ROCK HILL, S.C. (April 10, 2018) – Sitting second in the point standings, CORE autosport faces an entirely new challenge this weekend with its new ORECA 07 LM P2 when it tackles the streets of Long Beach California for Round Three of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
After facing a high-speed roval and then a bumpy road course, CORE now takes on its first temporary street circuit in the Prototype class.
The concrete walls of a street course increases the odds for attrition and Long Beach is no exception. In the short 100-minute race, keeping the car in one piece will be critical.
Noteworthy
- CORE autosport has won Grand Prix of Long Beach three times (2011, 2012 and 2013).
- The team’s 2011 win at Long Beach marked its first professional victory.
- CORE is currently second in the point standings, four points behind No. 31 Whelen Engineering Racing.
- At 100 minutes, Long Beach is the shortest race on the IMSA schedule.
JON BENNETT
Driver: No. 54 ORECA 07 LM P2
“I really enjoy street circuits and Long Beach is certainly a favorite. Street circuits reward concentration and precision, which play to our team’s strengths. With our ORECA prototype, everything applies only at a higher level.
“Qualifying is always important, but at Long Beach, it’s definitely makes things easier to start from the front. Passing at Long Beach takes a lot of strategy and cleverness.
“The shorter duration of Long Beach changes the game slightly. There is more emphasis on qualifying, the race start, the restarts and the driver change. With proper race execution and a smart, adaptable strategy I think we can continue our success through Long Beach.”
COLIN BRAUN
Driver: ORECA 07 LM P2“I really enjoy Long Beach. We’ve had some great races at Long Beach and Jon’s had some really good performances. Our ORECA has been a lot of fun to drive at Sebring and Daytona and it’ll be a lot of fun to tackle a whole new set of questions when we arrive at yet another completely different track.
“With the ORECA being so aero dependent, we’re trying to minimize contact and protect the front of the car so we don’t knock the dive planes off or mess up any of the aero parts. The phrase ‘keep your nose clean,’ will literally be a key factor at Long Beach.
“It’s going to be a different style of race with it being so short. We’ve been able to execute pits stops and strategy calls very well in the long races. In this race, ultimate pace is going to be more important; we don’t have a lot of pit stops to chip away and make up time. We’re still new to the whole Prototype category and we’re making big strides each time we go to the race track and I’m sure Long Beach will be no different.”