Cadillac at Road America: Streak extended
Cadillac Racing GTP entries qualify third, fifth for 2-hour, 40-minute race
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (Aug. 3, 2024) – Cadillac Racing continued its run of strong Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) qualifying in the IMSA SportsCar Weekend at Road America.
The No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R, with Renger van der Zande behind the wheel in the 15-minute session for the second consecutive event, recorded a best lap of 1 minute, 48.920 seconds on the sweeping 4.048-mile, 14-turn circuit to qualify third.
The No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R, with van der Zande sharing driving duties with Sebastien Bourdais in the 2-hour, 40-minute race Sunday, has not qualified lower than third in each of the six IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races.
Van der Zande missed securing the team’s fifth front-row spot by .057 of a second.
Pipo Derani drove the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R to fifth in the 10-car GTP field with a best of 1:49.408 of his eight laps. Derani earned the pole in the 2023 race at Road America.
Cadillac Racing GTP qualifying statistics | Road America photos for editorial use
The No. 10 Acura ARX-06 earned the pole with a lap of 1:48.601. Nine of the 10 cars took laps in the GTP session.
The No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R, which has claimed podium finishes in four of the past five races, sits second in the GTP team/driver standing, and qualified higher than the title-leading No. 7 Porsche 963.
“I think the car was fantastic, the lap was really good and the team nailed the setup,” said van der Zande, who recorded three consecutive podium finishes (2020-2022) with Cadillac Racing at Road America. “P3 is better than P2 on the grid because you’re on the inside and can follow the lead car into the tight Turn 1.”
Peacock will stream the race live at 3 p.m. ET Sunday for U.S. viewers, while IMSA.TV and the IMSA YouTube Channel (youtube.com/IMSAOfficial) will stream the race live for the global audience. The race will be broadcast on IMSA.com, RadioLeMans.com and SiriusXM (XM 206, Web/App 996).
Renger van der Zande, No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R (qualified third; 1:48.920 on lap 6 of 7): “I think the car was fantastic, the lap was really good and the team nailed the setup. Altogether, we should be happy where we are to start the race. P3 is better than P2 on the grid because you’re on the inside and can follow the lead car into the tight Turn 1. I think tomorrow is going to be a tough day in terms of raceability. You’ll have to be very clever and hang in there. So far, so good and proud to make a lap happen in qualifying.”
Pipo Derani, No.. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R (qualified fifth; 1:49.408 on lap 5 of 6): “I think we have improved the car over the weekend. We were struggling a bit to get the tires to work properly. Overall, I thought it was a clean qualifying and thought my lap was pretty good. I didn’t leave much out there, but unfortunately it was not enough to be in the top three at least. We’ll take the positives that we improved over the weekend and keep improving in the race.”
