Bob Wollek Porsche 962GTP719 1st 1st 1992 Joest Racing Bernd Schneider Massimo Sigala Oscar Larrauri Porsche 962GTP327DNF(Engine) 1993 Joest Porsche Bob Wollek Manuel Reuter Frank Jelinski Porsche 962GTP190DNF(Engine)

Complete Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15161718Pts 1978 Porsche Kremer Racing Porsche 935 ZOL1 NÜR1 NÜR2 AVU MAI ZAN KAS HOC ZOL2 NOR NÜR3 25th 17 1979 Porsche Kremer Racing Porsche 935Porsche 935 K3 ZOL1 HOC1 NÜR1 SAL MAI NOR ZAN DIE ZOL2 HOC2 NÜR2 16th 31 1980 Porsche Kremer Racing Porsche 935 K3 ZOL1 NÜR1 HOC1 NÜR2 MAI SPA NOR SAL DIE ZOL2 HOC2 NÜR3 HOC3 NC 0 1981 Porsche Kremer Racing Porsche 924 Carrera GTRPorsche 935 K3 ZOL1 NÜR1 HOC1 NÜR2 MAI WUN NOR NÜR3 SAL HOC2 ZOL2 HOC3 NÜR3 21st 24 1982 Porsche Kremer Racing Porsche 935 K3 ZOL1 HOC1 NÜR1 MAI SAL WUN NOR HOC2 HOC3 NÜR2 NC 0 1984 DS-Porsche Racing Team Porsche 956 NOR NÜR1 DIE BRA IMO NÜR2 11th 23 1985 New Man-Joest Racing Porsche 956B NÜR11 NÜR12 HOC1 HOC2 WUN1 WUN2 AVU1 AVU2 ZEL1 ZEL2 ERD1 ERD2 NOR NÜR21 NÜR22 SIE1 SIE2 NÜR3 4th 61.5

Complete FIA World Sportscar Championship results Season Team ClassCarEngine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17Pts 1978 Kremer Racing Porsche 935 DAY SEB MUG TAL DIJ SIL NÜR LEM MIS DAY WAT VAL ROD 1979 Kremer Racing Gr.5 SP Porsche 935 Porsche 930/79 3.0L F6 DAY SEB MUG TAL DIJ RIV SIL NÜR LEM PER DAY WAT SPA BRH ROA VAL ELS 1983 Joest Racing Group C Porsche 936C Porsche Type-935 2.6 L Turbo Flat-6 MON SIL NÜR LMS SPA FUJ 23rd 13 Sorga S.A. Porsche 956 Porsche Type-935/76 2.6 L Turbo Flat-6 KYA 1984 Schornstein Racing Team Group C Porsche 956B Porsche Type-935/76 2.6 L Turbo Flat-6 MON SIL LEM NÜR BRH MOS SPA IMO FUJ KYA SAN 18th 29 1985 New Man-Joest Racing C1 Porsche 956 Porsche Type-935/76 2.6 L Turbo Flat-6 MUG MON SIL LEM HOC MOS SPA BRH FUJ SEL 56th 6 1986 Joest Racing C1 Porsche 956B Porsche Type-935 2.6L Turbo Flat-6 MON SIL LEM NOR BRH JER NÜR SPA FUJ 21st 22 1987 Joest Racing C1 Porsche 962C Porsche Type-935 2.8L Turbo Flat-6 JAR JER MON SIL LEM NOR BRH NÜR SPA FUJ 24th 22 1988 Joest Racing C1 Porsche 962C Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6 JER JAR MON SIL LEM BRN BRH NÜR SPA FUJ SAN 7th 140 1990 Joest Racing C Porsche 962C Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6 SUZ MON SIL SPA DIJ NÜR DON MOT MEX NC 0 1991 Konrad MotorsportJoest Racing C2 Porsche 962C Porsche Type-935/82 3.2 L Turbo Flat-6 SUZ MON SIL LEM NÜR MAG24th12 Team Salamin PrimagazJoest Racing MEX AUT

Complete Interserie results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10Pts 1983 Joest-Racing Porsche 956 ZEL MOS SIE1 SIE2 HOC 19th 12 1985 New Man - Joest Racing Porsche 956 NÜR1 HOC1 WUN AVU ZEL ERD NÜR2 MOS SIE NÜR3 10th 61.5 1986 Porsche-Kremer Porsche 956 THR WUN ZEL1 MOS SIE ZEL2 1st 68 1987 Joest Racing Porsche 962C HOC AVU ZEL1 WUN MOS SIE ZEL2 2nd 58 1988 Joest Racing Porsche 962C HUN HOC WUN ZEL1 MOS ZEL2 2nd 73 1989 Joest Racing Porsche 962CHUNZEL1 WUN MOSSIEZEL2 6th 20 1991 Joest Porsche Racing Porsche 962C HOC NÜR ZEL1 BRH MOS SIE ZEL2 2nd 89 1992 Joest Racing Porsche 962CMUG NÜRBRHZOL MOS SIEZEL JAR 3rd 55.5 1993 Joest Racing Porsche 962CJARMUGMOSSIEDON ZEL 13th 11

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Pts 1992 Zakspeed Mercedes 190E 2.5 Evo2 ZOL1 ZOL2 NÜR1 NÜR2 WUN1 WUN2 AVU1 AVU2 HOC1 HOC2 NÜR1 NÜR2 NOR1 NOR2 BRN1 BRN2 DIE1 DIE2 ALE1 ALE2 NÜR1 NÜR2 HOC1 HOC2 NC 0 1994 Opel Team Joest Opel Calibra V6 4×4 ZOL1 ZOL2 HOC1 HOC2 NÜR1 NÜR2 MUG1 MUG2 NÜR1 NÜR2 NOR1 NOR2 DON1 DON2 DIE1 DIE2 NÜR1 NÜR2 AVU1 AVU2 ALE1 ALE2 HOC1 HOC2 16th 11 1995 Zakspeed Mercedes Mercedes C-Class V6 HOC1 HOC2 AVU1 AVU2 NOR1 NOR2 DIE1 DIE2 NÜR1 NÜR2 ALE1 ALE2 HOC1 HOC2 23rd 3

References

External links Winters World