Continental Tire IMSA Spotlight: Nic Jonsson

IMSA Spotlight: Nic Jonsson
Driver: No. 54 CORE autosport Porsche 911 GT3 R
Follow: @NicJonssonRacer

How did the deal with CORE autosport come about, for the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup races?

“Having seen CORE autosport over the last 4-5 years and what they’ve accomplished, they became a team that I’ve looked at as one of the teams I’ve wanted to be a part of if the opportunity and timing was right. So when I received a call from their team manager asking me if I was interested, it became a pretty easy decision, especially with many of my friends and old teammates, both as drivers and crew, being part of CORE autosport today.”

While it will be your first time driving with CORE, you have a lot of connections with people on the team. Do you think that will be a benefit?

“Even if its my first time driving for the CORE team, it feels like I be stepping in to a team with many familiar faces with both Pat [Long] and Colin [Braun] as drivers along with Jon [Bennett], but also on the engineering and crew side, there’s people I know and have huge respect and trust for and in.

“I’m 100 percent sure that will be a huge benefit since we know each other and what our different responsibilities are to make this a success.”

You have a lot of GT racing experience. How do you think that will help the team as it moves from PC?

“Besides my prototype and open-wheel experience, I have a huge amount of GT experience that I hope will pay dividend for both myself and the team.

“I’m not sure I will be able to add anything over and beyond what Pat, Colin and Jon already bring, but I believe between us and our combined experience working together with Jeff [Braun], our engineer, we will have a very strong package.”

How do you think the Porsche 911 GT3 R will stack up in the GTD class next year, especially given all the new teams and manufacturers?

“As far as how the Porsche 911 GT3 R will stack up against the other manufacturers, it’s very hard to say until we get a bit in to the race with all the BoP that’s going to be looked at between now and the green flag drops end of January. But with the history of Porsche and its success in Endurance racing, I feel very good about our new 911, along with the first-class and professional CORE crew, who been to the winner’s circle at Daytona in the past.”

Do you have any other racing plans in the works for next year?

“I’m talking to a few other people about some other opportunities in several different series, both here in the States and overseas besides the commitment with CORE.

“The goal is to keep driving and working with Tracy Krohn and Krohn Racing, which has some exciting plans we are working on, but not been able to confirm yet, due to Tracy’s very busy and hectic work schedule.”

Is there any race still on your “bucket list” that you’d like to take part in one day?

“There still are few races I have on my bucket list I want to do, even if I’ve been able to tick many boxes. I would really like to do the Bathurst 12 Hour, 24 Hours of Spa and the Nürburgring 24.”