In the latest round of the IMSA WeatherTech Championship at Watkins Glen International, CORE autosport was able to gain four positions during the six-hour race to finish 13th.
Jon Bennett qualified and started the No. 54 Flexbox / Composite Resources Porsche 911 GT3 R 17th on the GT Daytona grid. In his opening stint, Bennett picked up two spots before handing the car over to Colin Braun.
Braun also advanced a position before it was time to hand the car over to Nic Jönsson to tackle the middle portion of the race.
Jönsson’s stint was when the first two of five full-course caution periods came out. The lengthy yellows and pit stop sequence helped Jönsson close the gap to the GTD pack and when it was time for him to give the car back to Braun, the team was 14th.
Braun performed a solid triple stint to the end, putting in lap times that were good enough to be inside the top five. A late-race yellow and restart with only 25 minutes left on the clock was a prime opportunity to make up more ground, but Braun found himself mired in traffic. He crossed the finish line in 13th.
CORE has a quick turnaround before the next IMSA race; the Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park is July 7 – 9.
Jon Bennett
Driver: No. 54 Porsche 911 GT3 R
“This was a challenging weekend. We faced inclement weather on both of our practice days, which was different than what we expected to see on race day. I opened the race for the team and was able to pick up two spots before I handed the car over to Colin for his opening stint. Colin and Nic both drove the wheels off the car and had great runs. Jeff Braun and Colin Mason also did a great job calling our strategy and mixing it up during the race to pick up another two spots before we finally crossed the finish line P13.
“Overall, the car had really good pace and was competitive, but the luck didn’t fall our way. We’re really starting to settle in nicely to the new car, and I look forward to hitting the track again next weekend to further improve our performance.”
Colin Braun
Driver: No. 54 Porsche 911 GT3 R
“It was a good day. The guys did a great job on pit road. Jon and Nic also did a good job. We got trapped a lap down early in the race. We tried every creative option to get our lap back. With that many cars on the lead lap, when you go to pit you’re just running the roulette wheel of who stops and who doesn’t stop. All it takes is for one car to stay out, and for that yellow, you’re trapped that lap down and you can’t get by. It’s part of the competitiveness of the GTD field. We spent the whole race trying to get that lap back, but we weren’t able to. The guys had great stops. Nic and Jon both drove well, and we had decent pace. We were mixing it up with the guys up there in the top five.”
Colin Braun
Driver: No. 54 Porsche 911 GT3 R
“It took me the first stint to really get back into the rhythm here since we had little practice time. I hadn’t been in the car since Sebring, so it took me a little time. The second stint felt really good. We were running a similar pace to the leaders, so I was pleased with the performance.
“Colin did an awesome job in the last two hours. We basically ran a top-five pace, but we just didn’t have the luck it takes to get the lap back we lost in the first hour. We definitely had the pace, so now we go back home and see what we need to do for the next race. I look forward to re-joining the team at Petit Le Mans in a couple months.”
