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Racers in Isolation: Colin Braun 

Colin Braun on his return to sim racing, new boxer/pitbull mix dog and memorable mid-race team radio story…

Photo: Melissa Braun

Sportscar365 is contacting drivers from around the world to ask what they’re doing during the coronavirus pandemic and how they’re coping with the racing downtime.

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and GT World Challenge America powered by AWS regular Colin Braun (Twitter/Instagram) features in this edition.

Where are you sitting out the COVID-19 crisis? 

I am at my house in Charlotte, with my wife and our new puppy! My trainer from Podium Performance Fitness has been keeping me stocked with at home work out programs as I have a home gym here at my house. This has been great to burn off some energy. 

What’s your go-to for food when no-one feels like cooking? 

Luckily for me my wife loves to cook and I also love to grill out. So we are usually pretty well sorted out in that regard.

There is a great local place here in Charlotte that does high quality and healthy pre-made/frozen dishes so we always keep a good stock of those in the freezer for those “no one wants to cook” days! 

Current favorite Netflix/TV show? 

I’d have to say right now that Tiger King show has grabbed us! A strange show but it is interesting and crazy to watch! 

How have your sim racing adventures been?

I will be honest it has been a bit of time since I was serious about the sim scene, but I am getting back into it now. I got a new rig from SimCraft. I think they build a great product and I love how they support the racing community. 

I had a blast in yesterday’s SRO GT Rivals Esports Invitational (pictured above). I certainly need more seat time to learn the Assetto Corsa game and find how to make lap time in it, but I knew getting back into the home sim scene it would take some time!

I was disappointed to get spun out after getting through the Lap 1 stress but that’s racing!

Do you have any pets? 

My wife and I just got a new Boxer/Pitbull mix from a rescue – she is now about four months old and we picked her up when she was 10 weeks old, so we have been having a lot of fun with her. She is growing so quickly and is a quick learner so she keeps us on our toes. 

What’s your favorite section of any race track in the world? 

I think for me it would be Turn 1 and Turn 2 in Mosport – those two corners are just surreal for me – so much fun and so much commitment needed in a high downforce car like the LMP2 or DPi car! 

The speed you carry in Turn 2 as it drops down all the elevation is just insane – I remember the last few years in qualifying the minimum speed in Turn 2 was like 155 mph in the DPi/LMP2 car!

What’s the funniest thing you have heard or said over a team radio? 

I won’t say team names or drivers names but during one of my Rolex 24 at Daytona events, I jumped in the car in the middle of the night and left the pits and felt like the seat was just soaking wet.

So I radioed back to the guys and said, “Hey I think something is leaking inside the car, probably a fuel leak or something but I don’t really smell the fuel smell but be ready in pit lane because it’s serious.” So my engineer said, “Ok, hold on, let us talk about it here and we will get back to you.” 

So about two minutes later my engineer said, “Hey yea we talked to the prior driver and he may have needed to ‘go’ under that last yellow before you got in, so it is all ok – stay out…”

So yeah, nothing like knowing you are now strapped into this soaking wet seat of pee (and not that it is too much better but not even your own), for the next few hours! Yuck!

What’s the one thing you are most looking forward to the first day you return to a race track? 

I think just the routine of going to the track. It is easy to take for granted when you are deep in the swing and just in that rhythm. But going to the track and getting to do what we all love is pretty darn special and it’s sad but times like these really bring clarity on that. 

The latest news, photos and video features from the trusted Sportscar365 web staff.

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