Tristan Vautier drives No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R to third qualifying position
BOWMANVILLE, Ontario (July 2, 2022) – Tristan Vautier says he’ll have to watch a video replay of his qualifying lap that secured the third starting position for the Chevrolet Grand Prix because it was a blur.
Vautier, driving the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R, recorded a best lap of 1 minute, 4.895 seconds on the fast 2.459-mile, 10-turn to lead the Cadillac contingent in qualifying for the 2-hour, 40-minute race that NBC will telecast at 3 p.m. (ET) July 3.
“I actually don’t remember my whole lap. When you don’t it means that you were really on the edge because you didn’t have any energy left to process,” said Vautier, who delivered the best starting spot for the JDC-Miller MotorSports entry since the Rolex 24 At Daytona in January when he qualified second.
“It feels good to be back up there. From yesterday on, we did not look that great in the time charts but we felt like we had something better than the last few races.
“We didn’t panic about the practice lap times and stuck to our package so that we would not get too much out of line and be able to go into qualifying knowing our package well. We managed to make the tires work really well when it mattered. It’s good for the team; we needed that.”
Lap times for all six DPi entries were lower than the previous track qualifying record of 1:05.452, set in 2019 – the last time the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship visited the facility – led by Tom Blomqvist’s 1:04.394 in the No. 60 Acura.
Alex Lynn drove the No. 02 Cadillac Accessories Cadillac DPi-V.R to the fourth starting position with a best lap of 1:05.082. Olivier Pla, driving the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R, registered a 1:05.126 lap, while Sebastien Bourdais check in with a 1:05.266 lap in the No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R.
Track and tire management will be key in the race, according to Renger van der Zande.
“I think the racing you will be bumped up with traffic with an LMP3 or a GT car and if you’re behind you can’t go over them so you have to wait,” the co-driver of the No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R said. “The guy behind you is going to come with a big slingshot and might pass you on the straight. So, it’s attack mode and defend at the same time. You’ll see that the DPis will take a little risk getting by one or two cars just to have a gap from the guy behind you.”
Cadillac Racing lineup, starting position and quotes
No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R (JDC-Miller MotorSports)
Tristan Vautier, Richard Westbrook
Vautier drove in the qualifying session (start third, 1:04.895): “It feels good to be back up there. From yesterday on, we did not look that great in the time charts but we felt like we had something better than the last few races. We didn’t panic about the practice lap times and stuck to our package so that we would not get too much out of line and be able to go into qualifying knowing our package well. We managed to make the tires work really well when it mattered. It’s good for the team; we needed that.”
Car chief-Josh Kerrigan
Lead engineer-Rick Cameron
Race strategist-John Church
No. 02 Cadillac Accessories Cadillac DPi-V.R (Chip Ganassi Racing)
Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn
Lynn drove in the qualifying session (start fourth, 1:05.082): “P4 is not amazing. We are a little bit off the pace of the other cars than we would’ve liked but I think we have a very drivable race car for tomorrow. We have more work to be done overnight and will see what we can do on race day.”
Car chief-Jamie Coates
Lead engineer-Danielle Shephard
Race strategist-Michael Harvey
No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R (Action Express Racing)
Pipo Derani, Olivier Pla
Pla drove in the qualifying session (start fifth, 1:05.126): “We made a lot of progress since the beginning of the weekend. Tomorrow we’ll make sure we have the best car for the race.”
Car chief-Bill Keuler
Technical director/lead engineer-Iain Watt
Race strategist-Tim Keene
No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R (Chip Ganassi Racing)
Renger van der Zande, Sebastien Bourdais
Bourdais drove in the qualifying session (start sixth, 1:05.266). “Disappointing day for the 01. It was not my greatest showing. We’ve been trying a few different things to get it right. We’ll keep at it and see what we can do in the race tomorrow.”
Car chief-Phil Binks
Lead engineer-John Hennek
Race strategist-Peter Baron
About Cadillac
A leading luxury auto brand since 1902, Cadillac is growing globally, driven by an expanding product portfolio that features distinctive design and technology. More information on Cadillac appears at www.cadillac.com.
