ELKHART LAKE, Wisconsin (August 4, 2024) – Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti (WTRAndretti) capped off the sprint portion of the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with Sunday’s IMSA SportsCar Weekend at Road America. The No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 team led the charge for the WTRAndretti stable to bring home third place on the podium.

Starting from the pole position for Sunday’s two-hour, 40-minute sprint race, Filipe Albuquerque and the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 had control of the field as the green flag waved. With a handful of cautions in the opening 30 minutes of the race, Albuquerque and the No. 10 team opted to keep the Portuguese driver behind the wheel while other teams completed driver changes in early pit stops. Albuquerque continued to extend the gap to those behind and soon came to pit lane to switch positions with co-driver, Ricky Taylor.

Alongside their No. 10 teammates, the No. 40 DEX Imaging Acura ARX-06 team started on the front row in second for the IMSA SportsCar Weekend at Road America. Jordan Taylor started off strong and took the lead in the opening half hour of the race. A string of cautions and strategy at play, Taylor pitted from the lead and the red and black crew went to work, changing tires and switching drivers from Taylor to Louis Delétraz.

With a busy pit lane under yellow and opting for a driver change, Delétraz and the team cycled to the rear of the GTP before the field came to the restart. Knowing the speed and strength in the No. 40 DEX Imaging Acura ARX-06, Delétraz used patience and precision to work his way forward. The No. 40 team and Delétraz experienced a roller coasters stint on track, including a penalty then to leading through pit sequences. With the final push to the end, Delétraz had his sights set on working up to top five contention but got shuffled back in the running order. The No. 40 DEX Imaging Acura ARX-06 team tallied an eighth-place result at Road America.

Next on the schedule for the duo of WTRAndretti Acura ARX-06 GTPs is the team’s home race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The new addition to the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup, the Battle on the Bricks six-hour endurance event will take place on Sunday, September 22, 2024.

Wayne Taylor, Team Principal, WTRAndretti: “Disappointing day for the whole team. We really had dominated the whole weekend, but we didn’t dominate when it really counted which was at the end of the race. The No. 40 DEX Imaging Acura ARX-06 had a great start and then the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 got out front and ran a really, really good race. Ricky’s run at the end of the race, from ninth to third was exceptional, but lots of questions we have to ask ourselves about today’s race. Thankful for the support from HRC, Konica Minolta, DEX Imaging and all of our partners and we will be ready come Indy.”

No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 GTP Drivers

Ricky Taylor: “We had a great car today in the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06. Both cars were fantastic, locking out the front row. I think it’s just a shame not to come away with a result, honestly. Hats off to the guys for the test we did, improving the car. Between HRC and WTRAndretti, we developed some really good processes that we put into practice in the race that gave us a lot of performance. But at the end of the day, it’s still not the result we wanted. We need to win races, and this was a bad day in the points for the No. 40 car. I’m looking forward to our home race in Indianapolis, but this one stings for sure.”

Filipe Albuquerque: “With such strong pace in the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06, obviously the win was what we wanted, but strategy was a bit crazy and chaotic with the yellows. It seemed like we couldn’t get quite to the end, so we had to pit for fuel, and Ricky did a monster job on recovering from last to third. Obviously, he had the advantage of new tires, but he still made it happen. There was great pace in the car; it was just a shame we couldn’t come away with the win, so that’s a bit frustrating.”

No. 40 DEX Imaging Acura ARX-06 GTP Drivers
Louis Delétraz: “A difficult day. Jordan had a fantastic start, and took the lead, then we had control of the race. Our first pit stop was bad and went from first to basically last. That more or less ended our race. It was very hard to overtake without tire advantage. I tried everything to overtake and come back forward and made some mistakes on the way. We had pace today, but once you’re behind, you’re behind, and we didn’t have the tire advantage at any point to come back. So, one to learn from and forget, and we’ll be back in Indianapolis.”

Jordan Taylor: “Not a great day overall. Starting one-two was great, and we led some laps in the beginning, which was nice. It felt like we had a great car in clean air, and I think once we lost track position early on after that first stop, it was so tough to make passes. We were kind of stuck from then on, and the field is so competitive these days. We didn’t have enough traffic to make moves again. It was good to see the No. 10 car bounce back to get a podium, but I think it was a day of ‘would’ve, could’ve, should’ve’.”

ABOUT WTRANDRETTI
Andretti Global and Wayne Taylor Racing announced a new, long-term partnership in 2023 that combines the resources of the two championship-caliber teams to compete in IMSA’s top classes. In 2024, Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti (WTRAndretti) has expanded to a two-car GTP program as well as competes in the GTD class. Coming off its 2023 championship winning effort, WTRAndretti continues its Driver Development Program competing in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America series with a full stable.

WTRAndretti’s global motorsports enterprise boasts two IMSA driver championships (2013 and 2017), and back-to-back IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup Championships (2020, 2021) which contributed to nine IMSA manufacturer championships for Acura, Pontiac, Corvette and Cadillac. In its brief 17-year history, WTRAndretti has accumulated multiple victories in sportscar racing’s most iconic events: Rolex 24 At Daytona, Twelve Hours of Sebring, Petit Le Mans, Mid-Ohio, Road America and the Six Hours of The Glen. With its back-to-back PRO Class Championship wins (2022, 2023), WTR also has ten North America Lamborghini Super Trofeo Championship titles and a Lamborghini World Finals title.

Andretti Global, a Championship-winning motorsports organization, competes in additional racing categories worldwide, including the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, Extreme E, Australian Supercars and the Mexico SuperCopa Championship. Additionally, the racing enterprise commits to driver development through competition in INDY NXT by Firestone and through support of Sebastian and Oliver Wheldon’s racing careers.

WTRAndretti’s long term partnerships include Acura, Honda Racing Corporation US (HRC), Konica Minolta Business Solutions USA, DEX Imaging, Harrison Contracting Company and Gainbridge.

Fifth and sixth for Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller; season-best fifth in GTD for AWA

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (August 4, 2024) – The Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R recorded top-five finishes in both GTD PRO and GTD on Sunday at the end of a chaotic IMSA SportsCar Weekend event at Road America.

The No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports entry of Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims finished fifth in the GTD PRO class, with the AWA duo of Matt Bell and Orey Fidani matching that result for their best GTD finish of the season in their No. 13 Corvette Z06 GT3.R. The GTD PRO pole-sitting No. 4 Corvette of Nicky Catsburg and Tommy Milner placed sixth in the hectic race.

The two-hour, 40-minute contest looked more like a short-track race with six full-course caution periods. Two yellows inside the final hour worked against the three Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs, all of which looked to be in good shape on fuel strategy going into the final 70 minutes.

The first unlucky break against the Corvettes came on the opening lap as Sims went spinning from second place after contact from another GTD PRO car, a dive-bomb move that sent the No. 3 off-track and into the gravel. Recovery crews quickly pulled Sims back onto the track with minor damage to the suspension of the car.

That left class pole-sitter and leader Nicky Catsburg as the lone Corvette at the front of the field, and the No. 4 he shared with Tommy Milner led the first 10 laps before stopping for tires and fuel during the first caution period of the race. A handful of GTD PRO cars stayed out to jumble the running order, which put a greater premium on track position.

Both the No. 3 and No. 4 Corvettes attempted to manage their fuel usage across the final 75 minutes to regain the top positions, but two full-course yellows in quick succession alleviated all fuel concerns for the full GTD PRO field.

In GTD, Bell and Fidani were the day’s top movers by gaining 16 positions overall and 10 in class for their first top-five finish of the season. Fidani drove the first 46 minutes before Bell took over to the end. He was involved in multiple battles with other class competitors – five and six cars at a time – but stayed clean to the end.

The result meant that Fidani continues to lead the Bob Akin Award standings, with the season championship going to the top Bronze-rated, points-scoring driver.

The next race in IMSA for the Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs is the Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia International Raceway on August 23-25.

CORVETTE RACING BY PRATT MILLER MOTORSPORTS POST-EVENT DRIVER QUOTES

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – FIFTH IN GTD PRO: “The first lap led to our whole race. The opening contact damaged the car somewhat, and from that point on we had to gamble on a different strategy, save fuel and do something different. In a way, it got us some positions but when it came time to fight at the end, the car wasn’t where it needed to be. We definitely tried to squeeze as much as we could out of it. It’s a shame. It was a little mistake (by the 64) but it hurt the momentum of our race.”

ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – FIFTH IN GTD PRO: “Rocky (Mike Rockenfeller) came and apologized. I know that there was nothing malicious in it. It was just a mistake, and we all make mistakes. That’s the way it goes. I have to give great credit to the Corvette, which held up pretty well for a decent hit. We had a little movement in the rear toe, and we could finish the race with it. Well done to the recovery crew to get me out of the gravel so quickly. That kept us on the lead lap and in the race. We came away with fifth which isn’t what you want after starting on the front row, but under the circumstances it could have been race over at that point. It was a good recovery. That’s racing, and we’ll go on to the next one.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – SIXTH IN GTD PRO: “On our side, we had great racecars. The Corvettes were very good. It’s hard to pass here. What happens with guys that don’t think they have a car to win, they start making gambles on strategy and in this series you can win on gambles. Driving in traffic here makes it hard to follow cars. Even if you have a fast car, you can’t always use it. We’re very well aware that track position is king, so we try to prioritize that. Things just didn’t fall our way today. There were multiple situations and opportunities for us to make the right calls, and in the situations I think we made the right calls. I’m not happy with the end result, but the effort and strategy and the whole crew… everyone did a great job and did everything right. Luck was just not on our side.”

NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – SIXTH IN GTD PRO: “Honestly it was a disappointing day today. I felt that as a team we executed really well and the Corvette was in a super-nice window in terms of balance. The start went well and from my point of view we did everything right and ended up with nothing. It’s unfortunate because I feel like we deserved something more today. Some of these races become a bit of a lottery. So I’m disappointed but on the other hand pleased with the momentum we have. We are getting more and more on top of the car. We are reliable, we are performing well in terms of setup, qualifying and race pace. The guys in the pitlane are doing good work. It was a good weekend with all the Oshkosh guests, and we had a lot of fun. It would have been nice to come away with a win instead of basically nothing. It is what it is, and now we can look forward to VIR which is a new track for me. It seems to be another awesome place, and I can’t wait for the next event.”

AWA POST-EVENT DRIVER QUOTES

MATT BELL, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – FIFTH IN GTD: “That was absolute chaos and a proper IMSA race! There was some seriously dicey, proper GT racing going on and I loved every bit of it, to be honest. A few people got a bit too far over the line and that cost them, but I think we struck the right balance and managed to progress through the field. It was nice to put in a couple of decent overtakes and we went up the field as people made mistakes. I think we were the top mover on the grid with great work by the team. We were super-sharp in the pits and super-sharp with strategy again. We’re marching toward that first podium. So yes, a good day in the office.”

ELKHART LAKE, Wisconsin (August 4, 2024) – Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti (WTRAndretti) and the No. 45 DEX Imaging Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 team continued their streak of sprint races through the summer schedule with the IMSA SportsCar Weekend at Road America. Full-time co-driver, Danny Formal, had a strong start moving quickly into the top five, however, after 20 minutes, a mechanical issue forced the car off the track and towed back to the garages. After speedy repairs were completed, the No. 45 team headed back out on track with just one hour and 20 minutes to go. Formal and Sandy Mitchell brought the No. 45 car home in 15th in GTD after showing impressive pace in the closing stage of the race.

Danny Formal took the green flag and quickly found strong pace, running in the top five within the opening laps after starting sixth. Despite the mechanical issue bringing his charge through the field to an early stop, Formal still showed his blistering race pace after the No. 45 crew completed the repairs with incredible speed. Formal continued to improve on his lap times before handing the car to Sandy Mitchell.

Mitchell completed his first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship sprint race laps with WTRAndretti as he closed out the IMSA SportsCar Weekend at Road America. Mitchell quickly matched Formal’s pace as he pushed the No. 45 DEX Imaging Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 to its limits. Mitchell finished the race, keeping the car clean despite chaotic traffic in the closing minutes.

“I feel for this team, a tough day,” said Wayne Taylor, Team Principal, WTRAndretti. “We were racing in fifth place and then had the mechanical issue. The No. 45 DEX Imaging guys went to work and got the car back on track. At the end, they had great pace. Danny and Sandy did a great job today. I thank our partners at Lamborghini and DEX Imaging who are always there behind us. We will look forward to VIR later this month.”

The No. 45 DEX Imaging Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 team will enter the closing rounds of the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship sprint series at VIRginia International Raceway for the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR on August 25, 2024.

No. 45 DEX Imaging Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 Drivers:

Danny Formal: “Well, we’re done here at Road America. Lady Luck was not on our side, but I’m so grateful to be part of this team. They worked so hard. We had a small issue during the race, and we came back into the pits, fixed it and went back out. Sandy and myself had great race pace. I’m just so grateful for this team. We’ll pick it up from here and go to VIR next and bring the result the team deserves and be in the podium fight. A big thank you to WTRAndretti and DEX Imaging. This team is truly phenomenal and I’m so grateful to be a part of this program. I’m so grateful for Sandy; I learned a lot from him with him being a factory driver. It definitely helped me as a driver this weekend, and I’ll only improve as a driver and a teammate thanks to him. So super grateful and excited for VIR.”

Sandy Mitchell: “It’s been really fun coming back to race with Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti. Our No. 45 DEX Imaging Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 had a bit of bad luck in the race with a mechanical issue. It doesn’t happen very often in these cars, so just a shame with the timing of that. It’s been great working with Danny and the team. I think we arrived at the race with a pretty strong package and were fighting in the top five before we had the issue. Race pace looked quite strong at the end of the race, so hopefully the guys can take that momentum into the next race and get themselves onto the podium like they deserve to be.”

ABOUT WTRANDRETTI
Andretti Global and Wayne Taylor Racing announced a new, long-term partnership in 2023 that combines the resources of the two championship-caliber teams to compete in IMSA’s top classes. In 2024, Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti (WTRAndretti) has expanded to a two-car GTP program as well as competes in the GTD class. Coming off its 2023 championship winning effort, WTRAndretti continues its Driver Development Program competing in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America series with a full stable.

WTRAndretti’s global motorsports enterprise boasts two IMSA driver championships (2013 and 2017), and back-to-back IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup Championships (2020, 2021) which contributed to nine IMSA manufacturer championships for Acura, Pontiac, Corvette and Cadillac. In its brief 17-year history, WTRAndretti has accumulated multiple victories in sportscar racing’s most iconic events: Rolex 24 At Daytona, Twelve Hours of Sebring, Petit Le Mans, Mid-Ohio, Road America and the Six Hours of The Glen. With its back-to-back PRO Class Championship wins (2022, 2023), WTR also has ten North America Lamborghini Super Trofeo Championship titles and a Lamborghini World Finals title.

Andretti Global, a Championship-winning motorsports organization, competes in additional racing categories worldwide, including the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, Extreme E, Australian Supercars and the Mexico SuperCopa Championship. Additionally, the racing enterprise commits to driver development through competition in INDY NXT by Firestone and through support of Sebastian and Oliver Wheldon’s racing careers.

The team avoided a myriad of incidents through the race to bring the No. 33 Ligier JS P217 home in eighth

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (August 4, 2024) – Sean Creech Motorsport continued to progress in its development of the reintroduced Ligier JS P217, finishing a solid eighth in Sunday’s IMSA SportsCar Weekend at Road America.

Drivers João Barbosa and Tonis Kasemets worked to keep the No. 33 Focal One Ligier out of trouble through five caution periods totaling 82 minutes in the two hour and 40-minutes race. Pacing as high as third on an outstanding strategy, the team added significantly to the car’s growing database.

Kasemets, the 2022 IMSA Prototype Challenge champion, joined the team on the weekend, subbing for Lance Willsey, who had family commitments. The longtime engineer for Pabst Racing in the USF Pro Championships junior formula ladder series, Kasemets brought that engineering background to play as he gave new insights to the team, joining veteran Barbosa in continuing the development efforts.

Through two 90-minute practice sessions, the SCM team worked to refine the Ligier JS P217’s setup – continuing to write the operational database for the reintroduced chassis. Both drivers worked closely with team engineers to improve handling in Road America’s tricky corners, and Kasemets left pit lane for Saturday’s 15-minute qualifying session with a setup that balanced handling the corners and the straights. Kasemets’ time of 1:55.662 place the team in eighth position for the start of Sunday’s two hour and 40-minute race – and validated all that hard work.

“The best thing about this team is that everyone – mechanics, engineers, drivers – we’re all pulling in the same direction,” said Kasemets. “We know we have a big task but everybody’s willing to do whatever it takes to find that next performance gain. That qualifying session is a testament to the fact that we keep pushing hard no matter what.”

Kasemets took the green flag but his attempt to make progress at the start was halted by a hip check in Turn 1 that sent him way wide through the corner. Recovering quickly – and with no damage – he continued on. By lap 10, he had radio’s the tram that “the car is good, very balanced.”

The team made a strategy call on an early yellow, bringing Kasemets into pit lane for fuel and an adjustment to the right front tire pressure.

Back out on track in seventh position, Kasemets was looking for more – until the No. 20 put his nose inside in Turn 5, sending Kasemets into the gravel. In a bold move, Kasemets threw the Ligier into reverse, enabling himself to back into the runoff and continue, albeit now in 10th. He set about regaining those positions and handed the car to Barbosa with 76 minutes remaining.

Barbosa’s focus immediately became avoiding the myriad of incidents around him, keeping the Ligier moving forward. The team hopes that a quick stop for fuel and tires with 40 minutes left would set him up to do just that.

With their competitors pitting with 25 minutes left, Barbosa took the restart in third position, and despite issues with the brakes – and getting hit several times – he brought the car home in eighth position and set the team’s quickest lap with a time of 1:55.940.

“I really took it at 90% at the start, as I knew there would be incidents and my job was to bring the car back to João the best I could,” said Kasemets. “Part of that was getting out of the gravel – I know the team didn’t really want me to use reverse, but there was a curb forward so that was the only way! It was a good weekend – I still love driving race cars and I really appreciate the opportunity to work with the SCM team.”

“Overall P8 is quite positive,” said Barbosa. “We were able to fight with the other LMP2 cars, though we were down a bit on straight line speed. But I’m happy with the result. The pace improved throughout the weekend, with the team finding little things that could make the car work better. We have a much better baseline to start with going forward, something we can really build on.”

Team principal Sean Creech was quick to commend both the team’s effort throughout the weekend, and in Sunday’s race.

“Once again, this team showed that it has no quit,” said Creech. “They never gave up working on the car, figuring out how to make it work better. We’ve made significant gains this weekend and we’re happy with how far we’ve come. The strategy today worked out well, to get us in the top three, and we know we have what it takes to keep pushing the Ligier and making it better and better.”

SCM thanks partner Focal One for its continued support.

Next up for SCM will be the six-hour TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, September 19-22. The race will be broadcast in its entirety on Peacock, with the final three hours on NBC. International viewers can watch via IMSA.TV, with IMSA Radio also available at IMSA.com.

About SCM

Team leader Sean Creech has competed in a multitude of sports car series from 1988 until the present day, including Group C, IMSA GTP, WSC, Grand-Am, SRO World Challenge, and IMSA. SCM will contest the full WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2024 with João Barbosa and Lance Willsey. http://seancreechmotorsport.com/

About Focal One

One in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime in the United States. The Focal One® HIFU Prostate treatment offers patients a non-invasive outpatient procedure to target prostate tissue while avoiding the common side effects such as loss of urinary continence and sexual function. The Focal One treatment uses high-performance, high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) to precisely target and ablate the prostate, allowing patients to quickly return to normal activities. http://www.focalone.com/

SCM Social Media

Instagram: @seancreechms
Twitter: @SeanCreechMS
Threads: @seancreechms
Facebook: Sean Creech Motorsport

ELKHART LAKE, Wisconsin (August 4, 2024) – James Sofronas took the Pro-Am class lead on the first lap of the 40-minute IMSA Carrera Cup North America sprint at Road America and went on to score his third race win of the season in the No. 14 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Sunday on the 4-mile Wisconsin road course.

Sofronas passed Pro-Am polesitter Pedro Torres with a convincing outside move in Turn 5 and led every lap for the victory, which is his fifth series win in just 10 career Carrera Cup race starts. Sofronas, a multiple sports car racing series champion, swept the Pro-Am class wins in his Carrera Cup debut in 2023’s season-ending race at Circuit of The Americas (COTA). In addition to Sunday’s win, Sofronas started the 2024 season with a victory at Sebring International Raceway and also won at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal in June. The three 2024 victories lead the Carrera Cup Pro-Am class even with Sofronas not scheduled to compete in the full season and not participating in last month’s doubleheader at Watkins Glen International.

“This was a total team effort, and I knew right away we had a great car,” said Sofronas, who is the Founder and Principal of GMG Racing. “Our car wasn’t quite there in Saturday’s race but all credit to the guys for getting it right today. We put our heads together and this win is a result of the efforts of everybody on the team.”

Sunday’s win also came in the first race for Sofronas at Road America since he was sidelined for four months after sustaining an injury in a testing incident at the track last August.

“The COTA sweep made for a successful and somewhat emotional return to racing last year,” Sofronas said. “That race proved to me that I could still do this, that I can still run at the same competitive level I have for the last three decades. But coming back to Road America after last year was another important step in reaffirming my race craft. I began my professional driving career right here at Road America back in 1994, so it is fantastic to be able to mark that 30-year anniversary, especially after last year’s incident, with a win today.”

Sofronas finished second in Pro-Am in Saturday’s opening Carrera Cup race while veteran GMG Racing competitor Kyle Washington secured a weekend-best fifth-place Masters Class finish in the No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup in the same race.

Also in Saturday’s race, debuting team driver Yves Baltas charged from the back of the field for a top-10 Pro Class finish in the No. 15 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Baltas, who was sent to the rear of the grid for a non-performance related sensor issue, passed a race-high 22 cars in his charge to the front.

About GMG Racing: Founded in 2001, GMG Racing quickly established itself as North America’s premier performance tuning facility. What began as a small 1,200 sq. ft. shop, maintaining two race cars, has grown into a 30,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art performance tuning, racing and service facility located in Santa Ana, California in Orange County and with a trackside motorsports facility at 28,000 sq. ft. currently being built at The Thermal Club. The staff, attention to detail, and passion are what make GMG the choice of professionals and enthusiasts worldwide. GMG, in its early years, was located directly across the street from Porsche Motorsport North America (PMNA). This close proximity allowed GMG to build a strong relationship with the legendary racing brand which has helped us support our customers to the highest level possible. From club racing to Sebring, Daytona and Spa, GMG can take you as far as you want to go. More information can be found at www.gmgracing.com.

Cadillac Racing GTP entries finish fourth, ninth in final sprint event of season

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (Aug. 4, 2024) – The No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R regrouped after an inauspicious start Sunday to the IMSA SportsCar Weekend at Road America to challenge for the victory and eventually finish fourth in the choppy 2-hour, 40-minute race.

The No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R also found itself the object of contact and an off-course excursion that required an unscheduled stop to change the nose assembly and front-right tire. Renger van der Zande and Sebastien Bourdais, who started third, finished ninth after a service stop for tires with 2 minutes left.

After qualifying fifth, Pipo Derani found himself sitting backward in Turn 6 on the initial race lap when the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R was bumped and spun, which dropped the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) entry to the rear of the 10-car field. Derani climbed to eighth and ceded the seat to Jack Aitken after 25 minutes of driving time.

Aitken, competing at Road America for the first time, continued to weave through the 47-car field covering four classes to be running third under yellow with 37 minutes left. He moved to second on the restart with 16 minutes, 20 seconds left and looked to challenge the leading No. 6 Porsche 963. Also on the green flag, Bourdais moved to fourth in the running order.

In the final 8 minutes, the No. 7 Porsche 963 overtook Aitken for second and the No. 10 Acura AXR-06 slipped past the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R in traffic on the white flag lap for the final podium spot.

Next up for GTP entries is the Tirerack.com Battle on the Bricks on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course that incorporates sections of the oval track. The event was a 2-hour, 40-minute race in 2023 and expands to six hours Sept. 22. NBC will telecast the final three hours of the race, with Peacock providing flag-to-flag streaming coverage from 11:30 a.m.-6 p.m. ET.

Cadillac Racing photos from Road America for editorial use

No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R

Renger van der Zande: “I think today wasn’t our day. We were in a great position after the first stop. It was one of those days in IMSA where there’s a lot of yellows, and a big lottery. But, obviously, we had a crash, which hurt the car quite a bit and that put us at the back of the field. After that the recovery worked out pretty smoothly but there was a tire that didn’t hold on for the last five minutes to the end. I think P5 was going to be a good recovery from all the drama that we had on the way. But it’s not a good day, also hurts for the championship. The Porsche extended its lead with two of its cars. It’s one of those days that you want to forget quickly. And on top of it I think we had a really fast car. We didn’t have a car to fight with because we’re still struggling with top speed quite a lot, but at least we maximized the setup and performance out of our car, so I’m proud of the team.”

Sebastien Bourdais: “The GT Porsche making contact on the outlap with me, just gave me no chance. I was down on the inside, he knew I was going to go by him in the straight, and I understeered a tiny little bit, but he just turned in and turned me around. And after that I washed out pretty severely behind (Nick) Yelloly in the Carousel, and he was washing out behind the No. 10 really bad too and drove himself off the road. And I was going to run myself off the road a little bit, but I had backed off already and I was going to be fine. But then when I ended up in the cloud of dust I didn’t know where I was, and then I lost it. And then our fate was sealed at that point. The rear tires were squared, and the car was very difficult to drive. And then just went from bad to worse at that point. We delaminated a tire with three laps to go there. So, we just move on.”

No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R

Jack Aitken: “A tough Lap 1, but we did what we had to do to work our way back into it. The race came to us a little bit with the way the cautions played out. For most of the races played it simple and worked our way through the pack by picking people off and with good strategy and found ourselves in position to win the race at the end. It was an interesting race with fuel, different tire strategies. I tried to go for the lead and just had a bit of rubber and ended up wide in Canada Corner and that was the impetus to lose second place to the other Porsche. They were strong today, so take my hat off to them. Then I just couldn’t get back on terms with them through the traffic that quite intense. Then I made a small mistake and Ricky Taylor managed to get past as well. It was a bit frustrating that we came here to win and we put ourselves in that position, so that’s positive.”

Pipo Derani: “This race was all about strategy, getting the yellows right. We came back to put ourselves in position to fight for the win and it was tight at the end. It was really close in fighting for the win so that’s a positive today. Let’s see how it goes the last two races and more points in the bag today. The championship keeps getting harder and harder, but it’s part of the game. You give all you have and sometimes you come out with the win and sometimes you come out with P4.”