CORE autosport delivered its best IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship finish of the season so far at Road America. In the Continental Tire Road Race Showcase, drivers Jon Bennett and Colin Braun finished seventh in the GT Daytona category.
CORE got a boost before the race even started, as three cars who qualified faster, opted to change tires or starting drivers and were moved to the back. This moved the No. 54 Flex-Box/Composite Resources Porsche 911 GT3 R up to 11th on the GTD grid.
Bennett took the opening stint for the two-hour and 40-minute race. Though he lost two spots to quicker cars starting from the back, he was able to keep the Porsche on the lead lap and bring it in for the first pit stop in 13th.
Braun took over after the first stop. Forty minutes later, he was up to 10th, before a slew of full-course cautions. A combination of attrition, strong pit stops and quick pace had Braun up to seventh for the final 16-minute sprint to the finish. He was reeling in the lead pack of GTD cars, but ran out of time and crossed the finish line in seventh.
This betters CORE’s previous best GTD finish of eighth, which it scored on the streets of Detroit in June.
CORE returns to IMSA action August 25 – 27 at VIRginia International Raceway. Prior to that, it returns to the Red Bull Global Rallycross Series for a doubleheader in Atlantic City, August 12 – 13.
Jon Bennett
Driver: No. 54 Porsche 911 GT3 R
“I’m very happy about our race today. This is our best finish of the season. I struggled a good bit in my stint, but nevertheless, was able to keep it on the lead lap. We had good pits stops. Colin did a great job in the car. I am really happy to see the progress. I’m happy for the guys and for Colin. It gives us a boost of confidence as we head to our next race at VIRginia International Raceway.”
Colin Braun
Driver: No. 54 Porsche 911 GT3 R
“I got in the car and tried to push as hard as I could. We had to save some fuel in the middle of the race, so it was fun to balance the fuel saving strategy while I was still trying to go fast. Everyone did a really good job.
“We had good pace in the middle stint. Then as we neared the end, it was tough because all of the classes got mixed up. You had some guys who were fighting in their own class really hard that were in between guys that we were fighting with. All of those yellows at the end just kind of mixed everyone up and made it hard to race guys in our own pack. It was a lot of fun to be in the mix, but I wish we had been able to line up five GTD cars and get to race head-to-head. I felt like we had a good race car. We probably had a better long-run car than a short-run car, which at the end was important with all of those cautions.”
