Cadillac DPi-V.R Team Konica Minolta on Pole at Laguna
Ricky Taylor puts No. 10 Cadillac DPi-V.R on pole, Fittipaldi to start second
Monterey, Calif., Cadillac V-Performance racing team Konica Minolta Cadillac and Mustang Sampling will start the IMSA WeatherTech Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca side-by-side on the front row for tomorrow's penultimate round of the championship. The Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R will start from the second row in fourth.
Ricky Taylor had the wheel of the No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R for the 15-minute qualifying session around the 2.2-mile, 11-turn road course located on the Monterey Peninsula. On his fifth flying lap, he posted a time of 1:16.853 backing up the effort he and his co-driver brother Jordan put in leading practice this morning.
Christian Fittipaldi drove the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R to a front row starting position with a time of 1:17.682. He and teammate Joao Barbosa are looking for a second win on the season.
In the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R, Eric Curran posted a lap of 1:17.809 that will have him start fourth with teammate Dane Cameron.
The five-time winning Taylor brothers are on the cusp of closing out the championship on the strength of their fifth pole position of the season.
"The team knows what kind of set-up I like on the Cadillac in qualifying to go for an outright lap for the pole," Ricky Taylor said. "I think it is about putting a full lap together. Not sure it is a good race car, but when I ran it on the edge it was good. The team knows the car well and we will put a race set-up on it to maximize tires and the grip. We are strong, but when the top guys get in the other cars, it is going to be good racing. Looking like there will be longer stints than usual, so strategy will play a big role. Our car is strong on the handling sections of the track, but not so much on outright speed."
Winning at Watkins Glen, Fittipaldi and Barbosa are hungry for another top podium finish.
"It is a solid run," Fittipaldi said. "It has been a long time since we've started on the front row. I am happy for Cadillac that their cars are starting one, two and four. I think that is a great effort by all three teams. Tomorrow is a different day. The gap in times will not be as big in the race. In the race on older tires, I think it will equal everyone out. I think the race will be tight. We have an excellent team and car. We will see what we can do tomorrow."
Winners of the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park round, Curran and Cameron made big improvements on the car for qualifying.
"That was a pretty decent run for us, running P4," Curran said. "I might have been able to tighten it up a little bit more and move up a couple of spots. Our Whelen Cadillac is working great. Our team made a good leap forward in qualifying from where we were in practice. There is not a huge amount of grip on this track, but the Continentals held on well throughout that run. So I am happy with the effort."
The three Cadillac DPi-V.R teams are 1-2-3 in the driver point standings. Konica Minolta drivers Ricky and Jordan Taylor lead the points with 258, Mustang Sampling drivers Joao Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi are second with 238 and Whelen Engineering's Eric Curran and Dane Cameron are third with 227.
So far in 2017 Cadillac V-Performance teams have won the Rolex 24 Hours At Daytona, Twelve Hours of Sebring, Long Beach, Circuit of the Americas, Detroit, Watkins Glen, and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
The IMSA WeatherTech Championship Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix will start at 2:05 p.m. PT Sunday, with the race broadcast starting at 2 p.m. PT on the FS1.
Cadillac DPi-V.R 2017 Results
Race Drivers Qualified Finished Points Position TPNAEC
Daytona 24 Jordan Taylor, Ricky Taylor, Max Angelelli, Jeff Gordon 4 1
1 (35) 1 (18)
Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi, Filipe Albuquerque 1 2 2 (33) 2 (16)
Eric Curran, Dane Cameron, Mike Conway, Seb Morris 2 6 6 (25) 4 (10)
Sebring Jordan Taylor, Ricky Taylor, Alex Lynn 6 1 1 (70) 1 (32)
Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi, Filipe Albuquerque 2 2 2 (65) 2 (29)
Eric Curran, Dane Cameron, Mike Conway, 3 3 3 (56) 5 (17)
Long Beach Jordan Taylor, Ricky Taylor 1 1 1 (105)
Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi 2 7 2 (89)
Eric Curran, Dane Cameron 5 8 5 (79)
COTA Jordan Taylor, Ricky Taylor 1 1 1(141)
Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi 4 3 2(119)
Eric Curran, Dane Cameron 3 2 3(110)
Detroit Jordan Taylor, Ricky Taylor 12 1 1 (177) 1 (32)
Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi 1 4 2 (147) 2 (29)
Eric Curran, Dane Cameron 2 2 3 (143) 5 (17)
Watkins Glen Jordan Taylor, Ricky Taylor 4 6 1 (202)
Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi, Filipe Albuquerque 3 1 2 (182)
Eric Curran, Dane Cameron, Filipe Albuquerque 6 7 4 (164)
CTMP Jordan Taylor, Ricky Taylor 1 7 1 (226)
Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi, 5 6 2 (207)
Eric Curran, Dane Cameron 8 1 4 (199)
Road America Jordan Taylor, Ricky Taylor 1 2 1 (258)
Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi, 7 6 2 (232)
Eric Curran, Dane Cameron 6 4 3 (227)
Laguna Seca Jordan Taylor, Ricky Taylor 1
Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi 2
Eric Curran, Dane Cameron 4
Cadillac has been a leading luxury auto brand since 1902. 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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