The Meyer Shank Racing driver in the IMSA SportsCar Championship's GTP division has joined LMP2 squad Algarve Pro Racing to make his first Le Mans appearance since he finished second in the GT2 class in 2007.
Braun will line up ninth in the pro-am ORECA-Gibson 07 he shares with James Allen and bronze George Kurtz, who Braun has spent a decade coaching since his first foray in Radicals.
Fellow Honda Performance Development driver Pagenaud, who joined MSR to win Daytona in each of the last two seasons, is also making his Le Mans return at LMP2 squad Cool Racing - having been absent since he finished second with Peugeot in 2011 - due to scheduling clashes with IndyCar.
As a result, Acura has the bulk of its GTP driver roster present at Le Mans, with MSR drivers Braun and Pagenaud joined by Tom Blomqvist (United Autosports) plus Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti trio Ricky Taylor (TDS Racing), Filipe Albuquerque (United) and Louis Deletraz (WRT).
However, with Acura and parent brand Honda yet to commit its GTP programme to Le Mans, Braun says his long-awaited return owes more to coincidence than any signal of intent from HPD.
"I don’t really know too many details on everybody else’s programmes, but certainly for me, coincidence I guess that it all lines up with the others being here as well," he told Autosport.
"My relationship with George is the reason I’m in this programme, so it’s great to be a part of it and hopefully the first step of many."
Source: Autosport