Detroit, June 1, 2018
Immediate Release
Cadillac Racing Team Mustang Sampling to Start Detroit Fourth
Whelen Engineering sixth, Konica Minolta seventh, Spirit of Daytona 12th
Cadillac V-Performance Racing team Mustang Sampling Cadillac will start the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix fourth. The Whelen Engineering Cadillac will start sixth, Konica Minolta Cadillac seventh and the Spirit of Daytona Cadillac will take the 12:40 p.m. ET start from 12th.
With rain threatening, the IMSA Prototype Class took to the 2.3-mile, 14-turn island circuit in the middle of the Detroit River for the 12-minute, usually 15, qualifying session. A few minutes into the session the action was stopped due to a crash. The IMSA Safety Team quickly cleaned the track leaving the Prototype competitors a few more laps to set the grid for the 100-minute race tomorrow afternoon.
Joao Barbosa had the wheel of the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R for the truncated qualifying session. Barbosa was being coaxed by the team to get everything out of the Cadillac in the few laps remaining. He was able to post a time of 1:23.278 that will have him and teammate Filipe Albuquerque starting from the second row.
"The qualifying session was a weird one and unfortunate it happened that way," Barbosa said, of the truncated track time. "We had a good car and it got better every lap but we just didn't get many laps! It's going to be very tough to beat the guys in the front who have been showing a lot of pace during practice. If I had two good laps at the end, I could have done a little bit better. I was able to do a decent job, the car was getting better so I was looking forward to another lap. That didn't happen, but we have a good race car. Cadillac is running very well. We will have good pace in the race."
In the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R Eric Curran was the choice to qualify. He put in a lap of 1:23.469 and will have him and Felipe Nasr starting sixth.
"Hats off to the team, the guys, especially on the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac," Curran said. "It was all them today. Felipe had a little issue in practice earlier, got off and we had damage to the back of the car, but these guys are on it. A couple hours later, the Whelen Engineering Cadillac looks like brand new! We went out there and pushed hard, but it was a strange qualifying session with one wreck, debris on track, and no one really knowing what's going on. We are sixth, but we really didn't get a fair run at it. I missed the last practice session because of the morning incident. I feel good so let's just see what tomorrow brings even though we aren't starting where we wanted to. We will just keep going."
Renger Van Der Zande took the No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R out on the track for qualifying and put in lap of 1:23.558 that will have the Dutchman and Jordan Taylor starting seventh.
"It's been a rough day - we've been chasing the set-up a little bit over the bumps here but, for qualifying we made a very good step forward," Van Der Zande said. "The only issue was the red flag, which made it all come down to a two-lap shootout at the end, which was really cool in one way but, at the same time, it would have been good to get the whole session in. I gave it my all and got a pretty good lap. It was nowhere near the pole but at least we're a little bit ahead of where we were in practice. Then, into turn 11, I was fully sideways and almost spun off on an even quicker lap, but those are the risks you have to take, sometimes. I went over a bump, got a little wide, kept the throttle down to see if we could make it, but I had to lift, anyway, and lost a few tenths there. Altogether, it wasn't the greatest, but in the race, anything can happen, for sure. We should be able to make another few steps forward because we've at least found the right direction."
Returning to the series, the Spirit of Daytona Cadillac team had a tough time in qualifying. Matt McMurry was at the controls of the Vector Blue Cadillac and put in a lap time of 1:24.668 that will have he and teammate Tristan Vautier starting from the sixth row. McMurry was seventh before the red flag and got caught out with traffic in the few remaining laps.
"It was a mess," McMurry said. "We got one lap, then someone crashed and caused a red. We wanted to stay in the pits when the green came back out, in order to get a gap in traffic, but we thought we had to go out right away because we only had one more lap, since the time remaining was short. So, we had to go out with the string of cars and stay somewhat close to them - but then they gave us another lap anyway. I didn't really get a clean lap. We'll have to really push hard to get through as many cars as possible. It's a short race, so there's not much time. This is my first street track in a while, but I'm getting up to speed quickly. It's a fun track, but a difficult one. Tristan has been a huge help to me, as has the time on the simulator, learning the ins and outs of this place."
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will travel to Detroit, for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix, June 1-2.
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
Filipe Albuquerque
Joao Barbosa 4
Eric Curran
Felipe Nasr 6
Jordan Taylor
Renger Van Der Zande 7
Matt McMurry
Tristan Vautier 12
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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