CORE Autosport

CORE Autosport
Founded	2010
Folded	2022
Team principal(s)	Morgan Brady; Jon Bennett
Former series	WeatherTech SportsCar Championship; American Le Mans Series; IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge; Cooper Tires Prototype Lites 2010
Teams'; Championships	7 (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2022)
Drivers'; Championships	6 (2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2022)

CORE Autosport was an American auto racing team founded by Jon Bennett in 2010 and based out of Rock Hill, South Carolina. After claiming the IMSA Lites Championship in 2010, the team, led by team manager, Morgan Brady, made the move to competing in the American Le Mans Series. The team competed in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship fielding the Nos. 911 and 912 Porsche 911 RSR as Porsche GT Team in GT Le Mans under a works contract.

American Le Mans Series[edit]

In 2011, the team began its competition in the American Le Mans Series with a two-car LMP Challenge category effort with team owner Jon Bennett and Frankie Montecalvo driving the #05 and Ricardo González and Gunnar Jeannette driving the #06 Oreca FLM09. Despite stiff competition, the #06 car managed two class and the team's consistent performance would prove successful. In their rookie season, the Core autosport team won the Team Championship by one point with drivers González and Gunnar Jeannette first in the Drivers' Championship.^[1]^[2]

For the 2012 season, the team would, once again, field two Oreca FLM09 in the LMPC category. This year the #05 car was driven by Jon Bennett and Colin Braun and the #06 car driven by Alex Popow and Ryan Dalziel. 2012 would become a dominant year for the Core autosport Team. Claiming 8 class victories of the 10 race season, including victories at the 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans, the team would win their second Team Championship and finish 1st and 2nd in the LMPC Drivers' Championship.^[3]^[4]

The 2013 season was a transition season for the CORE autosport team. Jon Bennett and Colin Braun would once again team up to run in LMPC Class, but would be joined by a Porsche 911 GT3-RSR driven by Tom Kimber-Smith and Porsche factory driver Patrick Long in the GT class that debut at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, the third round of the season. The #05 LMPC car finished the season with a victory at Long Beach and another at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. The team finished 3 points ahead of Bar1 Motorsports and claimed the Teams' Championship.^[5] Jon Bennett finished 3rd in the Drivers' Championship.^[6]

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship[edit]

For 2014, CORE autosport partnered with Porsche Motorsport North America to run two factory-supported Porsche 911 RSRs in the United SportsCar Championship under the Porsche North America name.^[7] Full season pilots Patrick Long and new Porsche factory driver Michael Christensen would team with Patrick Pilet while Nick Tandy and Richard Lietz would be joined by Joerg Bergmeister for the season opening 24 Hours of Daytona.^[8]

CORE won the season-opening 2014 24 Hours of Daytona in both the Prototype Challenge class with Colin Braun, Jon Bennett, Mark Wilkins and James Gue, while the factory-run No. 911 Porsche of Nick Tandy, Richard Lietz and Patrick Pilet picked up top class honors in GT Le Mans.^[9] The team went on to win the Prototype Challenge Driver, Team and Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup Championships. CORE's success with Porsche North America in 2014 helped Porsche earn the 2014 GTLM Manufacturers' Championship. The No. 912 entry driven by Patrick Long and Michael Christensen also won the Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup in the GTLM team category.^[10]

CORE again claimed the Prototype Challenge Team and Driver Championships in 2015 with Jon Bennett and Colin Braun, making it five-straight Prototype Challenge team titles.^[11] Porsche North America's No. 911 entry, with drivers Patrick Pilet, Nick Tandy and Richard Lietz, earned the GTLM Team Championship, thanks in stunning part to the No. 911's historic overall victory at the season-ending Petit Le Mans.^[11]^[12] Porsche once again collected GTLM Manufacturer Championship honors, while Pilet earned the GTLM Drivers' Championship (because co-driver Nick Tandy missed two rounds to participate in the World Endurance Championship and 24 Hours of Le Mans, he did not share the title).^[11]^[13]

The team for the 2019 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship would run a Onroak Nissan DPi. The DPIs were purchased from the defunct Extreme Speed Motorsports team.^[14]^[15] The 2019 retirement of CORE owner Jon Bennett would end the program.^[16]

Bennett announced the closure of the team in November 2022.^[17]

Racing record[edit]

Complete American Le Mans Series results[edit]

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Entrant	Class	Car	Drivers	No.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Drivers Pts.	Drivers Pos.	Team Pts.	Team Pos.
2011	CORE Autosport	LMPC	Oreca FLM09			SEB	LBH	LIM	MOS	MOH	ELK	BAL	LAG	ATL
				Jon Bennett Frankie Montecalvo	005	2	4	5	2	6	3	3	4	5†		130	2nd	167	1st
				Ryan Dalziel		2								5†		44	10th
				Andy Wallace									4			15	17th
				Ricardo González Gunnar Jeannette	006	3	1	2	1	4	5	4	2	3		156	1st
				Rudy Junco, Jr.	006	3							2	3		92	6th
2012	CORE Autosport	PC	Oreca FLM09			SEB	LBH	MOS	LIM	MOS	MOH	ELK	BAL	VIR	ATL
				Jon Bennett Colin Braun	05	3	3	1	1	2	6	2	Ret	1	4	150	2nd	206	1st
				Eric Lux		3										0	NC
				Ricardo González											4	14	25th
				Alex Popow	06	1	1	3	2	3	2	1	1	3	1	185	1st
				E. J. Viso		1										24	17th
				Burt Frisselle		1										0	NC
				Ryan Dalziel			1			3	2		1		1	64	7th
				Tom Kimber-Smith				3				1		3		68	6th
				Jon Bennett					2							150	2nd
				Mark Wilkins											1	0	NC
2013	CORE Autosport	PC	Oreca FLM09			SEB	LBH	MOS	LIM	MOS	ELK	BAL	AUS	VIR	ATL
				Jon Bennett	05	5	1	2	2	1	4	2	3	2	3	150	2nd	148	1st
				Colin Braun		5	1	2	2	1	4	2				112	5th
				Mark Wilkins		5									3	12	20th
				Tom Kimber-Smith									3	2	3	36	15th

Complete United SportsCar Championship results[edit]

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Entrant	Class	Car	Drivers	No.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Drivers Pts.	Drivers Pos.	Team Pts.	Team Pos.
2014	CORE Autosport	PC	Oreca FLM09			DAY	SEB	LAG	KAN	WGL	IND	ELK	VIR	AUS	ATL
				Jon Bennett Colin Braun	54	1	1	7	1	1	3	8	3	2	2		321	1st	321	1st
				James Gué		1	1			1					2		141	13th
				Mark Wilkins		1											36	27th
		GTLM	Porsche 911 RSR			DAY	SEB	LBH	LAG	WGL	MOS	IND	ELK	VIR	AUS	ATL
				Frédéric Makowiecki	910										5		27	31st	27	12th
				Patrick Pilet	910										5		140	16th	27	12th
	Porsche North America			Nick Tandy	911	1	9	4	9	5	5	10	10	10	11	5	279	11th	279	9th
				Richard Lietz		1	9	4	9	5	5	10	10				189	15th
				Patrick Pilet		1	9			5						5	189	15th
				Michael Christensen										10			303	6th
				Jörg Bergmeister											11	5	107	18th
				Michael Christensen Patrick Long	912	9	1	5	8	8	9	3	5	8	3	2	303	6th	303	4th
				Jörg Bergmeister		9	1										107	18th
				Patrick Pilet						8							189	15th
				Earl Bamber												2	33	29th
2015	CORE Autosport	PC	Oreca FLM09			DAY	SEB	LAG	BEL	WGL	MOS	LIM	ELK	AUS	ATL
				Jon Bennett Colin Braun	54	2	2	2	4	4	1	4	3	1	4		318	1st	318	1st
				James Gué		2	2			4							95	15th
				Mark Wilkins		2											33	25th
				Anthony Lazzaro											4		20	32nd
	Porsche North America	GTLM	Porsche 911 RSR			DAY	SEB	LBH	LAG	WGL	MOS	ELK	VIR	AUS	ATL
				Patrick Pilet	911	5	5	4	3	6	1	1	1	3	1		315	1st	315	1st
				Nick Tandy		5	5			6	1	1	1	3	1		255	9th
				Michael Christensen		5			3								56	17th
				Marc Lieb		5											27	24th
				Earl Bamber			5			6							225	10th
				Richard Lietz			5								1		87	14th
				Frédéric Makowiecki				4									103	12th
				Jörg Bergmeister	912	7	7	8	5	2	7	2	2	5	8		276	6th	276	6th
				Earl Bamber		7	7			2	7	2	2	5	8		225	10th
				Frédéric Makowiecki		7	7								8		103	12th
				Michael Christensen		7			5								56	17th
				Nick Tandy			7			2							255	9th
				Richard Lietz				8									87	14th

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results[edit]

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Entrant	Class	Car	Drivers	No.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Drivers Pts.	Drivers Pos.	Team Pts.	Team Pos.
2016	CORE Autosport	PC	Oreca FLM09			DAY	SEB	LBH	LGA	BEL	WGL	MOS	LIM	ELK	AUS	ATL
				Jon Bennett Colin Braun	54	8†	1	7	3	2	6	1	8	2				245	7th	245	7th
				Mark Wilkins		8†	1†				6†							3	29th
				Martin Plowman		8†												1	31st
	Porsche North America	GTLM	Porsche 911 RSR			DAY	SEB	LBH	LGA	WGL	MOS	LIM	ELK	VIR	AUS	ATL
				Patrick Pilet Nick Tandy	911	8	10	1	8	9	8	6	7	6	2	10		313	4th	285	4th
				Kévin Estre		8	10											46	23rd
				Richard Lietz												10		22	29th
				Earl Bamber Frédéric Makowiecki	912	3	3	7	3	10	6	8	4	3	1	5		285	8th	285	8th
				Michael Christensen	912	3	3									5		103	13th	285	8th
2017	CORE Autosport	GTD	Porsche 911 GT3 R			DAY	SEB	LBH	AUS	BEL	WGL	MOS	LIM	ELK	VIR	LGA	ATL
				Jon Bennett Colin Braun	54	22	16	14	14	8	13	14	17	7	8	4	5	231	18th	231	14th
				Niclas Jönsson		22	16				13						5	68	39th
				Patrick Long		22												90	20th
	Porsche GT Team	GTLM	Porsche 911 RSR			DAY	SEB	LBH	AUS	WGL	MOS	LIM	ELK	VIR	LGA	ATL
				Patrick Pilet Dirk Werner	911	2	7	6	4	7	7	1	8	8	3	6		295	5th	295	5th
				Frédéric Makowiecki		2	7											57	19th
				Nick Tandy												6		25	25th
				Laurens Vanthoor	912	6	8	3	8	6	6	2	2	7	7	5		287	6th	287	6th
				Kévin Estre		6	8	3										78	14th
				Richard Lietz		6	8											48	21st
				Wolf Henzler					8									23	27th
				Gianmaria Bruni						6	6	2	2	7	7	5		186	10th
				Earl Bamber												5		26	24th
2018	CORE Autosport	P	Oreca 07			DAY	SEB	LBH	MOH	BEL	WGL	MOS	ELK	LGA	ATL
				Jon Bennett Colin Braun	54	3	4	10	13	12	2	1	1	2	7			274	2nd	274	2nd
				Romain Dumas		3	4				2				7			114	20th
				Loïc Duval		3												30	47th
	Porsche GT Team	GTLM	Porsche 911 RSR			DAY	SEB	LBH	MOH	WGL	MOS	LIM	ELK	VIR	LGA	ATL
				Patrick Pilet Nick Tandy	911	8	1	6	6	3	4	5	5	8	8	1		299	7th	295	5th
				Frédéric Makowiecki	911	8	1									1		93	10th	295	5th
				Earl Bamber Laurens Vanthoor	912	6	3	7	1	4	6	3	4	5	2	6		299	7th	295	5th
				Gianmaria Bruni		6	3											93	10th
				Mathieu Jaminet												6		25	21st
2019	CORE Autosport	DPi	Ligier Nissan DPi			DAY	SEB	LBH	MOH	BEL	WGL	MOS	ELK	LGA	ATL
				Jon Bennett Colin Braun	54	4	5	11	11	7	11	7	10	7	8			230	10th	230	9th
				Romain Dumas		4	5				11				8			97	16th
				Loïc Duval		4												28	31st
	Porsche GT Team	GTLM	Porsche 911 RSR			DAY	SEB	LBH	MOH	WGL	MOS	LIM	ELK	VIR	LGA	ATL
				Patrick Pilet Nick Tandy	911	5	1	5	3	1	3	4	7	1	8	6		317	2nd	317	2nd
				Frédéric Makowiecki	911	5	1									6		86	15th	317	2nd
				Earl Bamber Laurens Vanthoor	912	3	5	1	1	6	1	2	3	2	7	5		330	1st	330	1st
				Mathieu Jaminet	912	3	5									5		82	19th	330	1st
2020	Porsche GT Team	GTLM	Porsche 911 RSR-19			DAY1	DAY2	SEB1	ELK	VIR	ATL1	MOH	CLT	ATL2	LGA	SEB2
				Frédéric Makowiecki Nick Tandy	911	3	3	6	4	3	4		5	1	3	1		297	5th	297	5th
				Matt Campbell		3								1				65	11th
				Earl Bamber												1		289	6th
				Earl Bamber Laurens Vanthoor	912	2	2	3	5	5	6		6	5	1	2		289	6th	289	6th
				Mathieu Jaminet		2								5				58	12th
				Neel Jani												2		32	14th
2021	CORE Autosport	LMP3	Ligier JS P320			DAY	SEB	MOH	WGL1	WGL2	ELK	ATL
				Jon Bennett Colin Braun	54	5	1	4	2	3	1	7						1990	2nd	1990	2nd
				George Kurtz		5	1		2			7						968	11th
				Matt McMurry		5												0	-
2022	CORE Autosport	LMP3	Ligier JS P320			DAY	SEB	MOH	WGL	MOS	ELK	ATL
				Jon Bennett Colin Braun	54	3	5	1	2	1	3	5						2002	1st	2002	1st
				George Kurtz		3	5		2			5						921	17th
				Niclas Jönsson		3												0	-

Complete Global RallyCross Championship results[edit]

(key)

GRC Lites[edit]

Year	Entrant	Car	No.	Driver	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Lites	Points
2016	CORE Autosport	Lites Ford Fiesta	54	Jon Bennett	PHO1	PHO2	DAL	DAY1 9	DAY2 12	MCAS1	MCAS2 C	DC 9	AC 12	SEA 7			18th	51
			54	Colin Braun											LA1 DSQ	LA2 3	10th	154
			56	Colin Braun	PHO1	PHO2	DAL	DAY1 3	DAY2 10	MCAS1	MCAS2 C	DC 12	AC 3	SEA			10th	154
			56	Scott Anderson	PHO1	PHO2	DAL	DAY1	DAY2	MCAS1	MCAS2 C	DC	AC	SEA 11	LA1 12	LA2 2	16th	55
2017	CORE Autosport	Lites Ford Fiesta	54	Jon Bennett	MEM 7	LOU 5	THO1 8	THO2 8	OTT1 DNS	OTT2 9	INDY	AC1 9	AC2 9	SEA1	SEA2	LA	10th	281
2017	CORE Autosport	Lites Ford Fiesta	56	Colin Braun	MEM 4	LOU 4	THO1 4	THO2 2	OTT1 2	OTT2 8	INDY	AC1 DNS	AC2 4	SEA1	SEA2	LA	8th	405

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship wins[edit]

#	Season	Date	Classes	Track / Race	No.	Winning Drivers	Chassis	Engine
1	2018	July 8	Prototype	Mosport	54	Jon Bennett / Colin Braun	Oreca 07	Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
2	2018	August 5	Prototype	Road America	54	Jon Bennett / Colin Braun	Oreca 07	Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8

References[edit]

^ 2011 ALMS Team Championship Results 2011
^ 2011 ALMS Drivers Championship Results 2011
^ 2012 ALMS Team Championship Results 2012
^ 2012 ALMS Drivers Championship Results^{[permanent dead link]} 2012
^ 2013 ALMS Teams' Championship Results 2013
^ 2013 ALMS Drivers' Championship Results^{[permanent dead link]} 2013
^ Dagys, John (September 21, 2013) Partners with CORE for Factory GTLM Program
^ Dagys, John (December 23, 2013) Announces TUSC Factory Driver Lineup
^ "Gary Nelson's Action Express wins Rolex 24 at Daytona". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2017-02-09.
^ "Complete list of 2014 season champions: IMSA Tudor United SportsCar Championship". Autoweek. Retrieved 2017-02-09.
^ ^a ^b ^c "IMSA Celebrates Season at TUDOR Night of Champions - Sportscar365". Retrieved 2017-02-09.
^ "Complete IMSA results: Porsche wins rain-shortened Petit Le Mans". Autoweek. Retrieved 2017-02-09.
^ Watkins, Gary. "Earl Bamber and Nick Tandy join Nico Hulkenberg in Le Mans Porsche". Autosport.com. Retrieved 2017-02-09.
^ Dagys, John (December 1, 2018). "ESM Shutters Operations". Sportscar365. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
^ Malsher-Lopez, David (November 30, 2018). "CORE autosport to run Nissan DPi in 2019". Motorsport. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
^ Lloyd, Daniel (August 22, 2019). "Bennett Announces Retirement; CORE DPi Program to End". Sportscar365. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
^ Goodwin, Graham (10 November 2022). "CORE Autosport Ceases Operations". Dailysportscar. Retrieved 11 November 2022.

External links[edit]

Core autosport official website
American Le Mans Series official website Archived 2012-07-24 at the Wayback Machine

[1] 2011 ALMS Team Championship Results 2011

[2] 2011 ALMS Drivers Championship Results 2011

[3] 2012 ALMS Team Championship Results 2012

[4] 2012 ALMS Drivers Championship Results^{[permanent dead link]} 2012

[5] 2013 ALMS Teams' Championship Results 2013

[6] 2013 ALMS Drivers' Championship Results^{[permanent dead link]} 2013

[7] Dagys, John (September 21, 2013) Partners with CORE for Factory GTLM Program

[8] Dagys, John (December 23, 2013) Announces TUSC Factory Driver Lineup

[9] "Gary Nelson's Action Express wins Rolex 24 at Daytona". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2017-02-09.

[10] "Complete list of 2014 season champions: IMSA Tudor United SportsCar Championship". Autoweek. Retrieved 2017-02-09.

[:0-11] "IMSA Celebrates Season at TUDOR Night of Champions - Sportscar365". Retrieved 2017-02-09.

[12] "Complete IMSA results: Porsche wins rain-shortened Petit Le Mans". Autoweek. Retrieved 2017-02-09.

[13] Watkins, Gary. "Earl Bamber and Nick Tandy join Nico Hulkenberg in Le Mans Porsche". Autosport.com. Retrieved 2017-02-09.

[sc12012018-14] Dagys, John (December 1, 2018). "ESM Shutters Operations". Sportscar365. Retrieved 28 September 2020.

[ms11302018-15] Malsher-Lopez, David (November 30, 2018). "CORE autosport to run Nissan DPi in 2019". Motorsport. Retrieved 28 September 2020.

[sc08222019-16] Lloyd, Daniel (August 22, 2019). "Bennett Announces Retirement; CORE DPi Program to End". Sportscar365. Retrieved 28 September 2020.

[close-17] Goodwin, Graham (10 November 2022). "CORE Autosport Ceases Operations". Dailysportscar. Retrieved 11 November 2022.

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