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Le Mans / ALMS
IN THE COCKPIT: Colin Braun, Lime Rock
So, I finally got to Lime Rock and I couldn’t wait to get into the No. 05 car and turn some hot laps. But that was not to be...
Colin Braun and Jon Bennett celebrated their second consecutive American Le Mans Series class victory of the season last weekend at Lime Rock Park. (Photo: Rick Dole/CORE autosport)
Hello everyone, it’s great to be back! What a long break the ALMS had between the Laguna Race in mid-May and Lime Rock this past weekend. It felt like that time between Thanksgiving and Christmas!
Of course I kept myself busy during that mega stretch – I drove in three GRAND-AM races with Starworks and even spent some time back in the NASCAR world, helping a friend practice his Camping World Series truck in Texas and setting up Kurt Busch’s Nationwide Series car at Road America.
Those were fun experiences, but man was I ready to get back to my full-season gig as the co-driver of the No. 05 Composite Resources ORECA FLM09 with my teammate Jon [Bennett]. I love spending time with the entire team – they are professional and everyone seems to enjoy what they do. It’s a great environment.
So, I finally got to Lime Rock and I couldn’t wait to get into the No. 05 car and turn some hot laps. But that was not to be.
Why? I needed to re-adjust and re-calibrate! The cars I’d been driving during the break were so different and I had to get used to the sights, sounds and smells of the PC car. I had to remember how it drove, how good the carbon brakes are, how quiet the engine is (for a race car these things are soft!) and of course being back in a car without a roof.
Essentially I needed to remember what the car wants and how to make it fast. And fast is what it is at Lime Rock. It’s a very tight and busy track – you’re working traffic at very high speeds with very little room for mistakes. So right off the bat I didn’t really have the time I thought I’d have to re-learn the car, but after my first stop during practice I got to collect my thoughts and it clicked.
Just like riding a bike. Right? Well, kind of.
We practiced and qualified on Friday. The team and my engineer Gary Davies were really trying to work with the car to get it to drive how we wanted. We didn’t really hit on the combination that day and our qualifying wasn’t great, but by Saturday’s warmup it all got worked out and the car was a rocketship. Jon and I had the confidence that we were going to do well.
Then the rain came.
We really had a pretty nasty and damp couple of hours before the race. It rained a little, stopped, rained some more and we didn’t know what to expect. All of us in the paddock were wondering what we were going to do regarding tires, and Jon and I were discussing strategy and race lines in case it started coming down. An open car may be great for visibility in the dry, but in the wet… not so much.
Jon took the first stint in the race and he did a great job. Those first few laps we really didn’t know how hard he could push it and how wet the track might be, because as I said earlier, Lime Rock doesn’t give you any room for error.
He lost a few spots on the start, kept his nose clean despite being in the middle of the GT cars and brought me the car in third spot. I went after it immediately as it was dry and the car was perfect. But I knew it’d be tough to catch the PC cars ahead of me without a yellow flag.
That yellow came and we entered the pit in third. Having not much to lose, Gary and Morgan Brady (CORE autosport team manager) gave me new tires, something not many other folks decided to do – not the two cars ahead of me, at least. But, under yellow, you can’t really heat up new tires and the first and second place cars had nice and sticky tires.
So I warmed up my tires as best I could and knew I’d have one shot to make my move, and that would be on the restart. Green flag dropped and I did whatever I could, and by the end of the lap I was in first place. The new tires enabled me to drive away from the rest of the PC cars.
So for the second time in a row and my second time in the ALMS, Jon and I won! To make it even sweeter, the other team car – the No. 06 driven by Alex Popow and Tom Kimber-Smith – came in second. A great result for CORE autosport!
Thanks Morgan and Gary for a great strategy call. And thanks to all the guys for the fast car and great pit stops.
Of course I will want to say it was all skill, but there might have been a little racing luck there and perhaps some of it is due to a new-found tradition between Jon and I. The night before our Laguna win in May, he and I and our significant others went out to dinner, toasted to victory and it came true. Lime Rock? Same deal.
The real secret – don’t tell Morgan – is that we all have a little bit of dessert after the meal. Just to add to the sweetness of a win.
I think we’ll try it again at our next race July 22nd at Mosport, or now as it’s called the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. The last time I drove there I think I was 15 or 16 in Star Mazda, but I’ve been back to coach there as recently as last year. It’s my kind of track, with fast and hairy corners. I know that with CORE autosport, Jon and I will have the car under us to make it to the top step of the podium for a third time.
But first, a little dessert…
~Colin
The youngest-ever race winner in GRAND-AM history, Colin Braun returns to his sports car roots for 2012, competing in the American Le Mans Series with defending class champions, CORE autosport. The 23-year-old star, who spent the last few years in the NASCAR Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series, co-drives the No. 05 Oreca FLM09 with team owner Jon Bennett as they pursue the LMPC championship.
For more information, visit: www.colinbraun.com. You can also follow Colin on Twitter @ColinBraun
Of course I kept myself busy during that mega stretch – I drove in three GRAND-AM races with Starworks and even spent some time back in the NASCAR world, helping a friend practice his Camping World Series truck in Texas and setting up Kurt Busch’s Nationwide Series car at Road America.
Those were fun experiences, but man was I ready to get back to my full-season gig as the co-driver of the No. 05 Composite Resources ORECA FLM09 with my teammate Jon [Bennett]. I love spending time with the entire team – they are professional and everyone seems to enjoy what they do. It’s a great environment.
So, I finally got to Lime Rock and I couldn’t wait to get into the No. 05 car and turn some hot laps. But that was not to be.
Why? I needed to re-adjust and re-calibrate! The cars I’d been driving during the break were so different and I had to get used to the sights, sounds and smells of the PC car. I had to remember how it drove, how good the carbon brakes are, how quiet the engine is (for a race car these things are soft!) and of course being back in a car without a roof.
Essentially I needed to remember what the car wants and how to make it fast. And fast is what it is at Lime Rock. It’s a very tight and busy track – you’re working traffic at very high speeds with very little room for mistakes. So right off the bat I didn’t really have the time I thought I’d have to re-learn the car, but after my first stop during practice I got to collect my thoughts and it clicked.
Just like riding a bike. Right? Well, kind of.
We practiced and qualified on Friday. The team and my engineer Gary Davies were really trying to work with the car to get it to drive how we wanted. We didn’t really hit on the combination that day and our qualifying wasn’t great, but by Saturday’s warmup it all got worked out and the car was a rocketship. Jon and I had the confidence that we were going to do well.
Then the rain came.
We really had a pretty nasty and damp couple of hours before the race. It rained a little, stopped, rained some more and we didn’t know what to expect. All of us in the paddock were wondering what we were going to do regarding tires, and Jon and I were discussing strategy and race lines in case it started coming down. An open car may be great for visibility in the dry, but in the wet… not so much.
Jon took the first stint in the race and he did a great job. Those first few laps we really didn’t know how hard he could push it and how wet the track might be, because as I said earlier, Lime Rock doesn’t give you any room for error.
He lost a few spots on the start, kept his nose clean despite being in the middle of the GT cars and brought me the car in third spot. I went after it immediately as it was dry and the car was perfect. But I knew it’d be tough to catch the PC cars ahead of me without a yellow flag.
That yellow came and we entered the pit in third. Having not much to lose, Gary and Morgan Brady (CORE autosport team manager) gave me new tires, something not many other folks decided to do – not the two cars ahead of me, at least. But, under yellow, you can’t really heat up new tires and the first and second place cars had nice and sticky tires.
So I warmed up my tires as best I could and knew I’d have one shot to make my move, and that would be on the restart. Green flag dropped and I did whatever I could, and by the end of the lap I was in first place. The new tires enabled me to drive away from the rest of the PC cars.
So for the second time in a row and my second time in the ALMS, Jon and I won! To make it even sweeter, the other team car – the No. 06 driven by Alex Popow and Tom Kimber-Smith – came in second. A great result for CORE autosport!
Thanks Morgan and Gary for a great strategy call. And thanks to all the guys for the fast car and great pit stops.
Of course I will want to say it was all skill, but there might have been a little racing luck there and perhaps some of it is due to a new-found tradition between Jon and I. The night before our Laguna win in May, he and I and our significant others went out to dinner, toasted to victory and it came true. Lime Rock? Same deal.
The real secret – don’t tell Morgan – is that we all have a little bit of dessert after the meal. Just to add to the sweetness of a win.
I think we’ll try it again at our next race July 22nd at Mosport, or now as it’s called the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. The last time I drove there I think I was 15 or 16 in Star Mazda, but I’ve been back to coach there as recently as last year. It’s my kind of track, with fast and hairy corners. I know that with CORE autosport, Jon and I will have the car under us to make it to the top step of the podium for a third time.
But first, a little dessert…
~Colin
The youngest-ever race winner in GRAND-AM history, Colin Braun returns to his sports car roots for 2012, competing in the American Le Mans Series with defending class champions, CORE autosport. The 23-year-old star, who spent the last few years in the NASCAR Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series, co-drives the No. 05 Oreca FLM09 with team owner Jon Bennett as they pursue the LMPC championship.
For more information, visit: www.colinbraun.com. You can also follow Colin on Twitter @ColinBraun
Monterey
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