The Cadillac DPi teams will be looking for more as they return to Watkins Glen International Raceway for a second consecutive race running the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship WeatherTech 240, July 1-2.
Due to COVID restrictions, IMSA took the decision to replace the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park race with back-to-back weekends at The Glen. This time it will be a traditional two-hour-and-forty-minute race.
Coming off the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, the Cadillac teams have three days to prep and regroup before they return to the 3.4-mile, 11-turn Watkins Glen International Raceway on Thursday. The highest placing Cadillac at the six-hours was the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R coasting to the checker in fourth in what became a fuel strategy race. The three Cadillac entries will take the green in an evening race on Friday, July 2 at 6:10 p.m. ET.
“I think this weekend’s race is going to be different in terms of strategy because it’s much shorter,” Derani said. “But, at the same time, I think we can apply a lot of what we learned from this past weekend in terms of the car setup. [Last weekend], it was a very difficult fuel savings race. Sometimes this can play on your side or it can play against you. We’re going to try to put everything we’ve learned together to have a better race and hopefully be back on the podium for this short two-hour-and-forty-minute race. We’ve been working hard and trying to improve the car every session. Having such a short time to practice, it will be even more difficult to try to improve the car. So, gathering all of the information from last weekend’s race is going to be important and hopefully we can apply it the right way so we can have a more competitive Whelen Cadillac this weekend.”
Kevin Magnussen and Renger van der Zande had a fast No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R at The Glen on Sunday for a fifth-place run. The team is looking for better in the sprint version on Friday.
“It will be good to come back to The Glen for another race on Friday from our disappointing finish on Sunday,” Magnussen said. “Hopefully we can bounce back and go for the win.
“The Glen is an awesome racetrack. I really enjoy racing there and the Cadillac is great to drive around there as well. It will be a short, sprint style race. Going from six-hours to a sprint race is a different dynamic, like qualifying being more important. We will be looking to qualify well and go for the win.”
The No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R with Tristan Vautier and Loic Duval are coming back with hopes of having more speed for the race and qualifying on Friday.
“Looking forward to getting back to racing on Friday,” Vautier said. “We had a tough race in the six hours, so it is good that we don’t have too long to wait. I think we will go with an aggressive strategy with the Mustang Sampling Cadillac. Qualifying at the front will be very important. We need to be fast from the first practice on Thursday afternoon. We have had a difficult string of races since our win at Sebring. We will be pushing hard to get back up on the podium on Friday.”
Cadillac IMSA Watkins Glen 240 driver lineup and DPi points:
3. No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R, Felipe Nasr, Pipo Derani
5. No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing DPi-V.R, Renger van der Zande, Kevin Magnussen
6. No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R, Tristan Vautier, Loic Duval
1. Cadillac leads IMSA DPi Manufacturer Championship
Source. Kyle Chura/Cadillac Racing
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