No. 01 V-Performance Cadillac DPi-V.R earns podium finish in endurance race
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (June 26, 2022) – The No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R withstood an incident-filled first half and a dash to the finish following a second-half red flag for lightning to secure third place in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen at Watkins Glen International.
Co-driven by Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande, the Cadillac Racing entry followed its win at Detroit with another solid performance.
The red flag flew with 86 minutes left in the six-hour race on the 3.4-mile, 11-turn road course, and the cars remaining from the 48-entry field took the green flag with 21 minutes left.
“A solid day for the 01 Cadillac. It was set up right, we did everything we had to give ourselves a chance,” said Bourdais, who challenged for second in the final turns and finished 2.267 behind the winning No. 10 Acura. “Everybody on the team did a great job and we’ll just keep digging.”
The No. 02 Cadillac Accessories DPi-V.R, co-driven by Earl Bamber and Alex Lynn, placed fourth in the seventh round of the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship and third of four races in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup.
Pipo Derani, Olivier Pla and Mike Conway overcame an early pit road penalty to finish fifth in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R on the 3.4-mile, 11-turn road course. Seven-time NASCAR Cup champion Jimmie Johnson co-drove the No. 48 Ally Cadillac DPi-V.R with Kamui Kobayashi and Mike Rockenfeller to sixth place.
The No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R, co-driven by Tristan Vautier, Richard Westbrook and Loic Duval, incurred wing assembly damage in an on-track incident involving an LMP3 car with two hours left and finished seventh.
Cadillac Racing teams venture north for the 2-hour, 40-minute Chevrolet Grand Prix on July 1-3 on the 2.459-mile, 10-turn Canadian Tire Motorsports Park course. It’s the first back-to-back race weekend of the IMSA season and will be the first stop at the track in to Bowmanville, Ontario, since 2019. NBC will telecast the race at 3 p.m. ET July 3.
“We’re now moving on to CTMP. Looking forward to another high-speed track. We’ll take the trophy and take it from there,” van der Zande said.
Spectators and the TV audience got an early look at the 2023 CT4-V Series Blackwing Watkins Glen Track Edition, which served as the DPi pace car. Track Editions, which are inspired by Cadillac racing success at iconic IMSA racetracks, will be fully revealed at the end of July on cadillac.com. Sebring International Raceway and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta will also be represented.
Cadillac Racing from the cockpit
No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R (third place)
Sebastien Bourdais: “We were trimmed out, but we’re not just quite as fast as those guys on the fast, sweeping tracks. It’s a little frustrating. You do everything right. We’re winning the battle of the Cadillacs, but unfortunately it’s just not quite enough to win the race. We’ll keep digging and see what we can do next week in Canada. (The race) was very broken up for everyone at the beginning (with the caution flags) and then Renger had a very solid triple stint in the middle of the race, which had to be hard with the heat and everything. He hung in there and kept it in contention the whole time. As it is often here, it’s a game of track position. We never really got it.”
Renger van der Zande: “I did three stints in a row, which around here is OK with a yellow but I had zero yellows, so it was very intense. It was like an endurance race to the max and when I came out, I was dizzy because of the high loads and being in the car for more than two hours. I enjoyed it. I think the Cadillac ran really well. Let’s move to the next race and take this result as a positive.”
No. 02 Cadillac Accessories Cadillac DPi-V.R (fourth place)
Alex Lynn: “Fairly uneventful race for us with a P4 finish. It was a tight race. I think we were pretty quick, but those other three cars were just a bit quicker than us. Congratulations to the sister car on the podium.”
Earl Bamber: “We definitely had the two best Cadillacs fighting all day long for the podium. We’ll look forward to Mosport and hopefully, another good track for us. It was a really great job by everyone at Chip Ganassi Racing and can’t wait to get to Canada.”
No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R (fifth place)
Olivier Pla: ““I think we couldn’t do much more than we did today. We’re going to go to Canada and try to get a better result.”
Pipo Derani: “We did what we could with what we had. It was a difficult race for us. We had to fight back from a penalty. But it is what it is. We’ll fight hard the next time around.”
Mike Conway: “They (Acuras) are fast and good on fuel. They were tough to beat today. But we did our best. It’s unfortunate we didn’t quite have enough. It was a tough one. At least we got some points, which is good for the team.”
No. 48 Ally Cadillac DPi-V.R (sixth place)
Jimmie Johnson: “It’s great to be back in the Ally Cadillac. I was just trying to be smart; we’ve had a hard time getting to the finish. With the car count being so high, just taking my time, being easy out there. (About wearing glasses while driving): That’s being 46 (years old). Welcome to 46; it’s coming for you.”
No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R (seventh place)
Richard Westbrook: “It’s been a tough weekend for us chasing balance and the pace of it. Then I got whacked in the rear. He obviously didn’t see me. I was fully past him because he hit me in the rear wing. But it’s part and parcel to racing at The Glen, six hours, lots of traffic. It’s a shame because it put us back. We need to fight to get our pace back, which we had earlier in the season. We’re going to regroup and come back stronger. We never stop striving to improve. After having such a strong quarter of the year, it’s mentally challenging. I have full faith that we’ll get back to where we need to be.”
Tristan Vautier: “It seems to be the same. The car seems to be better when the temps go down. You can look at the races this year – Laguna Seca, Sebring at night and Daytona – we were good and here we struggled until it got cooler after the red. We have to figure out a wider window of operation and then we’ll be there.”
Loic Duval: “We didn’t have the pace this weekend so you’re always on the back foot. It’s always harder to fight when you don’t have the pace. We tried to do something with the strategy because we came in with the lead in the endurance championship. We had a contact with an LMP3 car, and we had to change the rear end that put us two laps down. After the rain it was cooler and we picked up some pace to stay with the guys. This is something we have to look into. On to the next one for the guys.”
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. Cadillac’s media website with information, images and video can be found at media.cadillac.com.
