CORE autosport wins Rolex 24 pole

DAYTONA, Fla. (Jan. 23, 2014) – CORE autosport kicked off the 2014 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship by scoring the PC pole position for the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Colin Braun put the No. 54 ORECA FLM09 at the front of the PC grid in the closing minutes of a thrilling qualifying session at Daytona International Speedway.

This is CORE autosport’s first trip to the legendary Rolex 24 at Daytona. The race marks the first event of the new TUDOR Championship, the product of a merger between the American Le Mans Series and the Rolex SportsCar Series. After winning the last three ALMS PC Team Championships, CORE autosport now commences its quest for the first TUDOR Championship PC title with a pole position in the season opener.

In a 15-minute qualifying session around the 3.56-mile, 12-turn roval, Braun continued to increase his pace as the PC competition attempted to knock him off the top of the timing screens. Braun laid down one last flyer, a 1:41.777 (125.922 mph), to secure his 10th career PC pole in North American Endurance racing. The lap officially sets the PC lap record at Daytona International Speedway. It’s not the first pole position Braun has scored at DIS—in 2009, he qualified on pole for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

Braun shares the No. 54 with Jon Bennett, James Gue and Mark Wilkins. They will share driving duties for 24 hours of racing, starting at 2:10 p.m. ET on Saturday, Jan. 23, and ending at 2:10 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 24.

Colin Braun
Driver: No. 54 ORECA FLM09
“The car felt really good, but it’s a bit surprising to get the pole, because I feel like we have a better race car than a qualifying car.

“The PC qualifying sessions are tough. Sometimes it seems like the best laps come early, other times, the best laps come late. For us, we focused on driving the car to the limit at the end. The goal was to put in the best lap at the end and that worked out perfect.

“The PC class has always been pretty tough with strong teams and drivers. I think at Daytona, the field is always deeper. That’s what’s cool about coming here and merging everyone together. This is the top level of sports cars in the U.S.

“This is my 10th Rolex 24, but I’ve never been on the pole before. It’s also fun that it’s the first race of the merged series, so I guess I’m the first driver to record a pole in PC!”

CORE autosport