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Cadillac sweeps inaugural GTP championships

No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R finishes second in pressure-packed Petit Le Mans
BRASELTON, Ga. (Oct. 14, 2023) – Cadillac Racing closed the inaugural IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Grand Touring Prototype season with multiple trips to the trophy stage following the 26th Motul Petit Le Mans.
Cadillac clinched its fourth IMSA Manufacturer Championship, fifth IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup Manufacturer Championship, fourth Driver/Team Championship, fifth IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup Driver Championship and third IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup Team Championship since entering IMSA prototype competition in 2017.
The No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R secured both driver/team titles. Pipo Derani, who celebrated his 30th birthday on Oct. 12, earned his second Driver Championship in the past three seasons.
“You can’t ask for better than straight As. This program has been a challenge of resilience, and everyone has stepped up — all of the partners that are involved from GM, Dallara, our race teams, our hybrid-supplier partners. We delivered excellent results. It was not an easy year. We had our ups, and we had our downs. Ultimately our eyes were on the prize, and we were ready to seize any opportunity that was thrown at us.”
The No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R, with Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande and Scott Dixon sharing duties behind the wheel, finished second to the No. 60 Acura ARX-06 under yellow. Derani, Alexander Sims and Jack Aitken drove the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R to sixth place.A Cadillac led more than half of the 397 laps over the course of the 10-hour race on the 2.54-mile, 12-turn Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta course, and van der Zande set the fastest lap of 1 minute, 10.917 seconds on Lap 312. It was the fifth time in the nine races that a hybrid Cadillac set the GTP pace.
Less than 16 months since making its on-track test debut and 37 weeks since the opening race, the Cadillac V-Series.R has proven its reliability and performance on the variety pack of North American road and street courses. The Cadillac V-Series.R features an all-new Cadillac 5.5-liter DOHC V8 engine developed by GM’s Performance and Racing propulsion team based in Pontiac, Michigan, paired with the common energy recovery system.
“It’s amazing; what a season,” Derani said. “It was up and down but up there when it mattered for the overall championship, the endurance championship and the manufacturer championships. I’m proud of all the work behind the scenes by so many people to get to this point in the first year of GTP. There are so many things out of your control in a race like this. The end of the race was very tense. I overtook both of the BMWs and came away victorious.”
The 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season begins Jan. 19-21 with the Roar Before the 24, which includes practice and qualifications to set the starting lineup for the Jan. 27-28 Rolex 24 At Daytona.Cadillac Racing podiums at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta since 2017:Wins: 2020 (Renger van der Zande, Scott Dixon, Ryan Briscoe)          2019 (Pipo Derani, Felipe Nasr, Eric Curran)          2018 (Renger van der Zande, Jordan Taylor, Ryan Hunter-Reay)Second: 2023 (Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande, Scott Dixon)2022 (Pipo Derani, Olivier Pla, Mike Conway)              2021 (Pipo Derani, Felipe Nasr, Mike Conway)              2019 (Renger van der Zande, Jordan Taylor, Matthieu Vaxiviere)              2017 (Dane Cameron, Eric Curran, Mike Conway)Third: 2022 (Jimmie Johnson, Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Rockenfeller)         2020 (Pipo Derani, Felipe Nasr, Filipe Albuquerque)* Six-hour race
Cadillac Racing notes
* Cadillac has won at least two races each season since entering IMSA prototype competition with the start of the DPi era in 2017. It won three times this season.* Sebastien Bourdais drove the initial 2 hours, 57 minutes in the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R before yielding to Renger van der Zande, leading the GTP field for a total of 1 hour, 21 minutes.* A Cadillac V-Series.R started on the front row in five of the nine races, including poles for the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R at Sebring International Raceway and Road America.No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.RRenger van der Zande: “Helping clinch the overall GTP championship and IMEC championship for Cadillac is great because we didn’t have many great moments this year aside from Laguna Seca this year. To have the championships with Cadillac is a testament to the whole program. The car was really fast today, and in the last race of the season after having so much bad luck we put it all together. We can be all proud of this type of racing. You can see in endurance racing on what a lift we are and you see how many people are here. It was sold out already in February here. Le Mans was sold out. Endurance racing is on an all-time high. I’m super proud to be part of it. If you look back at the season, the championship was so tight because a lot of people had different issues and problems, which makes it a typical season for new technology, new cars and all that. It looks like the teams have their cars sorted in terms of reliability. I’m looking forward to next season. It’s been a bit of a frustrating season for us. On the other hand, finishing third and fourth in Le Mans also shows what the American brand of Cadillac can do. Winning all the championships here again is quite impressive and makes me proud to be part of that.”
Sebastien Bourdais: “It was a great day for Cadillac in the first season of GTP. We managed to not get hit and stay out of trouble, which put us in good shape. It’s a shame the way the yellows fell. It seemed like it was ours to lose and coming in second really hurts. Overall, the package was strong during the day when the sun came out and stronger when night fell and temperatures came down.”
Scott Dixon: “For me, the goal was to off-load the car to my teammates in one piece. The Cadillac has been super fast all race, really consistent and good all-around effort by the team. Being the third guy, you want to make sure you’re up to speed because these cars are pretty technical. My two stints I had a lot of fun. Led the first one and got beat out on the second, and just tried to bring the tires in slowly and save them. Our pace was really good; we could have pushed a lot harder. Congrats to Cadillac and the championship for the 31. It definitely was a pretty wild day. I’m bummed for our day. I think we deserved to win, and we had the pace to win. Unfortunately, we were in a bit of an energy crisis there and couldn’t warm up the tires. Obviously we lost first place on that restart there and had a couple of cautions after. Frustrating, but that’s racing.”
No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.RPipo Derani: “It’s amazing; what a season. It was up and down but up there when it mattered for the overall championship, the endurance championship and the manufacturer championships. I’m proud of all the work behind the scenes by so many people to get to this point in the first year of GTP. There are so many things out of your control in a race like this. The end of the race was very tense. I overtook both of the BMWs and came away victorious.”
Alexander Sims: “It’s been an incredible year. It’s pretty mad to think we’ve wrapped it up. A crazy race as we expected coming into this. Such a rollercoaster. Just so proud of the job that everyone has done. Pipo and Jack have done an insane job all year long. I really felt like I’ve been the third wheel a bit… just do my solid job each time and bring the car in and let them get in the car and do the job. The team has been flawless. So many good pit stops. I’m so, so proud of everyone.”
Jack Aitken: “Alex really underplays himself as always. It’s been an absolute pleasure working with everybody. This is a championship that everyone deserves. (On the late-race contact review and the final hour) “We were extremely nervous, not only for that but also how the final pit stop played out. Pipo really had to win that one track with how the BMWs were working together. He did an amazing job and pulled it out when he needed to.”