Braun and Bennett return at Laguna Seca as defending champions

The No. 05 is fresh off a victory at the Grand Prix of Long Beach where Colin Braun and Jon Bennett ran a nail-biting fuel conservation race to the finish.

The two-time defending ALMS PC Champions are currently second in the team standings and are on a mission to defend their 2012 Laguna Seca win.

#05 Core Autosport ORECA FLM09: Jonathan Bennett, Colin Braun

Photo by: Jeff Davidson

Braun sealed the deal on his and Bennett’s first ALMS win last year with a pass for the lead on Bruno Junquiera with two laps remaining.

The No. 05 crew welcomes a new engineer, Travis Low, as Gary Davies moves to the No. 06 car. Bennett finished fourth at Laguna Seca in 2011 driving with Frankie Montecalvo and Andy Wallace, two spots behind CORE's No. 06 PC car.

Bennett is also entered in the Porsche IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge by Yokohama in the No. 54 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.

Jon Bennett (Driver: Oreca PC No.05): "Laguna is always a great race—it’s a beautiful venue and a beautiful part of our country. It’s one of the marquee tracks in the world. It’s going to be fun to go back and defend our win there.

"One of the things that comes into play as the races get longer is the more opportunity for unexpected things to happen. I think that plays to our team’s strength in preparation and adaptability, because there’s a lot more that could happen in a four-hour race than a two hour race.

I think the team plays a bigger role in the longer races because of the need to deal with unexpected events, whether that be replacing a nose or a flat tire.

"I have a little bit of impatience with the GT3 Cup car. It’s something new and different for me compared to the PC car and I desperately want to be up front and competitive, but at the same time, I’m on a bit of a learning curve and racing against guys that are very, very familiar with the car. Overall, it improves me as a driver, because the goal is to do something different to keep me sharp."

Colin Braun (Driver: Oreca PC No.05): "I’m definitely excited for Laguna. That was a good place for us last year, obviously, we won the race. I’m excited because Jon did a heck of a job at Long Beach and our car has been really fast. We’ve had a good race pace and good qualifying speed. I think figuring out the tires is still going to be a big part of it.

"We’ve got a new engineer to work with. Gary Davies is on the RSR program now, so we’ve got Travis Low coming on board to be our engineer. We’re going to have to learn each other quickly, but I’m sure he’ll fit right in.

"It’s still a sprint for us. Last year it was a six-hour race, but this year it’s a four-hour race, which will be a little bit different. It’s still about being fast, having a good pace and driving smart and all the things we always talk about that play into being successful in these races. It’s such a tough, competitive class, you have to always be pushing and fast."

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