Bourdais drives through wet qualifying for second in the 10-hour Motul Petit Le Mans
BRASELTON, Ga. (Oct. 13, 2023) – Sebastien Bourdais recorded a lap of 1 minute, 15.632 seconds in the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R to secure a front-row starting position for Saturday’s 10-hour Motul Petit Le Mans.
The 20-minute session for Grand Touring Prototype cars was run almost entirely with wet tires on the 2.54-mile, 12-turn Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta course as a drizzle that moved across the area 90 minutes before qualifications restarted at the green flag and intensified.
Bourdais, who will share driving duties with Renger van der Zande and Scott Dixon in the day/night race, posted his best time on Lap 12 of 13 on the grooved tires the Chip Ganassi Racing crew put on with 15:30 left. The No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R also qualified second for the Twelve Hours of Sebring.
The second-place starting position cut Cadillac’s deficit in half in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Manufacturer race to four points. Additional points are accumulated by race finishing position. Cadillac leads the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup Manufacturer standings entering the fourth and final race of the season.
The No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R also started on slicks but quickly switched to the wet Michelin tires. Pipo Derani posted a best lap of 1:17.657 to qualify eighth.
Derani and co-drivers Alexander Sims and Jack Aitken sit atop the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup Driver/Team standings and are second in full-season Driver/Team Championship points.
The No. 10 Acura ARX-06 set the pace in qualifying with a lap of 1:15.402.
Cadillac Racing is aiming for its fourth IMSA Manufacturer Championship and fifth IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup Manufacturer Championship since 2017. Cadillac Racing has also recorded three Driver/Team Championships, four IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup Driver Championships and two IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup Team Championships since 2017.
Cadillac Racing notes
- Derani finished second the past two years in the 10-hour race, sharing the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R. He won in 2019 in the same Cadillac DPi.
- van der Zande won in 2020 and 2018 and was runner-up in 2019 – all with Cadillac.
- Bourdais paced the GTP field in the two daytime practice sessions, clocking a lap of 1:09.671 that stands as the best of the weekend.
- Cadillac Racing podiums at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta in the DPi era: Wins: 2020 (Renger van der Zande, Scott Dixon, Ryan Briscoe)
2019 (Pipo Derani, Felipe Nasr, Eric Curran) 2018 (Renger van der Zande, Jordan Taylor, Ryan Hunter-Reay)Second: 2022 (Pipo Derani, Olivier Pla, Mike Conway)2021 (Pipo Derani, Felipe Nasr, Mike Conway) 2019 (Renger van der Zande, Jordan Taylor, Matthieu Vaxiviere) 2017 (Dane Cameron, Eric Curran, Mike Conway)</code></pre></li>
Third: 2022 (Jimmie Johnson, Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Rockenfeller)
2020 (Pipo Derani, Felipe Nasr, Filipe Albuquerque) * Six-hour racePeacock will provide flag-to-flag coverage Saturday for U.S. residents (IMSA.com/TVLive outside the U.S.) starting at 11:35 a.m. ET. USA will telecast the race from 6:30-10 p.m. IMSA Radio will broadcast the race on IMSA.com and RadioLeMans.com. The race broadcast on SiriusXM begins at 11 a.m. Saturday (XM 207 and web/app 992). Spectators can also tune in to 98.1 FM.
What they’re saying
No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R
Sebastien Bourdais drove in the 20-minute qualifying session: “It’s a shame with the weather. I think we had a really good car for the dry and then everything goes up in the air and you don’t know what you got. I’m happy for the guys; they’ve all worked so hard this weekend and throughout the season. We’ll start P2, which is a good place to be. It would have been good to be on pole for the first time this year, but it is a strong starting position and we have a strong car for tomorrow.”
No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R
Pipo Derani drove int the 20-minute qualifying session: “It was a bit of a chaotic run. We went out on slicks and then had to move to rain tires. I think we got caught a little off-guard with tire pressures, which didn’t help the final result of qualifying. But it’s a 10-hour race and qualifying didn’t mean much for the championship. I think we have a good car for the race in the dry and we’ll be ready tomorrow to fight for the championship.”
