Colin Braun Scores Pole For CORE Nissan DPi

The normal strategy for CORE Autosport is to give qualifying duties to gentleman driver Jon Bennett and have Colin Braun end the race. CORE Autosport entered qualifying, threw that strategy to the side, put Braun in the #54 Nissan DPi and ended the session with a time of 1:05.452 or in other words; pole position.

“It’s a special day when you can be on the pole. I love this track up here, I love the fans that come out and support this event.” Braun said.

“We made a last-minute decision to have me qualify, we had good pace in practice so we thought to just give it a whirl. I was proud of that lap,” he added.

Helio Castroneves was looking for 0.074 seconds to try and better the time set by Braun when he and the #7 Acura Team Penske ARX-05 went for a spin at Moss Corner late in the session. As a result, Castroneves had to settle for second with a best time of 1:05.526.

Making it three manufacturers in as many positions was Jonathon Bomarito in the #55 Mazda RT-24P. Bomarito’s best time was a 1:05.780.

It took Jesse Krohn just three laps, the lowest of any qualifier, to smash the lap record and place the #24 BMW M8 on pole position. Krohn’s best lap, a 1:13.086 was half a second quicker than any other GT Le Mans runner and more than enough to give Krohn his first IMSA pole position.

“The car was great today, we went for the old one lap banger. We know it’s going to be critical on tyres so the more you can save in qualifying the better you’ll be in the race. The lap was good, really good to be honest, I don’t think there was more that I could have given.” Said Krohn.

Tom Blomqvist, pushing to respond to the pace of his teammate had a minor spin entering the final corner. Despite the error, he did his part in netting BMW a front-row lockout with a best time of 1:13.548 in the #25 BMW M8.

Ryan Briscoe attempted to mount a challenge to the BMW pair late in the session but third was the best that Briscoe could manage. His best time was a 1:13.804 after nine laps in the #67 Ford GT, still running in its Le Mans colours.

In GT Daytona, Turner Motorsport has managed to turn around what had been a woeful season for the BMW crew. At Watkins Glen, they ended the race with a strong second-place finish and they continued their momentum north of the border with a pole position from Robby Foley in their #96 BMW M6.

This one feels good! It’s a high commitment track here I was kind of out of breath after that one, we’ve had bad luck all year.” Foley said after completing the session that saw him set a 1:16.172.

“This one is special for me, my grandmother passed away earlier this week so this is a good result. Hopefully, we can convert tomorrow,” Foley added.

Ben Keating in the #33 Riley Mercedes-AMG GT3 held the provisional pole for a handful of moments in the session before Foley bettered the Texan’s time of 1:16.253. That time was still good enough to net Keating and Jeroen Bleekemolen a front-row starting position.

Rounding out the top three in GTD was the #86 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX. Trent Hindman had qualifying duties and put down a 1:16.353, some five tenths quicker than his teammates in the #57 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX, who will start alongside them on the second row.

LMP2 pole was taken by Kyle Masson and the #39 Performance Tech Oreca 07. Masson’s best time was a 1:08.272, about five-tenths quicker than Dalton Kellett in the #52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca 07.

Tomorrow’s race is set for 1:05 p.m. EST or 18:05 BST. It can be watched on IMSA.tv outside the United States or on NBC Sports inside the United States.