BRASELTON, GA, Thursday, September 29, 2011: It has come down to an all-out on-track brawl between current 2011 Le Mans Prototype Challenge (LMPC) class driver and team championship points leaders Eric Lux / Genoa Racing versus driving duo Gunnar Jeannette / Ricardo Gonzalez and CORE autosport.

The first year team has minor deficits to make up – three points for the drivers, two for the team – but CORE autosport has been putting the “hammer down” throughout the event practice sessions, with the #06 Composite Resources / Excel Consultants ORECA FLM09 of Jeannette, Gonzalez and Rudy Junco in the class lead of ton Wednesday and both the Thursday morning and night sessions.

Thursday afternoon’s session was topped by the sister #05 Composite Resources / Bayshore Recycling machine of team founder Jon Bennett, Frankie Montecalvo and ace Ryan Dalziel.  The #05 was second on Wednesday’s session as well.

Times between the CORE autosport and Genoa teams and drivers are tight – sometimes measured by tenths of seconds, so the American Le Mans Series Finale – the 2011 Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda – will be 10 hours / 1000 miles worth watching.

The drivers, team manager Morgan Brady and team principal Jon Bennett discussed the race, the championship and CORE autosport.

Morgan Brady, team manager, CORE autosport:

Looking back 12 months ago, CORE autosport and ALMS was just a rumor.  It was at the 2010 Petit Le Mans that we initially announced that the team was going to move from IMSA Prototype Lites to the ALMS in either the LMP2 or LMPC class.

“I think at Sebring we showed up with a good two-car LMPC program and finished second and third.  We were able to prove that we were in the ALMS as a real team – not just a rumor.

“Starting this LMPC team with Jon (Bennett) and seeing how the team has developed over the course of a year, I’m really proud of where we are and what lies ahead for CORE autosport in the future.  The combination of our team members, driver lineup and of course Jon and Composite Resources has resulted in a very competitive racing organization.”

Jon Bennett, founder and owner, CORE autosport, co-driver, #05 Composite Resources / Bayshore Recycling ORECA FLM09:

As someone who’s spend their childhood in the mid-‘70s watching Bob Tullius and Group 44 do a very professional job at preparing race cars and winning championships it’s an honor for me to be here at Road Atlanta this weekend competing at one of racing’s highest levels.

“I’m very proud of the work that CORE autosport has accomplished which has put us in contention for both LMPC driver and team championships.  This team is a validation of what  I learned when building up Composite Resources – hire the best people that you can find, empower them to do their jobs and success will follow.

“We’re just hoping for a good race and looking forward to celebrating on Saturday night.”

Gunnar Jeannette:

Rudy, Ricardo and I are happy with the car and we’re looking to optimize it over the next few test sessions as the Petit Le Mans is quite the challenge for all competitors.  But the CORE autosport guys have given us a good race car.

“I’m not really thinking about what the #063 (Lux / Genoa) car is doing right now because we at CORE autosport just have to go out there and do our own thing.  If it’s good enough, it’ll pay off, but if it’s not we’ll know that we tried as hard as we could.

“I think that the #06 car has the strongest LMPC lineup of drivers out there, but that may not matter when it comes to traffic and the LMP1 Audis and Peugeots battling it out at such high speeds.

“Hopefully on race day we’ll all keep it clean, the car will remain in one piece and we’ll make it to the night portion of the race and really push it when we get there.”

Ricardo Gonzalez:

How tight the LMPC championship is only speaks well for the class.  All the decisions that were made in creating this class – from requiring the same equipment to its affordability – only makes for better racing.  I think that LMPC should be more of a focus thanks to the incredible competition that results.

“With regards to the championship possibilities, this isn’t quite the position I wanted to be in right now.  We started the year up in points, but we had a few bad races and now we’re three points down to for the driver championship lead.

“It’s a tough race to have it come down to this. It’s so long that anything can happen – a mechanical issue, an accident, anything.  But that’s the bad side.  The good side is that the championship race is great for the fans and for the class itself.  I bet that even more teams may consider joining LMPC because of how close the cars are on the track.

“What I hope is that the race with Genoa and Lux is decided on the track, not because of an accident or mechanical failure.  Genoa does a very good job – they have proven to be fast and win races.  Saying that I’m confident about CORE autosport and what we’ve been doing. I know that every time we put our heads down and do our work, we show up strong.

“The car was very good off of the transporter and now it’s a matter of working out different options and strategies while remaining fast. We’ll be keeping our fingers crossed the whole time.”