Qualifying report

IMSA Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

CTMP IMSA: Braun takes emphatic pole in CORE Oreca

Colin Braun took pole position for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship round at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in his CORE autosport Oreca LMP2, recording two laps good enough for the top spot.

Charles Bradley

Edited: Jul 7, 2018, 7:53 PM

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#54 CORE autosport ORECA LMP2, P: Jon Bennett, Colin Braun

#6 Acura Team Penske Acura DPi, P: Dane Cameron, Juan Pablo Montoya

#85 JDC/Miller Motorsports ORECA 07, P: Simon Trummer, Robert Alon

#31 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi, P: Eric Curran, Felipe Nasr

#7 Acura Team Penske Acura DPi, P: Helio Castroneves, Ricky Taylor

#911 Porsche Team North America Porsche 911 RSR, GTLM: Patrick Pilet, Nick Tandy

#4 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C7.R, GTLM: Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner

#5 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi, P: Joao Barbosa, Filipe Albuquerque

#15 3GT Racing Lexus RCF GT3, GTD: Jack Hawksworth, David Heinemeier Hansson

In the 15-minute session, Braun – who topped every practice session this weekend – laid down the gauntlet immediately with 1m06.616s, then set 1m06.484s, before unleashing a lap of 1m06.315s.

Braun also set pole in the previous round at Watkins Glen, but the team elected to start from the back of the Prototype grid with teammate Jon Bennett taking the first stint.

“It’s a testament to these CORE guys,” said Braun. “This car is just a blast to drive around here, probably my favorite racetrack. The car is efficient, it’s a great platform, but we’re a single-car team, and we’re building on that every race weekend. It’s only our fifth race with the car, and my dad is engineering this thing!”

Braun's closest rival was Dane Cameron in the #6 Penske-run Acura DPi, who got within 0.225s with a 1m06.540s.

Robert Alon, who has impressed all weekend, put a second Oreca LMP2 in the top three positions with a lap of 1m06.841s for JDC-Miller Motorsports. Renger van der Zande was the quickest of the Cadillacs for Wayne Taylor Racing in fourth, just pipping Jonathan Bomarito in the #55 Mazda.

Helio Castroneves was sixth fastest in the second of the Acuras, ahead of Sebastian Saavedra (AFS/PR1 Mathiasen Ligier) and Ryan Dalziel in the sole ESM Nissan.

In GTLM, Nick Tandy produced a stunning 1m13.517s lap, setting two laps good enough for class pole in Porsche 911 RSR #911.

“It’s good we can bring our tires up to temperature quickly,” said Tandy. “I’m sure we won’t have such an advantage over a long run. It’s been a good day for England, what with the World Cup and F1 results today. Hopefully we’ll stay in front.”

Ryan Briscoe grabbed second in his Chip Ganassi-run Ford GT, three tenths off Tandy’s pace with a 1m13.844s, ahead of the first of the Chevrolet Corvettes of Jan Magnussen.

A ragged Laurens Vanthoor was only fourth quickest in Porsche #912, over four tenths off the time of the pole-winning sister car. Oliver Gavin qualified the #4 Corvette in fifth, ahead of the BMWs of Jesse Krohn and Alexander Sims.

Joey Hand was slowest of the class runners in the #66 Ford GT which won at Watkins Glen, after reporting an issue with the left-front corner of his car and pulling into the pits.

In GTD, Jack Hawksworth took class pole in his 3GT Racing Lexus RC F, his 1m15.581s beating teammate Dominik Baumann by 0.439s.

“We knew this would be a track that suited us, it feels like this track is almost designed for us,” said Hawksworth. “I had a really good feeling, and the speed came really easily. It’s a fun track on low fuel and new tires. I think we’ve got a great chance in the race.”

Bryan Sellers qualified third in his Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracan, a further three tenths back.

Qualifying results:

Pos#DriverClassChassisTimeGap 1 54 united_states Jon Bennett
Colin Braun P ORECA LMP2 1'06.315 2 6 colombia Juan Pablo Montoya
Dane Cameron P Acura DPi 1'06.540 0.225 3 85 switzerland Simon Trummer
Robert Alon P ORECA LMP2 1'06.841 0.526 4 10 Jordan Taylor
netherlands Renger van der Zande P Cadillac DPi 1'07.093 0.778 5 55 united_kingdom Harry Tincknell
united_states Jonathan Bomarito P Mazda DPi 1'07.109 0.794 6 7 brazil Helio Castroneves
Ricky Taylor P Acura DPi 1'07.272 0.957 7 52 colombia Gustavo Yacaman
Sebastian Saavedra P Ligier LMP2 1'07.276 0.961 8 22 brazil Pipo Derani
Ryan Dalziel P Nissan DPi 1'07.524 1.209 9 77 united_kingdom Oliver Jarvis
united_states Tristan Nunez P Mazda DPi 1'07.684 1.369 10 99 canada Mikhail Goikhberg
south_africa Stephen Simpson P ORECA LMP2 1'07.827 1.512 11 5 brazil Christian Fittipaldi
portugal Filipe Albuquerque P Cadillac DPi 1'08.009 1.694 12 31 Eric Curran
brazil Felipe Nasr P Cadillac DPi 1'08.168 1.853 13 911 united_kingdom Nick Tandy
france Patrick Pilet GTLM Porsche 911 RSR 1'13.517 7.202 14 67 australia Ryan Briscoe
Richard Westbrook GTLM Ford GT 1'13.831 7.516 15 3 denmark Jan Magnussen
spain Antonio Garcia GTLM Corvette C7.R 1'13.934 7.619 16 912 new_zealand Earl Bamber
belgium Laurens Vanthoor GTLM Porsche 911 RSR 1'13.955 7.640 17 4 united_kingdom Oliver Gavin
united_states Tommy Milner GTLM Corvette C7.R 1'14.080 7.765 18 24 John Edwards
finland Jesse Krohn GTLM BMW M8 GTE 1'14.100 7.785 19 25 Connor de Phillippi
Alexander Sims GTLM BMW M8 GTE 1'14.213 7.898 20 66 Joey Hand
germany Dirk Müller GTLM Ford GT 1'14.228 7.913 21 15 denmark David Heinemeier Hansson
united_kingdom Jack Hawksworth GTD Lexus RC F GT3 1'15.581 9.266 22 14 canada Kyle Marcelli
austria Dominik Baumann GTD Lexus RC F GT3 1'16.020 9.705 23 48 united_states Bryan Sellers
Madison Snow GTD Lamborghini Huracan GT3 1'16.386 10.071 24 33 netherlands Jeroen Bleekemolen
Ben Keating GTD Mercedes-AMG GT3 1'16.417 10.102 25 16 germany Wolf Henzler
Michael Schein GTD Porsche 911 GT3 R 1'16.545 10.230 26 86 portugal Alvaro Parente
united_kingdom Katherine Legge GTD Acura NSX GT3 1'16.554 10.239 27 96 united_states Bill Auberlen
Robby Foley GTD BMW M6 GT3 1'16.707 10.392 28 58 Patrick Long
denmark Christina Nielsen GTD Porsche 911 GT3 R 1'16.887 10.572 29 63 Jeff Segal
Cooper MacNeil GTD Ferrari 488 GT3 1'17.027 10.712 30 93 Justin Marks
Lawson Aschenbach GTD Acura NSX GT3 1'17.603 11.288 31 44 united_states Andy Lally
John Potter GTD Audi R8 LMS GT3 1'17.610 11.295

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