No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R paces three-car contingent in shortened qualifying
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 23, 2025) – Cadillac Racing will start the first race of its expanded IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) program from the fourth, seventh and eighth positions in the 63rd Rolex 24 At Daytona.
Jack Aitken, driving the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R, led the Cadillac contingent with a best lap of 1 minute, 34.350 seconds on the 3.56-mile, 12-turn Daytona International Speedway course in the scheduled 15-minute qualifying session that was reduced to 5:50 of green flag running because of a red flag early on.
Filipe Albuquerque recorded a best lap of 1:34.933 in the No. 10 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing entry, while Louis Deletraz was right behind in eighth at 1:34.935 in the No. 40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing car.
The No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8 claimed the pole with a lap of 1:33.895. In 2024, the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R rode to the pole with a track-record lap time of 1 minute, 32.656 seconds, and the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R completed the front row lockout.
Cadillac Racing will seek its fifth victory since 2017 in the January 25-26 race. Cadillac has totaled 12 podium finishes, including the four overall victories, in the Rolex 24 At Daytona since 2017.
A 90-minute night session today and 60-minute morning session Friday will allow Cadillac Racing teams to further fine-tune the cars for the changeable weather and track conditions during the twice-around-the-clock event.
Cadillac Racing overall victories
2020 (Renger van der Zande, Ryan Briscoe, Scott Dixon, Kamui Kobayashi)
2019 (Renger van der Zande, Fernando Alonso; Jordan Taylor, Kamui Kobayashi)
2018 (Christian Fittipaldi, Filipe Albuquerque, Joao Barbosa)
2017 (Jeff Gordon, Jordan Taylor, Ricky Taylor, Max Angelelli)
Poles
2024, 2021, 2018, 2017
What they’re saying
Filipe Albuquerque, No. 10 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing (best lap of 1:34.933): “A hard qualifying for us as the first time in the Cadillac V-Series.R. For sure the red flag didn’t help anybody. I think for us a little bit more in terms of knowing what the car was going to be like. We’re still learning about the car. P7, it’s not the end of the world for a 24-hour race – it’s a long one. We keep going and learning the car, obviously we would have liked to be a little bit further ahead, but we will see come Sunday.”
Jack Aitken, No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R (best lap of 1:34.350): “I was happy and it’s a pretty good place to start. We’re hopefully going to be in the mix in the front the start of the race. It was a bit of a weird session, very truncated and I didn’t get many laps in. I had to make that last lap count. The car felt really nice, so I think we’re in a solid position. We have a few more sessions to work on things and build a solid racecar.”
Louis Deletraz, No. 40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing (best lap of 1:34.935): “Not an easy qualifying with the red flag. I think the pole position lap time was not doable for us, simply impossible. First qualifying together with Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing. We are learning every time and know how to improve and get better. The main focus now is the race.”
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