DETROIT (Jan. 4, 2023) — Cadillac Racing enters a new era of prototype sports car racing with the competition debut of the Cadillac V-LMDh in the Rolex 24 At Daytona. Three Cadillac V-LMDh race cars will attempt to secure the pole Jan. 22 for the 61st edition of the race on Jan. 28-29.
Action Express team manager Gary Nelson and Chip Ganassi Racing director of operations Mike O’Gara participated in a Zoom media conference hosted by IMSA with the other team leaders to preview the season.
Transcript of Nelson and O’Gara sections of the Q&A:
WHAT HAS THE UNDERTAKING BEEN LIKE FOR THE TEAM TO LAUNCH THIS PROGRAM AND HOW HAS IT COMPARED TO PREVIOUS LAUNCHES?
Mike O’Gara: “It’s been a huge undertaking and most of the folks on this call have been living in the same world that we have for the last six to 12 months with ramping up this program. In the 30-year history of Chip Ganassi Racing, we’ve been fortunate to be part of a lot of different vehicle launches, whether that’s been for INDYCAR, Indy Racing League or Champ Car or the Ford GT program. This one is by far the most intense, the most complex and, honestly, the most exciting for the company. I think the timelines we’ve been holding to have been difficult with supply chain issues, trying to put adequate miles on the cars to be ready and the level of complexity of the cars with the hybrid system and the other control systems. It’s just more than we’ve ever undertaken before. An added complexity is going to race this car in two different series on two different continents. We have one eye on getting our WEC program up and running, getting a facility over there, appropriate personnel and equipment as well. That adds another layer of complexity, but everyone at Chip Ganassi Racing is excited and looking forward to representing Cadillac around the world. It’s a great time of us.”
YOU’VE HAD A LOT OF EXPERIENCES WITH A LOT OF DIFFERENT RACE CARS. HOW DOES THAT PLAY INTO THIS NEW CAR?
Gary Nelson: “This new car, to me, is such a great challenge. My whole career in racing I’ve always wanted the trophy that’s hardest to get. They are always harder when you don’t have a logbook or set-up book or all the other things ready to go when you get to the track. We’re going to create pretty much from a blank sheet of paper a program that we’re expecting to win the Daytona 24 hours. We know everybody has all the same challenges and issues, and I think it’s the most pumped up I’ve been for many years to try to get all these little things all to line up and get that car to go 24 hours and be at the front at the end. That’s going to be one of the biggest challenges. The hybrid, the different rules, the new car, the way of doing the pit stops, everything is much easier when you go to a 24-hour race and you’ve got some muscle memory from other races in the past. Here, it’s all new and I’m looking forward to getting a shot at that trophy.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK ARE THE KEYS TO GETTING TO THE FINISH?
Gary Nelson: “Probably, the reliability of all of the new components. We have a lot more things that go by wire now. Where we used to have manual shift, we went to shift by wire and paddle shift and then we went to throttle by wire. And multiply that by four or five other different components on the car that are now going through a computer. So, probably electronics will be the focus on trying to make sure all of those computers do what they’re supposed to do.”
Mike O’Gara: “My first prototype race was in 2004. Back then in the earlier days of Grand Am it was who could recover from a mistake or failure quickest, and the cars evolved to a point where they were pretty reliable. So, then, it was who could go the fastest for 24 hours without making a mistake. I feel like we’re coming back full circle from the early days of Grand Am. It’s who’s going to be reliable, and if you’re not reliable who can recover from some issue the quickest. We’ve all puta lot of miles on these cars, but until you race them in anger and start banging wheels you’re not going to see all the issues. It’s going to be not only survival of the fittest but who can recover from any issues the quickest.”
WHEN WILL WE SEE A REPRESENTATIVE UNDERSTANDING OF PACE?
Mike O’Gara: “To get the handling dialed in and the tire durability we’re never just putting around. I think qualifying is the first time you’ll see 10-10ths out of everyone.”
WITH A ONE-TEAM APPROACH UNDER THE CADILLAC RACING BANNER, HOW HAS THAT BROUGHT THE TWO TEAMS TOGETHER?
Gary Nelson: “It’s been a pleasure working with Mike and his group. I think we’ve advanced the technology a lot quicker because with each test we’ve done one group would test one series of items and the other another set. We were organized on who was doing what and we would get together at the end of each day – or sometimes part way through the day – and say, ‘We were having a little trouble with this part. You might want to check it on your car’ or ‘We just learned this change made a big difference. You might want to try it on your car.’ We’ve had that back and forth discussion and I welcome it very much.”
Mike O’Gara: “It’s definitely been a learning experience for both teams and, quite honestly, a bit of a culture shift for Chip Ganassi Racing. We always pride ourselves on how we communicate internally. At the Indy 500 last year we have five race cars that were all capable of running at the front, so sharing info is what we do. But we haven’t often shared info outside of this building. But I think it’s gone amazingly well so far, sharing info with not just Action Express but with our GM Powertrain partners, with Dallara, with Michelin. It takes a village, and so far I think the partnership with AXR has gone really well. We’re figuring out who is better at what things and we divide and conquer. Hopefully, that will show in a couple of weeks.”
HOW DOES THAT WORK INTO RACE WEEKENDS? ARE YOU GOING TO BE SHARING SIMILAR LEVELS OF INFORMATION OR ON YOUR OWN?
Mike O’Gara: “I think a big part of winning this race is reliability, so we’re going to be huddling up constantly. Especially with car issues and things like that. We work closely with Dallara on set-up stuff, so the cars will all be mechanically identical and then we’ll go race on Saturday and Sunday to see out of all of us who can get it done.”
Gary Nelson: “We have such common connections with the GM Powertrain folks, the Bosch folks, the Williams folks, the Dallara folks. If we learn something we want to make sure that the other Cadillacs know it and if they learn something they pass it to us because at the end we want a Cadillac to win the Daytona 24. I’d like it to be our Cadillac, but we still want a Cadillac to be in the winner’s circle.”
WHAT HAVE YOU HAD TO ADD IN EQUIPMENT, PERSONNEL, EXPERTISE IN MOVING FROM DPI TO LMDH?
Gary Nelson: “The first part was training on how to work with the high-voltage system of the MGU – the hybrid system – so a lot of training, a lot of safety procedures. And every new car takes new equipment – the set-up equipment is different. They don’t even fit in the trailer the same, so everything takes a bit of adjustment whenever you bring in a new platform. Over the years, that has gotten so much better with the companies that provide the equipment that we need. Personnel-wide, we’ve probably increased our group 20 percent with the folks working on the car. When we were a one-car team in DPi, we could pretty much take everything in one hauler to the racetrack. Now, we’re a one-car team going into ’23 and we have two haulers and a trailer to get everything to the racetrack. So, somehow we have a lot more equipment than we had in the past.”
WILL SPECTATORS SEE A BIG DIFFERENCE ON THE TRACK BETWEEN THE GTP CARS AND LMP2 CARS?
Mike O’Gara: “There should be enough of a performance differential that the GTP cars should clearly be quicker. There will be some challenges. The braking systems are quite different between a GTP car and a P2, so I think our car will be a lot better under braking but top speeds may be similar. It will make for some interesting racing, but I fully expect a GTP car to the at the top of the podium.”
WHAT HAS IT BEEN LIKE FOR YOUR DRIVERS TO LEARN THE HYBRID SYSTEM AND ARE THERE ANY LIMITATIONS?
Mike O’Gara: “Once you get rolling, it’s pretty much like any other race car. It’s starting it and launching it and diagnosing issues are where some of the challenges have been. We’re lucky enough to have drivers who have raced in Formula E, that have raced a Porsche P1 car, so those guys have helped the others who have never driven a hybrid or anything electrified before. It’s a manual that’s pretty thick on not necessarily on driving the car but procedures for starting it or restarting it or if you see a red light what to do. The race car is the race car but it’s all these other control systems that make it unique from what we’ve done before.”
IS THE HYBRID SYSTEM A BIGGER TOOL THAN WHAT YOU’VE HAD IN THE PAST FOR FUEL MILEAGE?
Mike O’Gara: “That’s one of our goals at the Roar to learn more about how to manage our fuel. It’s not a tank of fuel anymore, it’s a virtual fuel tank and the car fuel in addition to the energy you spend. It’s figuring out what’s the best use of deploying the hybrid power with the ICE engine. There is refueling time that has to be factored in, so I think you’ll see from many teams long runs to figure out energy per stint and the best combination. It’s no longer a knob for fuel trims. It’s a few knobs, a couple of switches and many a paddle or two that affect all it. We’re leaning every time that car leaves the pit box.”
HOW DIFFICULT WILL IT BE TO KEEP THE HYBRID UNIT FULLY CHARGED GIVEN THE LACK OF BRAKING AT DAYTONA?
Gary Nelson: “Even though there are not as many turns as a traditional road course, at Daytona the top speed has to be scrubbed off so much going into the Bus Stop and going into Turn 1 and then through the infield that you regenerate a lot more than you would imagine when you look at a road course with a lot of braking zones. Those are shorter braking zones, so we’re on the brakes pretty hard. I didn’t hear that in any of the engineering meetings if that was an issue.”
HOW MANY 24-HOUR RACES HAVE YOU BEEN INVOLVED IN AND WHAT’S YOUR SECRET TO MAKING THOSE CRITICAL DECISIONS AT THE END?
Gary Nelson: “My first 24-hour that I was involved in in the pits was 2007 and I’ve been to every one since. I’ve stayed up all night in almost all of them. I have a motorhome that I can sneak off to and get a few hours of sleep, but I only do that if things are going smooth. Hopefully, this year I’ll get a few hours sleep but I’m prepared if not to stay up all night.”
Mike O’Gara: “Most since 2004 with a few Le Mans races in there. The key for me to stay awake and alert is to have a car that’s running at the front and competing for a win. There’s nothing worse in an endurance race than to have an issue at the beginning and run around at the back all day and night.”
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