| CADILLAC RACING 12-HOUR RACE REPORT IMSA WEATHERTECH SPORTSCAR CHAMPIONSHIP DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY ROLEX 24 AT DAYTONA JAN. 30, 2022 |
| DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 30, 2022) – Kevin Magnussen set the Rolex 24 At Daytona race lap record of 1 minute, 34.000 seconds in the No. 02 Cadillac Accessories Cadillac DPi-V.R and Cadillac Racing entries were running 1-2 at the halfway point of the 60th anniversary event at Daytona International Speedway. Magnussen reset the lap record of Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Renger van der Zande, who recorded a lap of 1:34.042 about 90 minutes earlier in the No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R. Magnussen and van der Zande were co-drivers of the No. 1 Cadillac Racing entry in the 2021 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season. The No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R led the field in the race under unseasonably cold track and ambient temperatures in the3 early morning hours. The No. 48 Ally Cadillac DPi-V.R ran second, while the No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R was fourth. Kevin Magnussen, No. 02 Cadillac Accessories Cadillac DPi-V.R“Good start. I think it sounds pretty cool to have the track record here at Daytona. Let’s see if it’s going to stay for the rest of the race. Good to get some laps and get into a rhythm. The car was great and I felt we were in a good spot and the car was consistent. We got the fuel saving done that we needed. It’s busy, especially at the restarts. You really need to be careful. Just try to stay out of trouble.”Scott Dixon, No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R“It’s been an interesting race, quite few cautions already, which we kind of expected. Car has been good, balance has been good. Hopefully, we can keep it clean and stay up front. Our pace is good; I think the field is fairly close. We’ll have to see how it plays out. I know we’re running at hard as we can. It’s always a competitive class. The depth of the field, even though there are only seven cars, it kind of reminds me of the Ford GT program. There weren’t a whole lot of us, but it seems we were always on the lead lap at the end. The cautions are definitely helping keeping the pack up.” Alex Palou, No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R(3 hours, 57 minutes in car) “I think we were a bit unfortunate with some of the yellows. We have a good car, my teammates are fast so it’s going to be a great day. I was struggling with the tires (double stint), but we made it so it was good. It worked out. It’s amazing to be here. I’m loving it, learning a lot and having a lot of fun.” Tristan Vautier, No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R“The trick is to stay in the fight and stay in one piece. There is a lot going on with all this traffic and you cannot be asleep. We can’t afford to have any damage on the car, so we we have to find the right balance between pushing and remembering it’s still early in the race. So far it’s OK.” Pipo Derani, No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R“(Quadruple stint) It’s very, very cold so difficult to get out of the pit on new tires. But it’s very cool to be driving at night and the lap times have been quite fast so fantastic job by the team so far and I think we have just been hitting our marks so that we can get to the end of a very long race. (About a brake change) “Well, we wanted to make a change closer to the middle of the race, so we saw an opportunity and I am glad that we got it. It was a long yellow and we wanted to make sure that our car was sharp toward the end of the race. I am pretty sure the others are going to do the same at some point, but we got ours done and we are in the mix. So, so far so good.” Tristan Nunez, No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R“I was a little nervous, at first, when they were talking about doing quadruple stints because it’s so hard on the body in other cars I’ve driven. I’ll tell you the Whelen Cadillac is a joy to drive. It’s really comfortable in the cockpit. It’s very cold out right now so driver cooling is not an issue. It felt really good, really strong and really consistent throughout the whole run. I think we’ve got a good race car. The other cars are quick. The competition is tough right now. But, we’ve got to keep our nose clean and be there at the end.” Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Cadillac DPi-V.R“Whether it’s mechanical issues, speed or whatever it might be, there are so many variables that are thrown at each team. The nine times that I’ve been here, it’s been different each one. I’m thankful that it’s not raining. That would be tough on me. I haven’t been on the wets since the last time I raced here on the wets in the 2007-2008 timeframe. The ups and downs of the race, you never know what’s going to happen. It’s just a wild race. I remember being a young kid in San Diego and the IMSA series would come to Del Mar racetrack. I remember watching Bobby Rahall win that race. That was my first time to see a Prototype car up close. That was the moment that was ‘I’m going to drive these cars someday.’ That got me interested in it. I just think endurance racing fits my natural style.” Jose Maria Lopez, No. 48 Ally Cadillac DPi-V.R“I’m happy with my (triple) stint. In my first, second stint this afternoon, we suffered a lot of damage, so we had to make some changes. Luckily, the car recovered and that’s good news. I feel comfortable (in the car). In terms of my pace, I was always in touch (with the leaders). I’m happy with my run. I cleaned up mistakes. I’m getting better here at Daytona, which is good. We had a contact this afternoon, so that took us a few stints to get it back. Finally, we managed to change the front end and the back end and the car is good. There’s still a long way to go. This feels like a flat-out race all the time, fighting with other cars.” Mike Rockenfeller, No. 48 Ally Cadillac DPi-V.R“When I got in the car, I was P7 and we made up some ground. It’s a long race. We are struggling with the car a little bit. We’re not sure yet, after the Ganassi car drove into José in Turn One, but we might have some damage in the rear. But, we don’t know. The car is not handling the best. We tried to hang on. We tried to look at it. It’s a long race. I think tomorrow is the time to push.” Cadillac running order at 12 hours:1. No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R, Tristan Vautier, Richard Westbrook, Loic Duval, Ben Keating2. No. 48 Ally Cadillac DPi-V.R, Jimmie Johnson, Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Rockenfeller, Jose Maria Lopez4. No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R, Renger Van Der Zande, Sebastien Bourdais, Scott Dixon, Alex Palou6. No. 02 Cadillac Accessories Cadillac DPi-V.R, Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn, Kevin Magnussen, Marcus Ericsson7. No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R, Pipo Derani, Tristan Nunez, Mike Conway The race is being telecast on NBC and its associated channels USA and Peacock, and available on XM 202, SiriusXM Online 972, and IMSA.com. |
| Cadillac Racing high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use. |