So close, but yet so far. CORE autosport came within 90 seconds of taking its fifth American Le Mans Series (ALMS) season victory in today’s Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge. With a little more than a lap to go, the #06 Soloson Import ORECA FLM09 began to run out of fuel and had to pit from a dominant Prototype Challenge (PC) class first place position, resulting in a second-place finish (seventh overall) for drivers Alex Popow and Ryan Dalziel. Popow leapt from a fifth-place starting spot into third shortly after the two hour and 45 minute race began at the 2.258-mile, 13-turn Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, and after a round of pit stops under a caution period, emerged in first place. He maintained that position – pulling away from the second-place contender – when he turned the car over to Dalziel with approximately an hour left in the event. At that point Dalziel put on a clinic for the ALMS PC competitors, stretching his lead to more than 20 seconds.
Due to a lack of caution periods and the intense pace of the race, the #06 car came up just short on fuel, resulting in Dalziel’s last-minute stop. This result marks 11 podiums for the Rock Hill, SC-based team (four wins, three second places, three thirds) and continues CORE autosport’s considerable lead in the 2012 ALMS PC team championship. It also allowed Popow to re-take the lead in the 2012 PC driver championship, where he was previously tied with teammates Jon Bennett and Colin Braun, drivers of the sister #05 Composite Resources machine. Bennett and Braun had a tough day in the #05 machine. Bennett took first shift and despite dealing with traffic woes, was able to place the car in the second spot when he turned over the car to Braun. Unfortunately Braun got caught with a pit-road speeding penalty when exiting, requiring him to drive back through the pits that dropped the car to sixth place.
After wading his way through the field, Braun had worked his way back to fifth place when he was hit by another PC-class competitor. That incident damaged the #05′s front suspension and caused Braun to lose steering control and hit the wall. He was able to get the car back to the waiting crew, and they replaced the nose, splitter and some steering components, getting the car back on track within approximately three minutes. Unfortunately there were no additional opportunities to advance and the #05 machine came in sixth spot (21st overall).
Jon Bennett : “Obviously I’m happy that we ended the day with two relatively healthy race cars. Racing is not easy and I think this weekend proved that. Congratulations to the #06 car, crew, Alex and Ryan for coming in second today. It’s always good to have at least one of our cars on the podium. Colin was really fast during his drive, it’s too bad that there was a little bit of miscommunication with another car and we had some impact damage. It was incredible to see the #05 car crew fix what was a pretty badly damaged car and get it back on track in just a few minutes. Overall I think we did what we could with the weekend, but there’s still a long way to go in the 2012 season. We’ll be back on the podium at Road America.”
Colin Braun : “We had a really good pace when I got in the car, really fast. Jon did a nice job out there and the car allowed me to close in on the leaders. Other than the speeding penalty in pit lane, it was all going according to plan, but we were working our way around that and I was making ground. But, then I caught the inside of another PC car. He didn’t see me there and I couldn’t get out of the way quick enough. We ended up breaking some of the suspension and I couldn’t really steer. After I got hit, I tried steering, nothing happened. When I hit the brakes that’s when I think something broke and I hit the wall. The guys did a really good job getting it fixed and we were able to finish and get some points. I certainly feel bad for the guys, but that’s what happens in racing sometimes.”
Alex Popow : “I don’t think I’ve ever been as disappointed as this for a second-place finish. The car was really strong and fast, Ryan did a great job in his stint, but I guess that’s how it goes in racing sometimes. The guys really made the car fast for Ryan and I, and we kept getting faster and faster throughout the weekend. It’s just too bad. It’s easy to get used to winning and success, and when it doesn’t happen it just makes you want to work that much harder. The good part about the weekend is that the team got some good championship points and I’m now leading again, but let me say that at Road America I have got to win – I need it and the entire #06 team needs it.”
Ryan Dalziel : “Having to stop at the last minute for fuel is just one of those things. It’s happened to me before, maybe not as cruel as this. Points-wise it was a great day for Alex and we led a lot of laps. Since the last ALMS event at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (e.g. Mosport) we found a good amount of speed in the car and we felt that we had the car to win. It’s nice to be running with CORE autosport for some consecutive races, and when I got in the car at Mid-Ohio, it was a natural extension from Mosport and I was very comfortable with the car. As always, running with CORE autosport gives me confidence. They prepare the cars really well, do a great job in the pits and it’s really a shame that we couldn’t grab that top podium spot. Honestly I think that if Colin didn’t have his issue and we didn’t have ours, a one-two finish would’ve been possible. I’m just looking forward to running more with CORE autosport this year and getting Alex that driver’s championship.”
Source : CORE autosport