Braun Leads Kansas First Practice

Colin Braun led the opening 45-minute Prototype Challenge practice for The Grand Prix of Kansas, the fourth PC class race of the 2014 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.

Braun, in the No. 54 CORE autosport Oreca FLM09 he’ll share with Jon Bennett, clocked in at the 2.37-mile Kansas Speedway “roval” at 1:11.885. Braun consistently improved his time over the waning stages of the session.

Gunnar Jeannette, in the No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports car, was second at 1:12.660 with Alex Tagliani, in the No. 08 RSR Racing entry, third at 1:12.682.

The Platinum or Gold-rated drivers drove the majority of the session, with only a couple of teams opting to put in their Silver or Bronze-rated driver toward the end of the session.

David Ostella (Performance Tech Motorsports), Chris Miller (JDC/Miller Motorsports) and Doug Bielefeld (BAR1 Motorsports) ran the entire session without switching. Ostella and Bielefeld are confirmed to run both 45-minute segment races on Saturday, while JDC/Miller will have Stephen Simpson alongside Miller as he was in Sebring and Monterey.

Hayden Duerson, Matt McMurry and Craig Duerson were quickest in the first 30-minute Cooper Tire Prototype Lites session, which preceded the PC session. The younger Duerson clocked a session-leading 1:17.147 in the No. 39 Performance Tech Motorsports Élan DP-02.

The second practice for both classes runs immediately following the conclusion of this one, from 6:25 to 7:15 p.m. ET.

RESULTS (PC): Practice 1

RESULTS (Prototype Lites): Practice 1