Louis Krages

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Louis Krages, more commonly known by his pseudonym John Winter, (born 12 August 1949 in Bremen; died 11 January 2001 in Atlanta, Georgia) was a German racing driver and businessman.

He used the pseudonym to prevent his family, mainly his mother, from learning about his "hobby".

As John Winter, he has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1985 with a 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. 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 of Louis in the rostrum.

Winter spent many seasons competing in the German Interserie series, usually racing privately entered Porsches. Winter was also a regular entrant at Le Mans, competing 10 times at the race. Apart from his victory, his best finish was 3rd in a Joest Racing Porsche 962 in 1988. He would also win the 24 Hours of Daytona for Joest in the same car and also drove in the IMSA GTP until 1993 when the series ended, making the car obsolete.

In 1994, Winters would along with the team defect to DTM, driving a Opel Calibra, it was at Round 10, Race 1 at AVUS, he was involved in fiery smash which his car disintergrated into a fireball. For the following year, driving a privateer Mercedes-Benz C-Class, he reverted back to his real name, which he competed throughout the season and which was also was his last.

In 2001, suffering from problems in his wood trading business and from depressions, he committed suicide at his home in Atlanta.

• Winters World

Preceded by Klaus Ludwig Henri Pescarolo

Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1985 Klaus Ludwig Paolo Barilla Louis Krages

Succeeded by Derek Bell Hans-Joachim Stuck Al Holbert