Cadillac Racing Second, Third and Fourth in Canada
Late caution flags thwarts win
Cadillac V-Performance Racing team Konica Minolta Cadillac finished second today in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP). The Whelen Engineering Cadillac came third followed by the Mustang Sampling Cadillac fourth on the day.
Taylor, left, Van Der Zande second.
At the drop of the green at 2:05 p.m. ET, Renger Van Der Zande drove the No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R to second from his fourth place starting position. Twenty-two minutes into the race the first caution flew with Van Der Zande running second. The Whelen Engineering Cadillac was able to dive into pit lane just prior to the yellow and make its driver change and get service improving its track position to second on the restart. An hour into he race, Van Der Zande took the lead, followed by Felipe Nasr behind the wheel of the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R in second. As the team's cycled through the third caution of the race, the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R with Filipe Albuquerque at the wheel made it a Cadillac 1-2-4 at the one-hour-and-fifteen mark. Jordan Taylor took over the No. 10 Cadillac and proceeded to lead up until the last 13 minutes of the race. Two late race cautions flags, first with 20-minutes remaining and the last with 12 minutes to go allowed the races pole sitter Colin Braun, No. 54 Oreca, to make up track position and eventually pass Taylor on the outside for the win.
"I wouldn't say we're the happiest team right now, but we cannot be unhappy with second place," Van Der Zande said. "It's good for the points and we did everything right today and I think we should be very, very proud of having a car that we could fight with. My stint was cool and Jordan did a great stint and the winning car was just in a different league today and that's why we lost the race. I'm happy for the points we gained but unhappy that we lost, at the same time."
"I think we had a dominant day, all things considered," Taylor said. "Renger was able to control things from the front once the 6 car went off strategy. We were basically in fuel-saving mode and staying out of trouble. Renger had a flawless stint and pulled a good gap. And, once I was in, we were still able to control things and had good pace. But, as soon as the 54 car came through the field, there was no stopping them. All things considered, I think a second-place finish is good for the championship. It should've been a win, but that part of it was out of our control. So, we'll go to Road American and keep fighting and hopefully contend for some wins."
Last year's winners had another good run at CTMP. The No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R driven by Eric Curran and Felipe Nasr ran toward the front the last third of the race and came home on the last step of the podium in third.
"It's a flip-flop from yesterday," Curran said. "We struggled for sure in qualifying. The No. 5 and No. 31 both were back in the pack without the speed needed. The Action Express guys never give up and worked on the car to find some more speed in it. At the end of the day, Tim (Keene) on the pit box and his strategy helped us get here. He knows exactly when to pit and all the Whelen guys killed the pit stops on all fronts, it is a whole team effort. It's amazing because we made so much of our progress in the pits. We seem to be good at that and we just do our thing and remain consistent. We don't have the fastest car but congrats to the No. 54 car, they deserve this win. We didn't have nearly the pace for them. The Whelen Cadillac was still good and it was a good day for championship points. I think we flip flopped back to the lead with our No. 5 teammates. I love coming to CTMP and it always good to be on this podium."
"Coming from the tough day of qualifying, we knew the possibilities for the race were there especially with yellows," Nasr said. "Tim (Keene), who oversees our race, did an amazing job. He was on it and anticipated the yellows and brought Eric (Curran) in so I could get in and we leap frogged the field. That pretty much put us in contention to have a strong race. From that point on it was just hitting our marks, putting fast laps together, clearing traffic. Once again, a big thumbs up to the Action Express team for putting the car in podium condition. Third place is a place I couldn't have imagined us being in, but somehow we did it again with the package we had. I just want to praise the team, the Whelen boys, and the mechanics. I am super happy with today."
The No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac with Christian Fittipaldi and Filipe Albuquerque had strong run today coming from their 11th place starting position to finish fourth.
"I am really happy with the team and where we came from today," Albuquerque. "We were P11 and we recovered a lot even without a great first pit stop. It was purely pit stops and overtaking since some of the Prototypes had so much pace. It would have been a podium under normal conditions. I am happy with the job of the team and we made solid points, but it is impossible to do better than this today."
"Action Express did a flawless race but this is what we strive for," Fittipaldi said. "We come to win races and as Gary (Nelson) always says, 'Expect to win.' We are always trying our very best and Action Express did an awesome job with both cars. Considering we started from the last row, we finished third and fourth as a team which is tremendous. It is great for points for the championship and we continue one and two. I think that will be very, very important especially at this point in the year when there are only three more races to go. All in all, it was a positive day. We are happy to collect the points and ready to turn the page to Road America."
The next round for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship prototype cars will be the Continental Tire Road Race Showcase at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., August 3-5.
Cadillac DPi-V.R 2018 Results
Track Drivers Qualify Finish Points
Daytona Filipe Albuquerque
Joao Barbosa
Christian Fittipaldi 3 1
Eric Curran
Felipe Nasr
Mike Conway 7 2
Jordan Taylor
Renger Van Der Zande
Ryan Hunter-Reay 1 15
Matt McMurry
Tristan Vautier
Eddie Cheever III 5 20
Sebring Filipe Albuquerque
Joao Barbosa
Christian Fittipaldi 8 10 3 (56)
Eric Curran
Felipe Nasr
Mike Conway 5 3 1 (62)
Jordan Taylor
Renger Van Der Zande
Ryan Hunter-Reay 10 2 7 (48)
Matt McMurry
Tristan Vautier
Eddie Cheever III 1 12 11 (30)
Long Beach Filipe Albuquerque
Joao Barbosa 5 1 35 (1)
Eric Curran
Felipe Nasr 2 7 32 (2)
Jordan Taylor
Renger Van Der Zande 6 3 16 (4)
Mid-Ohio Filipe Albuquerque
Joao Barbosa 6 4 119
Eric Curran
Felipe Nasr 12 8 109
Jordan Taylor
Renger Van Der Zande 4 5 104
Detroit Filipe Albuquerque
Joao Barbosa 4 6 144
Eric Curran
Felipe Nasr 6 1 144
Jordan Taylor
Renger Van Der Zande 7 5 130
Matt McMurry
Tristan Vautier 12 13 48
Watkins Glen Filipe Albuquerque
Christian Fittipaldi
Gabby Chaves 14 6 169 (1)
Eric Curran
Felipe Nasr
Mike Conway 11 7 168 (2)
Jordan Taylor
Renger Van Der Zande 8 5 156 (4)
Matt McMurry
Tristan Vautier 12 11 68 (24)
CTMP Filipe Albuquerque
Christian Fittipaldi 11 4
Jordan Taylor
Renger Van Der Zande 4 2
Eric Curran
Felipe Nasr 12 3
The Cadillac DPi-V.R teams won every title in the inaugural season of the IMSA DPi formula including: Cadillac wins DPi manufacturer championship; Cadillac wins TPNAEC (Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup) manufacturer title; Jordan and Ricky Taylor 2017 IMSA WeatherTech DPi driver champions; Konica Minolta Cadillac team champions; Mustang Sampling Cadillac drivers Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi and Filipe Albuquerque won the TPNAEC DPi driver championship; Mustang Sampling Cadillac won the TPNAEC DPi team championship; Whelen Engineering drivers Dane Cameron and Eric Curran finish second in the driver's championship; Mustang Sampling Cadillac drivers Joao Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi finish third in the driver's championship; Cadillac teams combine to win seven races in 2017: Rolex 24 Hours At Daytona, Twelve Hours of Sebring, Long Beach, Circuit of the Americas, Detroit, Watkins Glen, and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
A leading luxury auto brand since 1902, Cadillac is growing globally, driven by an expanding product portfolio that features distinctive design and technology. Today Cadillac is growing globally, driven by an expanding product portfolio featuring distinctive design and technology. More information on Cadillac appears at
www.cadillac.com. Cadillac's media website with information, images and video can be found at media.cadillac.com.
Additional information can be viewed at Cadillac.com, GM.com, media.gm.com; Twitter @Cadillac; Facebook, GM, Cadillac.
The Cadillac Racing media guide can be viewed at media.cadillac.com. For additional information please contact Kyle Chura, kyle@kcapr.com or (248) 821-0468.
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