In a session that saw all but one entry shatter the previous Prototype qualifying lap record at Watkins Glen International, Colin Braun managed to best them all for CORE autosport to lead the field to green for Sunday’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen.
Braun put the #54 on pole in an ORECA LMP2 that ran among the fastest entries across the weekend’s sessions, between himself and teammate Romain Dumas.
“We’ve got a fast car,” Braun told IMSA Radio. “Yesterday Romain [Dumas] and I were top two in terms of speed.”
Paul di Resta set the pace early, claiming a P1 time and pushing even faster on the following lap. While he was running fastest sector times, he locked up the brakes and went slightly off track. He would eventually settle for his 1:32.356 time and take his United Autosport car to the pits.
Braun bested di Resta’s lap by .006, claiming pole with a time of 1:32.350.
The field will be lead to green by an all-LMP2 front row, just days after JDC-Miller Motorsports considered a move to DPi in order to remain competitive. The top qualifying DPi was Ricky Taylor in the Team Penske Acura DPi, claiming P3 to improve on their practice pace.
Renger van der Zande struggled to capitalize on the strong pace shown by Wayne Taylor Racing across Friday’s sessions, as he qualified P8 in the #10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi. Another surprise struggling Cadillac was that of Felipe Albuquerque in the #5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac. The championship-leading entry was unable to match the leader’s pace throughout practice sessions and will start P14.
While being on the pole is a promising way to start for CORE autosport, Braun did not want to make any assumptions regarding strategy going into Sunday’s six hour race.
“We’re kind of a wait and see approach,” he said. “This is all new for us, we’re still learning.”
The #54 CORE autosport ORECA LMP2 will lead the field to green in Sunday’s Sahlens Six Hours of the Glen. The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship takes to the track Sunday, at 9:30 a.m. ET.
