CORE autosport keeps high hopes for Mosport

Though it is Tom Kimber-Smith's first trip to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, his inexperience is tempered by the proficiency of Patrick Long who has made eight ALMS starts at CTMP.

Patrick Long
Driver: No. 06 Porsche 911 RSR
"I have a love-hate relationship with Mosport. The issues that I had with safety they’ve fixed with some paved runoffs. The other difficult part was the concrete sections of the track, where the asphalt had deteriorated and they had filled in with a more dense concrete. That made for a rough ride and a situation where you had a lot of grip and then you had no grip... I liked it because it was technically challenging, but didn’t like it because it was, for lack of a better word, tacky. The new ownership has put a ton of time and money into the track. They preserved every bit of Mosport, but they added safety.

"I’m excited to go back. The Porsche has been strong there the last couple of years. Lizards won the race last year but we had it taken from us in post-tech, so I feel like Porsche has some redemption ahead. We went in last year thinking we wouldn’t be near the front and we surprised ourselves."

Tom Kimber-Smith
Driver: No. 06 Porsche 911 RSR
"I’ve never been to Mosport. I’m looking forward to going there. I’ve heard good stuff about it. I know it’s a very fast circuit. My friend Luke Hines had a fairly big crash there a couple years ago, so I know that side of it. When I was at Lime Rock, I looked at some footage from last year and it’s seriously quick!

"Normally, in the U.K., I would go to a simulator and learn on that, but I don’t know anyone around here who has one. My next option is to watch as many YouTube videos as I can of the circuit. Our engineer Gary Davies sent me some data from last year and I’ve been looking over that. I’ve spoken to as many people as I can about it and looking for any tips that they can give."

Colin Braun and Jon Bennett have now scored three podium finishes in-a-row, but are anxious to get back to the top spot, where they last stood in Round Two at the Grand Prix of Long Beach.

CORE autosport has yet to finish off the podium in PC at CTMP, so the pressure is on for Braun and Bennett, especially with the team only two points out of the PC Team Championship lead.

Jon Bennett

Driver: No. 05 ORECA FLM09
"I am looking forward to returning to the paved roller coaster called Mosport. It’s an old school track where most of the corners are blind and almost full throttle. You know you're really alive after a well-executed lap here.

"CORE has had a lot of success here with our first team 1-2 finish in 2011. I am very optimistic for a successful event for Colin Braun and I in our LMPC Prototype and for Pat Long and Tom Kimber-Smith in our lightening quick Porsche GT3 RSR."

Colin Braun
Driver: No. 05 ORECA FLM09
"I’m a really big fan of Mosport. It’s a place that has corners that demand a lot of respect and are very challenging to drive because they’re so high speed. Mosport in a PC car is nearly all fifth- and sixth-gear corners, which are my favorite kind of corners. There’s only one section on the track that is slow.

"I’m disappointed on one hand, but happy on another hand, that they moved back some of the walls and opened up some of the run off areas in certain corners, because it takes some of the risk out those corners, but I’m excited to see all the changes they’ve made to the race track and the facility."

CORE autosport