Renger van der Zande, co-driver of the No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R, met with the media June 29 via Zoom conference to preview this weekend’s Chevrolet Grand Prix on the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park road course. He and Sebastien Bourdais drove to third place June 26 at Watkins Glen International. Full transcript: |
YOU’VE FINISHED SECOND AT CANADIAN TIRE MOTORSPORTS PARK. WHAT’S IT GOING TO TAKE TO GET ONE MORE STEP ON THE PODIUM?“To be honest, when I saw the BoP coming out, I expected us to get a little bit of a BoP break. Because I think Mosport is one of those tracks where aero is what you need, you need a fast car through the fast corners. So, I really was hoping and expecting more from that. I hope I’m wrong, I hope the car is as fast as the Acuras. It’s going to be tough. As you saw last weekend, I think we were the only Cadillac that got close to the Acuras, kind of hang in there but we could never really attack. We never had a chance to get in front. We were driving around in third place all day long and we finished third, so it was kind of a perfect race for us. Let’s see what we can do in Canada. Mosport is a fantastic track. It one of the best tracks in the world together with Watkins Glen. It’s one of those tracks where you need a bit of bravery, and I don’t think in many car races you need a lot of bravery, so that’s what’s cool about it. We’ll take it from there. The team is doing good and the car has been performing well. Early in the season we had some technical issues, but that hasn’t happened anymore, so happy about that. The championship seems to be far away, so the only thing we can go for is the wins. That’s what we’re aiming for.” |
WHAT DO YOU LOOK AT AS THE KEY ARA OF THE CIRCUIT?“The two right-handers, I think that’s an interesting one especially when you’re in traffic. What makes this championship so cool is the multi-class racing. I think from the GT side and the prototype side, it’s always a combination of how you work together. But I those corners there’s just one way and that’s wait. If you’re waiting and you’re staying behind a GT then they’re coming from behind and they’re going to try every little gap to get by. When you’re attacking, it’s the opposite. That’s a very interesting corner and a lot is going to happen there. At high speed, if you’re close behind someone you’re kind of losing ground because you’re losing the downforce and you have understeer and can’t follow that well. But in those slow corners, that’s where the opportunities become big to make a move.” WITH A LONG WAY OUT IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP, DOES THAT MAKE YOU AS DRIVERS BE A BIT MORE AGGRESSIVE AND TAKE MORE GAMBLES TO GET THE WINS?“Whenever we go for the wins that gives us the best points, so the only chance for us to get close in this championship is to win and hope the other guys have a bad day. So, we’re focused on the win; that’s the only thing we care about. Second or third place is not going to bring us much.” CAN YOU SHARE WHEN THE CADILLAC LMDH WILL BE ON TRACK?“I would love to share that, but it’s not my call.” |