Cadillac aiming for sixth consecutive prototype victory on challenging street circuit
LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 14, 2023) — Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande will aim to successfully defend their victory and extend Cadillac Racing’s winning streak at Long Beach to six races from the inside of the second row in the 100-minute IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race Saturday.
Bourdais, who last April set the track qualifying record of 1 minute, 9.472 seconds (101.980 mph) in earning the pole, covered the 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit in 1:10.981 in the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R to grab the third starting spot.
Alexander Sims qualified seventh in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R with a best lap of 1:11.410. Felipe Albuquerque claimed the pole in the No. 10 Acura with a lap of 1:09.909.
Long Beach is the first outing for the hybrid Grand Touring Prototype cars, which are heavier and have less downforce than their DPi predecessors, on the street course.
In 2022, Bourdais and van der Zande took the checkered flag after 73 laps to lead a Cadillac sweep of the podium.
USA will telecast the race at 5 p.m. ET Saturday, with steaming coverage on Peacock. IMSA Radio will broadcast the race at IMSA.com along with Sirius 216, XM 207 and SiriusXM Online 992.
In Round 2 of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship on March 18, the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R co-driven by Sims, Pipo Derani and Jack Aitken, earned its third consecutive victory in the Twelve Hours of Sebring.
Cadillac leads the GTP Manufacturer Championship standings and the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R prepared by Action Express Racing sits atop the GTP Championship Team and Driver standings.
No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R
Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande
Bourdais drove in the 20-minute qualifying session (1 minute, 10.981 seconds on 13 laps): “It was a trying day for us. I think the cool temperatures hurt us quite badly. The Cadillac has been very good so far, though, taking care of conditions like this on a street course. I’m pretty happy with the qualifying results, all things considered, and I know we can go racing from there.”
No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R
Pipo Derani, Alexader Sims
Sims drove in the 20-minute qualifying session (1 minute, 11.410 seconds on 13 laps): “Seventh is not great, but I’m relatively comfortable with the time gaps around me. There was more lap time in me fine-tuning things. Fifth definitely was in the cards if maybe I just had a few more laps. We opted to do what we did with tires, which should help us tomorrow to put a few extra laps on them so they come in nice and quick for Pipo. I was happy with how the car felt. It was nice to do a low-fuel run. We have work to do tomorrow to make some opportunities happen probably in traffic. Hopefully give it to Pipo and he can make some magic happen out there. Keep it smart, stay in the race and see where it goes.”
Cadillac Racing DPi-V.R Long Beach results 2022-2017
2022: Overall winner (No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R) start first – Renger van der Zande, Sebastien Bourdais
Second (No. 02 Cadillac Accessories Cadillac DPi-V.R) start second – Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn
Third (No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R) start fifth – Tristan Vautier, Richard Westbrook
Fifth (No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R) start fourth – Pipo Derani, Tristan Nunez2021: Overall winner (No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R) start first – Pipo Derani, Felipe Nasr
Second (No. 01 Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R) start second – Renger van der Zande, Kevin Magnussen
Third (No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R) start third – Tristan Vautier, Loic Duval2019: Overall winner (No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R) start fourth – Felipe Albuquerque, Joao Barbosa
Fifth (No. 84 JDC-Miller MotorSports Cadillac DPi-V.R) start seventh – Stephen Simpson, Simon Trummer
Sixth (No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R) start second – Pipo Derani, Felipe Nasr
Seventh (No. 50 Juncos Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R) start ninth – Kyle Kaiser, Will Owen
10th (No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R) start 10th – Renger van der Zande, Jordan Taylor2018: Overall winner (No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R) start fifth — Felipe Albuquerque, Joao Barbosa
Third (No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R) start sixth – Renger van der Zande, Jordan Taylor
Seventh (No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R) start second – Felipe Nasr, Eric Curran2017: Overall winner (No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R) start first – Jordan Taylor, Ricky Taylor
29th overall, seventh in class (No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R) start second – Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi
32nd overall, eighth in class (No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R) start fifth – Eric Curran, Dane Cameron
