CORE autosport is ready to attack a temporary street circuit for the first time in a GT Daytona car when it starts 15th in Saturday’s BUBBA burger Sports Car Grand Prix at Long Beach.

This year, IMSA’s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship has brought more cars to Long Beach than ever before. Contributing to the loaded entry list this weekend is the addition of the GTD class to the mix, which boasts 16 entries, including the No. 54 Composite Resources / Flex-Box / Micro WaterJet Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Jon Bennett was designated as the driver for today’s 15-minute qualifying session. Bennett’s fastest lap was a 1:22.837 (85.5mph). This puts the No. 54 15th on the GTD grid for tomorrow’s one-hour and 40-minute race.

Bennett shares the car with Colin Braun. The pair won at Long Beach in 2013, driving in the Prototype Challenge category.

The BUBBA burger Sports Car Grand Prix at Long Beach airs live on FOX, starting at 4pm ET.

Jon Bennett
Driver: No. 54 Porsche 911 GT3 R
“The track was a bit better than I expected from this morning.  It took a bit of an adjustment to take advantage of the grip that was developing. I went nearly a second faster than my session this morning. We are getting incrementally better each session, so I’m optimistic. Of course, there’s a lot more that goes on during the race than tenths of seconds. My biggest surprise was how close the GT3-based GTD cars are similar to the GTLM cars. It’s a lot closer than I expected. Hopefully that won’t hinder either class in the race, but this track has certainly brought the two classes close together.”