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CADILLAC RACING BELLE ISLE PREVIEW: ZOOM TRANSCRIPT

In advance of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race – the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic  June 3-4 on the 2.35-mile, 13-turn temporary street circuit on Belle Isle in Detroit — defending DPi race winner Renger van der Zande (No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R) met with the media May 31 via Zoom conference. 
For the media: Cadillac Racing resource guide for the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic
Van der Zande and first-year teammate Sebastien Bourdais, a two-time INDYCAR winner at Belle Isle, won the April race on the streets of Long Beach, California, from the pole.
Full transcript:
ARE THERE A LOT OF GOOD VIBES COMING INTO THE WEEKEND?“The last street track was in Long Beach and we did very well, especially Sebastien (Bourdais) had a race that was amazing. I think we’re going confident into the second street race of the year. I think the Cadillac has always been doing well at Detroit. We, obviously, have a bit of a BOP hit with 15 kilos. The car is really on edge with the weight, so that 15 kilos might not sound like too much, but it is that little extra that has killed us in the past. That was at tracks like Road America. I don’t know how it’s going to hit us in Detroit. At the end of the day, I love going there. I love the island; I keep winning there both in a DPi and an LMPC car. It’s home for Cadillac and General Motors, so on the backstraight you see the tower and kind of feel like the bosses are watching you and have pressure to win it. Last year that worked out really well, and it’s always nice to be there with INDYCAR. It always a good show.”
CAN YOU EXPAND ON HOW THE WEIGHT HAS AFFECTED THE CAR THROUGHOUT THE YEAR?“There is more than car balance when you put weight into play. Tire degradation goes up, you’re losing grip over a stint. I think it doesn’t make sense for me to go into detail of BOP because it’s such a sensitive topic, but at the end of the day I can’t really follow what IMSA’s doing because in Ohio we were not the fastest car and now we’re getting extra weight on the car. We’re getting hit by BOP. If this means that we’re going to get track-independent BOPs, that would be really good. But that would be something they have not announced yet. If it goes into a track-independent BOP, then I’m super happy with it because that’s exactly what we need. You can’t compare a street track with Mosport. We’re going to Watkins Glen, which is all high speed. Mosport is all high speed. But you can’t compare it with Long Beach, where you’re first gear is not short enough for that hairpin. Same with Detroit. Hard to say what the weight will do to our car on a street track, but the braking performance is less, the cornering speed is less, the tire degradation is more, so it’s not only pure lap time. It’s also the wear out of the whole car. I want to have a competitive BOP with the other brand that we race against. I don’t ask for a better BOP, but they should not get a better BOP than us. It should be equal, then everybody should not complain and be happy. IMSA had it right for quite a few races, especially last year. I felt that it was very even. I think this year they mismatched sometimes and it’s because they look at it from event to event and not track independent. That’s my personal feeling. I hope they really start looking at track to track. We race with the same cars for some many years with all the different tracks, so we know what we’re going to get. IMSA should be able to see that as well. I went to Detroit two weeks ago; we did a media trip with Cadillac that was fun. I didn’t like they put me in a rollercoaster; I was kind of scared. Then I saw the new track and we had a lap around the new layout for 2023. They gave me a really fast car (Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing), and the obviously had to replace the tires after that trip. Ganassi comes from an Indy 500 win with Marcus Ericsson, so I assume when I arrive I’ll only see happy faces. It must be a good vibe in the team right now.”
FOR THE 01 CAR IT’S BEEN FEAST OR FAMINE. HOW DO YOU PREPARE MENTALLY FOR THE REST OF THE SEASON AND STILL KNOW YOU HAVE A SLIGHT CHANCE AT THE CHAMPIONSHIP?“I don’t know if we still have a slight championship possibility going on, but very simple – we can only win to even have a chance. For me to win every race is the goal. Don’t do stupid things. We had three DNFs because of technical, but last time in Ohio everybody knows that I race hard in IMSA and Ricky (Taylor) races hard as well and this time it didn’t work out for me. Not many times that it doesn’t work out for me, so it was kind of biting the dust I would say for me to deal with that. That’s racing at the same time. I’ll have to get back in the car at Detroit and work it from there. If you look at the championship, to be honest I think we are far away so it’s going to be all in for winning the races. And we’ll race hard again.”
THE NARRATIVE IS CADILLAC IS STRONG AT STREET COURSES AND ACURA IS STRONG AT ROAD COURSES, SO DO YOU LOOK AT IT AS CADILLAC SHOULD GET SOME HELP AT ROAD COURSES?“At the end of the day, we want to have an equal BOP. If you look at Sebring, they looked quite equal. Daytona, they kind of popped up at the end of the race, but before that it looked very equal. Then you look at Long Beach and they were nowhere. We don’t like that either. If you see Long Beach that we were at and advantage and you look at Detroit and we might be at an advantage again, they might have made the right call. We’ll see. But if is wrong in Detroit, you can’ go to Watkins Glen and say well, it was wrong in Detroit so let’s change it for Watkins Glen to make it equal. It’s a different animal Watkins Glen and Detroit. That’s what I said about track-independent BOP. It makes more sense to do it that way. Mosport is a road course and Sebring is a road course as well, but with the bumpiness I think the Cadillac is doing very well. But on a smooth track the Acura is doing better. Every track is a little different and I think they should be able to fine-tune it because we’re going there every year with the same car.”
DOES THE VIBE OF THE MONTH OF MAY BLEED OVER TO THE IMSA GUYS?“I was in Monaco for the Grand Prix, but after the race I was straight on the phone with the Indy 50 because all my friends are racing there with Scott Dixon and Alex Palou – my teammates for the long-distance races. It’s really cool to see them have so many cars at the front. They know how to make fast cars. They do it with us. They do it with the INDYCAR. That Ganassi group of people is amazing and it’s amazing to be a part of such a winning crew. Seeing Marcus winning the Indy 500 is amazing. To be sure they’ll be all smiles this weekend.”
WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT BELLE ISLE AND WILL YOU BE SAD IT’S THE LAST YEAR ON THAT TRACK?“All good things come to an end, I guess. IT was nice to be there. It’s a really different part of town. At the same time, I heard that the park is always full of people in the summertime. I think it’s going to be a classic when we look back at racing in a park. At the same time, if you go to downtown Detroit having so many people looking from the buildings onto the race that’s going to be super exciting. That’s a different vibe again. I was in Monaco and that’s in the downtown, and you see the see the same thing in Long Beach, just off the boulevard. I think Detroit, it doesn’t get more downtown than that, so it’s going to be amazing there as well.”
IS THE CHAMPIONSHIP REALISTIC FROM THIS POINT?“I think the biggest difference you can make is at Watkins Glen and Petit Le Mans where there are more cars. If they have a bad weekend then, you have a chance. Any other weekend if you finish last you finish sixth and we’ve had a lot of sixes. Climbing up will be difficult. But who knows? I’m not giving up until the last hour of Petit Le Mans. Winning races is a lot of fun. We have a fast car everywhere we go. I think we have good strategy in the team. I am pessimistic about the championship, but I’m not giving up until it’s over.”
IS THERE SOMETHING DIFFERENT THAT YOU NEED HERE COMPARED TO LONG BEACH?“It used to be a bit more bumpy at Detroit, but it is still kind of bumpy. It’s not so much at Long Beach, so there is a bit of a different dynamic. If you look at the performance that we had in Long Beach, Sebastien, I don’t know how he did it. There was no way to touch him. He was dominant and the rest of us were doing OK. If you look at the two tracks, I think they’re quite similar. It’s not a big difference; it’s a bit more bumpy in Detroit.”
WHO DRIVES THE BUS IN SAYING WE NEED TO KEEP PUSHING FORWARD?“From a drivers’ perspective, me and Sebastien are working really well together. We rally talk about details as teammate should do. He’s a fantastic teammate because of his speed but also the details that he puts into putting the setup right. I think the combination of that and me trying to make the fine tune for the last bit here and there and knowing what he wants in the setup and working toward that, makes a combination that works really nice. It’s a very honest relationship that we have working together and that’s going to be very nice for the future as well. We both feel that same way for the long distance. This year it’s win race and have fun, and if the championship comes with it – I think we need to be a bit lucky – but at the same time we know what to do and win races. That’s how we keep motivated.”
ARE YOU ALLOWING YOURSELF TO THINK ABOUT WHAT 2023 IN LE MANS WILL BE LIKE?“It’s a preparation year. I’m racing with Mark Kvamme in the GTE Am series. When he found out that I wasn’t going to Le Mans this year, he asked me and called (Chip Ganassi Racing personnel) if it would make sense for me to go there. They all said the same thing – go there. See what the rules changes are from one year to the next. It’s going to be exciting for me to be in a GT and looking in my mirrors and getting passed. Next year it’s going to be fighting for the overall win and I can’t wait to get started with that new Cadillac. We’ll be developing with it soon on track, which is a super exciting project. Next to the IMSA championship this year, that’s my main focus. That development work with the aim to win Daytona, to win Sebring and Le Mans is a dream come true for me. It’s good to be there this year.”
DID CHIP (GANASSI) OR MIKE HULL HAVE ANY SPECIAL REQUESTS FROM THE SCOUTING TRIP?“The preparation is going on full commit from my side and also the team side. They’ve been there with the Ford. They know what it’s like, and how it is different from IMSA. Any information I can get is good. Sebastien is there with an LMP2 car. Alex Lynn is there with an LMP2 car and I’m there with a GT, so there will be enough eyes open to learn for next year when we get with the top class. I use it as my own benefit to get a feel for how it is to overtake the GT cars, those little details and the track changes that might be on the curbs. Sometimes when you drive a different car on different parts of the track suddenly you see a bump or feel a bump that you don’t feel in the other car, and you learn from it when you get there again. It’s always good to jump around in different cars and get a feel for different lines on the track. I see it as a very interesting race weekend and a full prep for when we come back.”