No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R earns third second-place finish in 4 races
MONTEREY, Calif. (May 12, 2024) – Cadillac Racing extended its streak to four of finishing first or second in WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races this season as the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R finished runner-up Sunday in the Motul Course de Monterey.
It is the third second-place finish in Grand Touring Prototype competition for Pipo Derani and Jack Aitken, who qualified second for the 2-hour, 40-minute race.
Cadillac sits atop the Grand Touring Prototype Manufacturer Championship standings, while Derani and Aitken moved to second in the Driver Championship.
“Congratulations to Cadillac Racing and the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R on their podium in the Motul Course de Monterrey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca,” said John Roth, Cadillac global vice president. “Every member of the team can be proud of their efforts in preparing the racecar for success. For more than a century, racing has provided a testbed for Cadillac to transfer knowledge and technology between racecars and production vehicles and is brought to life in our V-Series portfolio. Today’s second-place finish demonstrates the incredible technology and durability of the V-Series.R, and the remarkable capabilities, expertise and determination of the Cadillac Racing team.”
The No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R driven by Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande, finished fifth. Bourdais, who reset the track lap record of 1 minute, 12.455 seconds in the dash for the pole in the 15-minute qualifying session, also owns the race lap record of 1:14.196 set on Lap 16 on the 2.238-mile, 11-turn WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca road course.
A Cadillac GTP entry has recorded the fastest race lap in three of the four races, and Cadillac has earned the pole in all four races (Derani at Daytona, Sebring and Long Beach to start the season and Bourdais earning his seventh career IMSA pole with the record lap at Laguna Seca).
Cadillac has claimed at least one podium spot in seven of the eight races at Laguna Seca since joining IMSA prototype competition in 2017. The No. 6 Porsche Penske 963 overtook the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R in Turn 3 with 11 minutes remaining and went on to the victory.
For editorial use Cadillac Racing photos from WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca
Cadillac Racing IMSA GTP 2024 statistics
The team made an early service stop for right-side tires and fuel after Derani deftly kept the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R in second behind the sister Cadillac racecar for 24 laps while battling low tire pressure caused by a puncture on Lap 1. The Action Express Racing-run team raced to the front with 1 hour, 31 minutes left following service stops under the race’s lone full-course caution.
Cadillac Racing led 98 of the 119 laps — a field-high 56 by Aitken and Derani and 42 by Bourdais and van der Zande.
Cadillac Racing will head to Detroit for its hometown race May 31-June 1. It will be the first time IMSA’s premier class will compete on the 1.7-mile, nine-turn downtown street circuit. A Cadillac DPi won four of the five races on the Detroit Belle Isle circuit from 2017-2022 (no race in 2020), with van der Zande co-driving to victory in 2022 and ’21. USA will telecast the 100-minute race beginning at 3 p.m. ET Saturday, June 1, with Peacock providing flag-to-flag streaming.
No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R
Renger van der Zande: “You win some and you lose some, and last time this call was giving us the win. We didn’t change tires like at Long Beach, but it didn’t work out. We tried to go for the win and we learn from that. You don’t make those decisions to go backward; you make those decisions to go forward. That’s racing. I’m very proud of the team and Cadillac. We go on to the next one.”
No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R
Jack Aitken: “It was a really tough fight. Unfortunately, traffic was just wild today. Some of the GTDs were fighting me like they were fighting for the overall win and I’m not really sure why. It was a great, fun race and I enjoyed the battle. It’s a shame that we didn’t come out on top, but it was good for the championship. We just have to keep getting those points and that win is going to come sooner or later. I’m really proud of the Whelen Cadillac team.”
Pipo Derani: “It was one of those days when everything looked perfect for a race win but it slipped away at the end. You look at the positives. It was a good points day, the third second place of the year and three poles so far and front row in every race. We’ll look forward to moving to Detroit, our home race, and hoping that we can do one better at Detroit.”
