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Cadillac closes the Belle Isle era with convincing victory

Bourdais, van der Zande earn second win of season; Bamber, Lynn battle for third place
DETROIT (June 4, 2022) – A soak in the James Scott Memorial Fountain was a refreshing reward after a grueling, fast-paced 100-minute race for Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande, who co-drove the No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R to victory in the final IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race on Belle Isle.
It was the second consecutive victory for the No. 01 Cadillac on the 2.3-mile, 14-turn street circuit, and the fourth in five races in the DPi era for Cadillac. Bourdais and van der Zande also won on the Long Beach street circuit in April. “It was definitely not the easiest race we have ever won, but I am super proud of everyone on the 01 Cadillac team,” said Bourdais, who set the track qualifying lap record a day earlier in earning his fourth pole of the season. “Renger brought it home. It was a hard fight, but it is that much sweeter when you win it.” The No. 02 Cadillac Accessories Cadillac DPi-V.R, co-driven by Alex Lynn and Earl Bamber, claimed third place, while the hard-charging No. 31 Whelen Engineering DPi-V.R driven by Olivier Pla and Pipo Derani finished fourth. In post-race inspection, the Action Express Racing entry was penalized for being underweight and was relegated to sixth in the order. Tristan Vautier and Richard Westbrook drove the No. 5 Mustang Sampling DPi-V.R to a fifth-place finish, and took the No. 31 entry’s fourth place following inspection.
“A very spirited race. Congratulations to all the Cadillac teams today. It’s awesome to be back on the podium and to be taking two places including the top spot,” said Rory Harvey, Cadillac Global Vice President. A Cadillac led all 73 laps in the first caution-free race at Belle Isle. The No. 01 V-Performance Academy DPi-V.R made up 65 points in the championship race this weekend and sits fourth through six rounds. “We got it done. We’ve had some trouble this year. It is good to get it behind us so we can look forward and win some more races hopefully,” added van der Zande, who recorded his 17th IMSA race victory. Going off-strategy, Derani took the wheel from Pla on a Lap 10 service stop and proceeded to go on a tear, re-setting the race lap record four times between Laps 21 and 27. He pitted on Lap 40 with 44 minutes left and continued his march to the front, recovering 29 seconds and lowering the race lap record to 1 minute, 18.877 seconds. A spirited battle with the No. 02 Cadillac Accessories Cadillac DPi-V.R through the final 18 minutes added more drama to podium speculation. “The car was on rails,” said Derani, the reigning DPi champion. “We were pushing, pushing and the Cadillac was running really well. Thanks to the team.” The Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen on the 3.4-mile, 11-turn is up next for Cadillac teams on June 26. 
An interview with the race winners:
TALK ABOUT HOW IMPORTANT THIS WIN IS FOR YOU IN DETROIT.Bourdais: “After the pole, winning on Cadillac’s home ground was the expectation. The team worked really hard to fix all my mishaps from yesterday. Hats off to them to get us a great car and a reliable one. I couldn’t be happier for everyone and especially for Cadillac. It was a tough race. The 60 was really quick. They managed to save at least as much fuel as we did and then pressured both of us the whole time. It was definitely not easy but makes it that much more rewarding.” TALK ABOUT YOUR STINT AND KEEPING THOSE CARS IN YOUR MIRRORS THE WHOLE TIME.Van der Zande: “It’s a beautiful day. At the end I had to make it a bit more exciting with all the fuel saving and they bunched up behind me and had a go at it. But super happy for a dual podium as well. Seb did a fantastic job in qualifying; that’s what made the difference in this race. We could manage it from the beginning to the end and that’s what I did when I got in the car. He gave me a little bit of a gap, so I didn’t have to fight anyone coming out of the pits and took it home from there. I’ll take the honor of jumping in the fountain, but I think Seb definitely made it easy for me. It’s a good points day. It’s never over till it’s over. The only thing we need to do is keep winning races and see where we end up in the championship.” YOU TOOK 65 POINTS OFF IN ONE WEEKEND AND A LONG WAY TO GO.Van der Zande: “Like I said, let’s keep winning races and see where we end up. We had a tough beginning of the year. Not only for us drivers but the whole team. It’s kind of hard to get past mechanicals and at Mid-Ohio I had a bit of a an off-course because of touching with the 10 car. You need to be a bit lucky, but the only luck you can make is by winning races.”
Cadillac Racing from the cockpit
No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.RSebastien Bourdais: “It was definitely not the easiest race we have ever won, but I am super proud of everyone on the 01 Cadillac team. Renger brought it home. It was a hard fight, but it is that much sweeter when you win it.” Renger van der Zande: “For sure I was a little worried about fuel. It was a bit of a gamble for everybody. That’s why some pitted, but we didn’t. We have great strategy on the pit wall. We have a guy who can save a lot of fuel so I could go a little longer. When there was a gap, I was lifting massively. And then when there was traffic, give it a little bit more. We got it done. We had some trouble this year. It is good to get it behind us so we can look forward and win some more races hopefully.” No. 02 Cadillac Accessories Cadillac DPi-V.RAlex Lynn: “Very intense race with a lot of fuel saving in both stints. I really tried to maximize how much fuel capacity we have in the car and it was a game of playing with it all day. I think P3 was a good result.” Earl Bamber: “To be honest, both the 01 and 02 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillacs this weekend were phenomenal. We were in fourth and came through and caught the car in third – the 31. He did a big move in Turn 1 and later on he got checked up and we were able to get by. Podium finish and good for championship points, and good to get a Cadillac 1-3. Awesome for the 01. They’ve had such a tough time this season it is well deserved.” No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.ROlivier Pla: “I was trying to make position at the start and overtake the 02 in the outside of Turn 3, but it didn’t pay off so I got stuck behind the 5 car. So we decided to change the strategy and the team did an amazing job to give Pipo some good laps with little traffic. He pushed really hard and was able to make up a lot of time. He drove a fantastic race. It’s the first time for me; starting in Detroit wasn’t easy. The team did a fantastic job this weekend. We know we have the car and we have good expectations for the next one. Pipo Derani: “We didn’t have track position, so we went to a different strategy to go flat out to the end. We did, but it’s hard when you don’t have track position and you have to race so much. I sure was risking it a lot. I got myself up to third. Tried a gap to get past the 60 but had a bad exit and unfortunately lost third position again. The car was on rails. We were pushing, pushing and the Cadillac was running really well. Thanks to the team. It’s unfortunate that we pushed that much but come home fourth. But we showed why we are here. Hopefully, we can push ourselves up higher in qualifying, which would help us, especially on a racetrack like this one where it’s nearly impossible to pass.”
No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.RRichard Westbrook: “We’re disappointed. It’s been below our standard this year. It’s been difficult to get a good feel for the car. But in the race I think we made a big step forward. We’re much closer to the pack and improved the car, and I think we have lots to think about for the next race and lots of good things to take away.” Tristan Vautier: “A difficult weekend for us. It seems in the race we made some progress, but it wasn’t quite enough to get us up there. We’re pushing and working hard to find what’s missing. We’ll continue to work hard to take steps forward and being strong at Watkins Glen. We have two test days there with Loic Duval because Richard and I will be at Le Mans. We’ll hopefully be back to the form that we were earlier in the season.”