Cadillac V-Series.Rs primed to make statement on the 4-mile road course
DETROIT (Aug. 1, 2023) – With three races remaining in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season, Cadillac Racing is determined to return to the top step of the podium at Road America and remain at the forefront of title talk.
The No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R and No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R will compete against eight other Grand Touring Prototype entries Aug. 6 in the IMSA SportsCar Weekend.
Both Cadillac hybrid racecars enter the 2-hour, 40-minute race on the 4-mile, 14-turn road course with important data gleaned from the July 28-29 IMSA-sanctioned test on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Additionally, No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R drivers Pipo Derani and Alexander Sims participated in a single-day test on the fresh Road America surface before venturing to central Indiana.
“Road America is cool to drive and now with the new tarmac a new challenge not only the new hybrid cars but trying to understand how much grip there is on the new surface,” Derani said. “We had a positive test day, which obviously will help when we hit the track for the race weekend.”
Cadillac Racing posted eight podium finishes at Road America in the DPi era, including victory in 2021 (Pipo Derani, Felipe Nasr). Cadillac leads the GTP Manufacturer Championship standings, while Derani and Sims pace the Driver/Team Championship standings.
The first-year pairing is keen on increasing their points advantage. They won at Sebring International Raceway and have two other podium finishes.
“I think so far this season has been too much up and down despite us leading the points,” said Derani, the 2021 DPi champion. “I think there were moments when we could have had a much better result and a much bigger points lead. There are moments when you think ‘I should have done this different and it would have made the whole weekend better.’
“Being such a new program, I think everyone is in the same boat. Going into the last three races of the season we know exactly where we need to focus to try to snatch the first GTP championship.”
Bourdais and van der Zande earned a podium result at Road America in 2022 – one place behind the runner-up finish of the sister Cadillac DPi-V.R driven by Earl Bamber and Alex Lynn, who this year are joined by Richard Westbrook for Cadillac Racing’s initial season in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
van der Zande has also driven to third place in 2021 and second in 2020 in the Cadillac DPi-V.R at Road America.
The live USA Network telecast and Peacock streaming of the race starts at 11 a.m. ET Sunday, Aug. 6. Outside the U.S., streaming will be available at IMSA.com/TVLive. IMSA Radio at IMSA.com, RadioLeMans.com plus SiriusXM live (XM 207, Web/App 992) broadcast of the race also starts at 11 a.m.
See the exciting Cadillac lineup
Spectators can view the roster of Cadillac production vehicles, including the track-capable Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing sport sedan and the Cadillac Escalade-V — the most powerful full-size SUV in the industry at the Cadillac display in the track midway.
No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R
Sebastien Bourdais: “I think Road America is one of the coolest tracks in the U.S. Just a beautiful, natural, long, good old racetrack. It self-polices itself. It’s challenging but rewarding when you get it right. We weren’t able to test there, so that will set us on the back foot. It was good to test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to learn more about the car and get ready for the last few races of the season. Every time you go back to a track that’s been freshly repaved, the grip is just amazing, and I think it’s going to be exciting to give it a go.”
Renger van der Zande: “We didn’t test at Road America so it’s going to be a bit of finding the limits of our car there. We did a full day in the simulator to create a few directions of setup to try and we had the Indianapolis test to try some topics that have been on our minds for a long time. Road America’s new tarmac will be new for a lot of people, including myself. I’m sure it will be very quick, very smooth and I’m looking forward to giving it a go there and get back in Victory Circle.”
No. 31 Whelen Engineering
Cadillac V-Series.R
Pipo Derani: “It always a pleasure to go back to Road America. It’s one of the nicest tracks, I think, worldwide. Cool to drive and now with the new tarmac a new challenge not only the new hybrid cars but trying to understand how much grip there is on the new surface. We had a positive test day, which obviously will help when we hit the track for the race weekend. Road America has provided amazing racing over the last few years. It’s a track that allows easy overtaking. It creates great racing for the fans as us as drivers. I would have liked to come out of Mosport with a 100-plus points lead, which could have happened. Unfortunately, we got caught out with a yellow at the end and left Mosport almost tied in points. You just try to minimize that, and fingers crossed with three races to go that we’ll make the fewest mistakes and come out with the championship. Looking forward to having a better result than Mosport and pushing the Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series. R to its maximum potential so we can push this championship fight forward.”
Alexander Sims: “It was helpful to test there with the track rubbered in since our pre-Le Mans test when we were there in the snow and get a proper read. Extremely low grip offline, so that is going to be difficult for racing with the GTD cars. The car was working well, and we were able to gather valuable information on car setup. There will be some challenges to get through the traffic cleanly throughout the whole race to not lose any time and have any off-track excursions. I’m looking forward to the race and continuing the fight for the championship.”
