CORE Autosport put in a spectacular performance at the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship round at Road America, finishing second after starting from eighth on the Prototype Challenge (PC) grid.
Following a troubled qualifying session, Jon Bennett put in a strong opening stint, keeping calm while his opponents fell victim to the long four-mile circuit. He handed the #54 ORECA FLM09, to his teammate Colin Braun in third place with an hour and a half of the race remaining.
Braun’s efforts to snatch the PC lead from Tom Kimber-Smith were thwarted by traffic and a late race caution which limited the time to chase down the leader. Despite missing the chance for the win, the team was satisfied with it’s trouble-free performance.
“It was a little wild at the start but I put in a solid and consistent performance,” said Bennett. “I was able to keep my nose clean as I watched the craziness around me and handed the car to Colin within striking distance of the win.”
While Bennett was pleased with his performance, Braun rued how traffic denied the opportunity to win.
“We just never seemed to have the right track position,” he noted.
“I seemed to be in the middle of the other classes’ lead battles. I obviously wanted to do what I could to improve our position and give it a shot to race Kimber-Smith for the win, but when you restart with four GTLM cars in between you and the leader, it’s a big challenge.
“We had a great day. The CORE autosport guys did a great job. It was challenging and fun all at the same time.” he added
CORE autosport now has a month off before it resumes WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, 15 – 17 September .
Prior to Texas, Bennett and Braun will hop back into their RedBull Global Rallycross machinery, 27 – 28 August, in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
