IMSA preview: Cadillac aims for three-peat at Sebring
Two Cadillac V-Series.Rs to contest 12-hour endurance race in second event of season
SEBRING, Fla. (March 14, 2023) – Cadillac will seek its third consecutive victory and fifth in the past seven years with two Cadillac V-Series.R racecars contesting the 71st Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on March 18.
The No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R, co-driven by Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande and Scott Dixon, and the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R with Pipo Derani, Alexander Sims and Jack Aitken sharing driving duties will make their second start in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class.
Their sister car, the No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R co-driven by Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn and Richard Westbrook, will make its FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) Hypercar class debut March 17 in the 1000 Miles of Sebring.
Bamber and Lynn teamed with Neel Jani in a Cadillac DPi-V.R to lead a Cadillac sweep of the podium in the 12-hour race in 2022. Cadillac also won in 2021, 2019 and 2017 during the IMSA DPi era, including twice from the pole.
Last March, Bourdais set the qualifying lap record of 1 minute, 45.166 seconds (128.025 mph) in earning the pole.
Both entries in the GTP class tested on the bumpy 3.741-mile, 17-turn Sebring International Raceway circuit last month following a podium finish for the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R in the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona.
“Cadillac Racing had a successful and insightful two days of testing at Sebring,” said Cadillac Racing controls specialist Aaron Pfeifer. “After the successful debut race of the Cadillac V-Series.R at Daytona, all groups were excited to get back to the track to continue development and improving. The day and night sessions were a beneficial step forward in preparation for the race weekend.”
Added Derani: “Excited to be going back to Sebring after two positive days of testing in February. The cars are still new but showing strong potential, especially on reliability like we saw at Daytona. It’s still early days and Sebring is another fantastic opportunity for us to continue to learn more about our racecar.”
Derani is among five drivers with three wins (and youngest) in the Twelve Hours of Sebring (2016, 2018, 2019), joining the likes of Phil Hill and Mario Andretti.
A Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing will be the pace car/safety car. The race weekend marks the kickoff of the 20th anniversary of the Cadillac V-Series performance vehicle lineup. The CT5-V Blackwing is a Car and Driver 10Best again for 2023: “…the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing is the greatest sports sedan on sale today, if not of all time.”
Peacock will stream flag-to-flag coverage of the race starting at 10:05 a.m. ET Saturday. USA will telecast the track action from 4:30-10:30 p.m. ET. IMSA Radio will air all on-track sessions at IMSA.com along with Sirius 216, XM 207 and SiriusXM Online 992 and 100.9 FM at the circuit.
See the exciting Cadillac V-Series lineup
Spectators can view the Cadillac V-Series performance vehicle portfolio at the Cadillac display in the midway, including the Escalade-V, CT5-V Blackwing and the CT4-V Blackwing. Hours are 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Thursday, 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday.
Additionally, the 2023 Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing Sebring IMSA Track Edition, with a special matte black paint in honor of the 12-hour race and a symbol of racing in the dark — along with other features — will be on display in the Cadillac Corral.
Spectators will also have the opportunity to participate in a Cadillac ride and drive program Thursday-Saturday with the exciting performance vehicle lineup at the track.
What the Cadillac V-Series.R drivers are saying
Sebastien Bourdais, No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R: “Sebring is a huge event on the calendar and an important race for everybody, and particularly for Cadillac. We definitely didn’t have a dream start to the season in Daytona, but a far better start than we had last year and a competitive car. I think there’s definitely room for improvement. It’s going to be a grueling Sebring 12 hours and it’s a track that I very much like. I’ve won there a couple of times and it wouldn’t be a bad idea to do that again. Looking forward to take the GTP Cadillac on the track and correct what happened last year after being on pole and then not being able to contend. We had a good test, so hopefully we’re in good shape and I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
Renger van der Zande, No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R: “Sebring is a big one for me, personally, as I think it’s some of the best racing you can find with how competitive it is, and how much of a battle it is to stay in the race, as well. With the bumpy track, it can really wear the car down. We’ve had a good start to the season and we’re still hoping that the car is reliable, as it was in Daytona, and we can find our way to Victory Lane.”
Scott Dixon, No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R: “I’m looking forward to Sebring, where Cadillac has had quite a bit of success. It’s a race that I haven’t won; have come close a few times. With how Daytona went, I think the big surprise was how well all the GTP cars went. I think it will be an interesting weekend from a manufacturers’ standpoint to have both WEC and IMSA to see the performances and give us an idea of maybe where Le Mans will go as well. Always a fun race, a tough race especially with the bumps of the track and reliability, and then the craziness of when it gets dark. There always seems to be a yellow or two within the last hour and a half that kind of determines the outcome of the race. I think the team is doing a great job, especially at the last test, and we’re going there for the win.”
Pipo Derani, No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R: “Excited to be going back to Sebring after two positive days of testing in February. The cars are still new but showing strong potential, especially on reliability like we saw at Daytona. It’s still early days and Sebring is another fantastic opportunity for us to continue to learn more about our racecar and, as usual, with Sebring being a very difficult race on man and machine, it will be another great challenge for us to go through before Le Mans. On a personal note, of course I would love to win my fourth Sebring but a race win at the 12 Hours is never an easy thing to achieve. Hard work and resilience will be key to get to the end with a chance of victory.”
Alexander Sims, No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R: “We enjoyed a productive two-day test where we learned more about some aspects of the car’s performance. We are learning so much every time we are out on track, so I hope we can use the test sessions to get tuned in to the conditions on the race weekend which, with the WEC cars and other support races present, might be different again. The team is doing a great job as always and working very hard to keep improving things. The work has not stopped for them since Daytona and I’m grateful for all the hours that they’re putting in. Being able to drive with Pipo and Jack, it gives me great confidence that we can have a strong race and focus on being in the fight at the end. It’ll be an exciting race I’m sure and a great weekend of racing for all.”
Jack Aitken, No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R: “The two-day test we had last month gave us the opportunity to keep dialing in our processes and, of course, the car itself. It’s a unique track because of how bumpy it is, but I loved it on my first time around. It has a nice flow and really forces the driver to be super precise. I think we made a huge amount of progress in the test and have even more improvements in the pipeline for the race itself, so I’m looking forward to it.”
Cadillac Racing Twelve Hours of Sebring results 2022-2017
Overall wins
2022 (Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn, Neel Jani)
2021 (Sebastien Bourdais, Tristan Vautier, Loic Duval)
2019 (Pipo Derani, Felipe Nasr, Eric Curran)
2017 (Alex Lynn, Jordan Taylor, Ricky Taylor)
Overall results by year
2022: Overall winner (No. 02 Cadillac Accessories Cadillac DPi-V.R) start fourth – Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn, Neel Jani
Second overall (No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R) start 10th – Tristan Vautier, Loic Duval, Richard Westbrook
Third overall (No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R) start second – Pipo Derani, Tristan Nunez, Mike Conway
Sixth overall (No. 48 Ally Cadillac DPi-V.R) start fifth – Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Rockenfeller, Jose Maria Lopez
35th overall (No. 01 Cadillac Racing DPi-V.R Chip Ganassi Racing) start first – Renger van der Zande, Sebastien Bourdais, Ryan Hunter-Reay * pole2021: Overall winner (No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R) start sixth – Tristan Vautier, Loic Duval, Sebastien Bourdais
Fifth overall (No. 01 Cadillac Racing DPi-V.R Chip Ganassi Racing) start third – Renger van der Zande, Kevin Magnussen, Scott Dixon
27th overall (No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R) start first – Pipo Derani, Felipe Nasr, Mike Conway * pole
28th overall (No. 48 Ally Cadillac DPi-V.R) start seventh – Jimmie Johnson, Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Rockenfeller2020: Fourth overall (No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Cadillac DPi-V.R) start eighth – Scott Andrews, Matheus Leist, Stephen Simpson
Fifth overall (No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R) – start fourth -- Tristan Vautier, Loic Duval, Sebastien Bourdais
Sixth overall (No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R) – start sixth -- Pipo Derani, Felipe Nasr, Gabby Chaves
Seventh overall (No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R) start second – Ryan Briscoe, Scott Dixon,, Renger van der Zande2019: Overall winner (No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R) start fifth – Pipo Derani, Felipe Nasr, Eric Curran
Second overall (No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R) start sixth – Jordan Taylor, Renger van der Zande, Matthieu Vaxiviere
Third overall (No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R) start fourth – Felipe Albuquerque, Brendon Hartley, Joao Barbosa
Seventh overall (No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Cadillac DPi-V.R) start ninth – Juan Piedrahita, Misha Goikhberg, Tristan Vautier
Eighth overall (No. 84 JDC-Miller Motorsports) start eighth – Simon Trummer, Chris Miller, Stephen Simpson
33rd overall (No. 50 Juncos Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R) start 10th – Will Owen, Rene Binder, Agustin Canapino2018: Second overall (No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R) start 10th – Jordan Taylor, Renger van der Zande, Ryan Hunter-Reay
Third overall (No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R) start fifth – Felipe Nasr, Eric Curran Mike Conway
16th overall (No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R) start eighth -- Christian Fittipaldi, Felipe Albuquerque, Joao Barbosa
35th overall (No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R) start first – Eddie Cheever III, Matt McMurry, Tristan Vautier * pole2017: Overall winner (No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R) start sixth – Jordan Taylor, Ricky Taylor, Alex Lynn
Second overall (No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing) start second – Christian Fittipaldi, Felipe Albuquerque, Joao Barbosa
Third overall (No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R) start third – Dane Cameron, Eric Curran, Mike Conway
