CORE autosport heads for success north of the border

ROCK HILL, SC, Monday, July 16, 2012: After sweeping success at Lime Rock with a one-two finish, CORE autosport is heading north of the border for this weekend’s 2012 Mobil 1 Presents the Grand Prix of Mosport at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada.

#05 CORE Autosport Oreca FLM09: Jonathan Bennett, Colin Braun

Photo by: James M. Holland

Driving this weekend in the #05 Composite Resources ORECA FLM09 will be team owner / founder Jon Bennett and motorsports phenom Colin Braun, who have won the last two American Le Mans Series (ALMS) events, at Laguna Seca and Lime Rock.

The sister #06 Soloson Import car will be raced by lead driver and current Prototype Challenge (PC) driver championship points leader Alex Popow, who will be rejoined this weekend by Ryan Dalziel, class winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The combination of Popow and Dalziel has been a success for the South Carolina-based team, with the pair taking victory at the Long Beach event this past April. Dalziel has been a part of the CORE autosport organization since the team entered into ALMS competition as an occasional co-driver and coach / consultant.

This ALMS round is special to CORE autosport. In 2011, the team scored its first one-two finish at the very fast 2.459-mile, 10-turn road course. It was momentum from that result that allowed the first-year organization to win both driver and team championships in the ALMS PC class.

Fast forward one year and CORE autosport now holds a commanding lead in both 2012 PC championship categories and a record for PC team consecutive wins. In four races, the team has scored eight podiums – four wins, one second and three thirds. Popow is leading the driver’s championship, a mere three points ahead of the Bennett / Braun combination.

Practice for the 2012 Mobil 1 Presents the Grand Prix of Mosport begins on Friday afternoon, July 20. On Saturday the 21st will be two more practice sessions and qualifying, which can be viewed on ESPN3 and ALMS.com. The race will be held on Sunday, July 22nd from noon to 2:45 p.m. (ET). Live coverage of the race can be found online at ESPN3 and a two-hour television broadcast featuring live coverage will air on ESPN2 from 1 to 3 p.m. (ET).