In a stout Prototype field of 20 cars, Colin Braun qualified the No. 54 Flex-Box / Composite Resources ORECA 07 LM P2 eighth for the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Braun, a six-time pole winner in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, was at the top of the timing screens early in the session, but as the other Prototype entries got up to speed, times dropped and margins narrowed. Bouncing around inside the top 10, Braun eventually settled into eighth with a lap of 1:36.567 (132.709 mph).
At the checkered flag, the top nine were separated by half a second.
For the race, Braun will be joined by drivers Jon Bennett, Romain Dumas and Loïc Duval.
The Rolex 24 at Daytona goes green Saturday, January 27, at 2:40pm ET with live coverage on FOX.
Colin Braun
Driver: No. 54 ORECA 07 LM P2
“The first half of the qualifying session was really good. As we knew would be the case, the DPis saw what the pace was and turned the speed up to that pace. At the end, we didn’t have the pace match. I feel really proud about our effort considering we didn’t focus much on our qualifying package. It felt like we ran nice, consistent laps that are quick. I feel like that is what’s most important, not the one quick lap.
“It’s a very tight field. I think we showed, as a group, the performance of the ORECA is the performance of the ORECA and that’s what we have. We’ve been running the same times since we unloaded the car. The race will be interesting. When we get to the end, we’ll see everyone’s true performance show through. It’s part of this style of racing.”
