CORE autosport had a banner day of qualifying for Round Three of the American Le Mans Series as Colin Braun scored the Prototype Challenge pole shortly after Patrick Long earned second place on the GT grid in the debut of the team’s Porsche 911 GT3 RSR program.

This morning opening practice session was even more successful with CORE leading the GT times plus PC as well.

“I’m kind of emotional about it,” Long said.

“It’s really awesome. These guys have worked so hard since January and I would have taken a top-five and been happy, so this is amazing. It’s still a long road, but each of these milestones continues to remind this team how good they are and we just have to keep building off of it.

“Never count your chickens until the checkered flag falls. I hit that lap pretty late in the run, so I knew there wasn’t a ton left. I made the decision to bring it in and not chase that random possibility that you could get a quicker lap after your tire reaches its peak.

“Our engineer Gary Davies has stuck to his plans and philosophies and he’s made me a believer overnight. We’ve worked with Porsche and Michelin since we rolled this car out, but ultimately Gary and our team manager Morgan Brady have been steering this ship. It’s really cool to see them come from a clean slate and create something. We’re still going to remain modest because these are early days and it’s going to be a long summer.”

Long will drive with fellow Le Mans winner Tom Kimber-Smith aboard the Porsche this weekend while Braun will again compete in PC with team owner Jon Bennett.

Braun and Bennett are out to defend their victory from Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in 2012.