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Le Mans / ALMS
ALMS: Gonzalez, Wilkins Join CORE For Petit Le Mans
Ricardo Gonzalez, Mark Wilkins completes CORE autosport’s driving squad...
CORE autosport has enjoyed a dominant season in the ALMS PC ranks, having already locked up the Drivers' an Teams' championships. (Photo: CORE autosport)
Despite having already wrapped up the Prototype Challenge Drivers’ and Teams’ titles, CORE autosport will still be looking to end the American Le Mans Series season on a high note.
SPEED.com can reveal that the two-time class champions have signed Ricardo Gonzalez and Mark Wilkins for the season-ending Petit Le Mans.
Gonzalez, who teamed with Gunnar Jeannette to win the 2011 PC class championship with CORE last year, joins Colin Braun and team principal Jon Bennett in the No. 05 Composite Resources-sponsored Oreca FLM09.
The Mexican driving ace has focused the majority of his 2012 season in the FIA World Endurance Championship, driving a LMP2 class Zytek-Nissan, but also having made three starts for Level 5 Motorsports in the ALMS.
“[CORE autpsport has] done a great job this year and without a doubt they have been the team to beat so for when I got the call to join them at Petit it was a no-brainer for me,” Gonzalez said.
“It's going to be an interesting challenge to go back from driving P2s to the PC cars, but I'm sure that after a few laps I'll get used to them once again and start working on a good race setup with the CORE autosport crew.”
Wilkins, meanwhile, will team with Ryan Dalziel and newly crowned champion Alex Popow in the No. 06 Soloson Import entry.
The 29-year-old Canadian, a veteran in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series, also has past ALMS prototype experience in PC, having taken two class victories driving for Level 5 in 2010.
“Ironically, [Petit owes me one] from the 2010 race,” Wilkins said. “The cars that CORE autosport have are the same ones I competed in with Level 5 – we’d won Sebring and Laguna that year – and were expecting the same at Petit.
“We were leading the race by more than lap until we had a brake rotor shatter, which effectively ended our chances for a win.
“It seems that the cars are far more developed since I drove them and they’re pretty quick and comfortable to drive, especially at a place like Road Atlanta, which is one of my favorite tracks in the U.S.”
The team heads into the 1,000-mile/10-hour enduro at Road Atlanta with seven class wins out of nine races under its belt, showing its dominance in the spec prototype category this year.
John Dagys is SPEED.com’s Sportscar Racing Reporter, focusing on all major domestic and international championships. You can follow him on Twitter @johndagys or email him at
SPEED.com can reveal that the two-time class champions have signed Ricardo Gonzalez and Mark Wilkins for the season-ending Petit Le Mans.
Gonzalez, who teamed with Gunnar Jeannette to win the 2011 PC class championship with CORE last year, joins Colin Braun and team principal Jon Bennett in the No. 05 Composite Resources-sponsored Oreca FLM09.
The Mexican driving ace has focused the majority of his 2012 season in the FIA World Endurance Championship, driving a LMP2 class Zytek-Nissan, but also having made three starts for Level 5 Motorsports in the ALMS.
“[CORE autpsport has] done a great job this year and without a doubt they have been the team to beat so for when I got the call to join them at Petit it was a no-brainer for me,” Gonzalez said.
“It's going to be an interesting challenge to go back from driving P2s to the PC cars, but I'm sure that after a few laps I'll get used to them once again and start working on a good race setup with the CORE autosport crew.”
Wilkins, meanwhile, will team with Ryan Dalziel and newly crowned champion Alex Popow in the No. 06 Soloson Import entry.
The 29-year-old Canadian, a veteran in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series, also has past ALMS prototype experience in PC, having taken two class victories driving for Level 5 in 2010.
“Ironically, [Petit owes me one] from the 2010 race,” Wilkins said. “The cars that CORE autosport have are the same ones I competed in with Level 5 – we’d won Sebring and Laguna that year – and were expecting the same at Petit.
“We were leading the race by more than lap until we had a brake rotor shatter, which effectively ended our chances for a win.
“It seems that the cars are far more developed since I drove them and they’re pretty quick and comfortable to drive, especially at a place like Road Atlanta, which is one of my favorite tracks in the U.S.”
The team heads into the 1,000-mile/10-hour enduro at Road Atlanta with seven class wins out of nine races under its belt, showing its dominance in the spec prototype category this year.
John Dagys is SPEED.com’s Sportscar Racing Reporter, focusing on all major domestic and international championships. You can follow him on Twitter @johndagys or email him at
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