After securing its second Prototype Challenge win of the year at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, CORE autosport is feeling strong as it heads to the shortest track on the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship calendar: Lime Rock Park.

The Connecticut circuit is home ground for driver and team owner Jon Bennett, who grew up watching races at Lime Rock Park and attended his first Skip Barber Driving School there.

Last year’s race at Lime Rock Park featured only two classes: PC and GTD. This year, the GTLM class will join in, making for plenty of traffic and non-stop action. It will be imperative to stay on pace and make zero mistakes, as it can be easy to go a lap down, but extremely difficult to get the lap back.

Jon Bennett
Driver: No. 54 ORECA FLM09

“I lived nearby in Newtown, Connecticut, during my high school years and Lime Rock was the closest road racing circuit. I spent many weekends on the hill watching IMSA’s Camel GT and fire-breathing Porsche 935′s. At 16, I’d saved enough money from an after school job to attend a one-day Skip Barber school in a Crossle Formula Ford.

“Lime Rock is one of the most grueling races of the season. The short track length and traffic combine to create a busy and mentally taxing time in the car. I can also remember Lime Rock as being a race with some heat to contend with. Personally, I enjoy the strategy of working through traffic by being careful and clever, but add in some heat, stress, traffic and non-stop turns, and Lime Rock can turn into one of the most grueling races of the season.

“It’s difficult to predict the number of cautions we’ll see. There no science to it, but when the yellows begin to occur, each one seems to create the next one.”  

Colin Braun
Driver: No. 54 ORECA FLM09

“Lime Rock is going to be very challenging this year with the addition of the GTLM cars, particularly because they are so quick compared to the PC cars. I can certainly envision the kind of beating and banging people associate with Lime Rock.

“From a physical and mental side of things, Lime Rock is one of the toughest places we go to. The laps are really fast and short. You only really have the front straightaway for a chance to rest. Mentally, working through the traffic and trying to predict what’s going to happen and who’s going where really takes a toll. Lime Rock is generally pretty hot also. Luckily for us, we have an open top car, so it’s a little bit better, but it can still be incredibly muggy. It’s a great test of overall mental and physical strength.

“Strategy-wise, it’s tricky, because it’s really easy to get a lap down. On the flip-side, with all the traffic, you’d expect a bunch of yellows where you might have the chance to make your lap back up. Track position is so important because of how hard it is to pass. Even within our own class, there’s so much GT traffic, it makes it really challenging to make passes on cars in your own class.”