Sebastien Bourdais qualifies third in the No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (June 25, 2022) – Cadillac Racing full-season DPi entries will occupy the third and fourth rows for the start of the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen on June 26.
Sebastien Bourdais, who has added four pole starts and two race victories to his career ledger this season, drove the No. 01 V-Performance Cadillac DPi-V.R to the third starting spot with a best lap of 1 minute, 30.048 seconds on the 3.4-mile, 11-turn Watkins Glen International road course.
Teammate Earl Bamber qualified fourth in the No. 02 Cadillac Accessories Cadillac DPi-V.R with a lap of 1:30.242.
“It’s all about where you catch traffic and when you get the yellows and if you get a lucky undercut or something happens,” Bourdais said of the race that is scheduled to take the green flag at 10:40 a.m. ET.
“It’s six hours of chaos with 48 cars out there. Keeping your nose clean is going to be key.”
Added Bamber, who tested at The Glen earlier this month: “We had a good test day and I think it’s converted into some strong results. It’s going to be all about track position and traffic is a bit wild out there.”
Olivier Pla, competing in his second race with Action Express Racing, qualified fifth in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering DPi-V.R with a lap of 1:30.500.
Entering the third of four rounds of the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup, the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R is the points pacesetter, with Tristan Vautier, Richard Westbrook and Loic Duval co-driving the JDC-Miller MotorSports entry. Vautier qualified sixth with a lap of 1:31.059.
Kamui Kobayashi, coming off a runner-up finish at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, qualified seventh in the No. 48 Ally Cadillac DPi-V.R. He completed only three laps because of an issue with the front brakes. Kobayashi will share driving duties with Jimmie Johnson and Mike Rockenfeller.
The team is competing in the endurance races this season. Johnson, the seven-time NASCAR Cup champion, did not drive at Sebring because of an INDYCAR race weekend conflict.
“It’s great to be back with the race team and the cars are extremely fun to drive. I’m excited to be back with Action Express,” he said.
Tom Blomqvist produced a track-record lap time of 1:29.580 in securing the Motul Pole Award in the No. 60 Acura. The previous record of 1:29.639 was set in 2019.
The USA Network will telecast the race live at 2 p.m. ET, with Peacock providing flag-to-flag coverage starting at 10:30 a.m. IMSA Radio will broadcast the race at IMSA.com along with XM 207 and SiriusXM Online 992.
Cadillac Racing lineup, starting position and notes
No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R (Chip Ganassi Racing)
Renger van der Zande, Sebastien Bourdais
Bourdais drove in the qualifying session (start third, 1:30.048). “Happy with the car, just not quite there yet with the balance. It’s much more comfortable and we will see what tomorrow brings. It will be a long day and usually a lot of things happen in the race. Hope to be consistent, keep our nose clean and we’ll see what we get at the end of the day.”
Van der Zande and Bourdais co-drove the No. 01 Cadillac DPi-V.R to victory on the streets of Long Beach on April 9 and on the Belle Isle street circuit June 4 after starting from the pole in both races with qualifying track-record lap times. … Bourdais set the qualifying lap record time in earning the pole for the March 19 Twelve Hours of Sebring and the May 15 Grand Prix at Mid-Ohio. … Bourdais is a four-time INDYCAR champion.
Car chief-Phil Binks
Lead engineer-John Hennek
Race strategist-Peter Baron
No. 02 Cadillac Accessories Cadillac DPi-V.R (Chip Ganassi Racing)
Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn
Bamber drove in the qualifying session (start fourth, 1:30.242): “I think we had a good car in qualifying. The No. 02 Cadillac was strong. I think we made the right choices, just got blocked twice with traffic. I think all things considered, we’re in a good spot for tomorrow and we’ll definitely tune it up and be ready for tomorrow.”
First-year entry in expanded Cadillac Racing DPi program. … Bamber and Lynn co-drove to a runner-up finish on the streets of Long Beach on April 9 after starting second. … They, along with Neel Jani, co-drove to victory March 19 in the Twelve Hours of Sebring. … Bamber salutes his home country with a silver fern design on the sides of his helmet — a quasi-national emblem used for various official New Zealand symbols. … Bamber tested at Watkins Glen earlier this month.
Car chief-Jamie Coates
Lead engineer-Danielle Shephard
Race strategist-Michael Harvey
No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R (Action Express Racing)
Pipo Derani, Olivier Pla, Mike Conway
Pla drove in the qualifying session (fifth, 1:30.500).
Pla is making his second start in the No. 31 Cadillac. … Derani and Felipe Nasr won the 2-hour, 40-minute race at Watkins Glen in 2021. … Derani and Tristan Nunez co-drove to third place on the Laguna Seca road course after starting sixth. They followed with a third-place finish May 15 at Mid-Ohio. … Derani and Nunez, joined by Conway, started second and finished third in the March 19 Twelve Hours of Sebring. … The three-driver team started seventh and finished fourth in the Rolex 24 At Daytona to open the season. … Derani and Felipe Nasr were the 2021 IMSA DPi Driver Champions and Whelen Engineering/Action Express Racing was the Team Champion. … Conway co-drove to a runner-up finish at Le Mans two weeks ago.
Car chief-Bill Keuler
Technical director/lead engineer-Iain Watt
Race strategist-Tim Keene
No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R (JDC-Miller MotorSports)
Tristan Vautier, Richard Westbrook, Loic Duval
Vautier drove in the qualifying session (start sixth, 1:31.059): “It’s not where we want to be. It’s not great for Cadillacs with the BoP, but we have some work to do to catch the others. We know where to look, we haven’t found a solution yet to fix what we want to improve on the car. Tomorrow is a long race that doesn’t rely only on pure speed. We’ll focus on our execution and look forward to a strong race tomorrow.”
The team leads the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup standings through two of the four races. … Vautier and Westbrook co-drove to third place on the streets of Long Beach on April 9 after starting fifth. … Vautier and Westbrook, joined by Duval, drove to second place in the March 19 Twelve Hours of Sebring and opened the ’22 season by starting second and finishing third at the Rolex 24 At Daytona. … Westbrook is a three-time winner at The Glen (2014 and ’15 in a Corvette DP; 2016 in GTLM).
Car chief-Josh Kerrigan
Lead engineer-Rick Cameron
Race strategist-John Church
No. 48 Ally Cadillac DPi-V.R (Action Express Racing)
Jimmie Johnson, Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Rockenfeller
Kobayashi drove in the qualifying session (start seventh, 2:17.096).
Team is running the four endurance races this season. … Team of Johnson, Kobayashi, Rockenfeller and Jose Maria Lopez opened the season by starting third in the Rolex 24 At Daytona. Repairs in 13th hour necessitated by being bumped off course negated a strong showing, and team placed 11th overall. … Lopez was the third driver for the Sebring race, sitting in for Johnson, who had a conflicting INDYCAR race weekend. … The team started fifth and finished sixth at Sebring. … Kobayashi co-drove to a runner-up finish at Le Mans two weeks ago.
Car chief-Scott Darnell
Technical director/lead engineer-Iain Watt
Race strategist-Chad Knaus
See the Cadillac lineup
Spectators can view an array of Cadillac vehicles, including the exciting CT5-V Blackwing, CT4-V Blackwing and the 2023 Escalade-V, at the Cadillac display in the midway. Hours are 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday.
The 2023 Escalade-V — the industry’s most powerful full-size SUV that goes on sale late this summer – expands the V-Series lineup. Now in its fourth generation, Cadillac’s V-Series represents ultimate performance, the epitome of Cadillac’s engineering capability, with unrivaled sophistication and comfort for everyday driving. In adding Escalade-V to the lineup, the V-Series family continues to expand, while consistently combining power, luxury, thoughtful technology and athletic refinement for the discerning enthusiast.
About Cadillac
A leading luxury auto brand since 1902, Cadillac is growing globally, driven by an expanding product portfolio that features distinctive design and technology. More information on Cadillac appears at www.cadillac.com.
