Cadillac Racing is headed west to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca for this weekend’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Hyundai Sports Car Championship event to run Sept. 10-12.
WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca is located on the Monterey Peninsula and measures 2.2-miles with 11-turns, highlighted by the world-famous Corkscrew turn. Cadillac competition history at the track, located two hours south of San Francisco, has been challenging with a best finish of second in 2017 by the Whelen Engineering Cadillac team.
Felipe Nasr and Pipo Derani are coming off of wins at the last two events at Road America and Watkins Glen in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R. The duo are just 41 points out of the IMSA DPi Championship lead in driver points.
“I’m excited to be returning to Laguna Seca,” Nasr said. “It’s an iconic track on the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship schedule. It’s a very technical one [track]. We’re coming off two wins in a row. We certainly want to add a third straight win. I feel like the team has done a great job over the past few events. We’re building up the momentum and getting the most out of our No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R. The whole package has been working pretty well.
“We’ll take each day as it comes at Laguna. That place is very technical and quite tricky to set up the car for one lap, with regards to qualifying pace. The race will dictate a lot. But, track position is important, so qualifying will be crucial. Again, we’ll do what it takes to keep the fight alive all the way until the end. Laguna Seca has been good to us in the past in terms of consistency. We were on the podium there the last two years. We definitely want to be two steps higher [on the podium] if we can. It would be great to grab a win at Laguna. I haven’t ticked that box yet, so it would be awesome to get a win in California.”
WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca holds a special place for No. 01 V Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R driver Renger van der Zande. It was the site of his first race in America and his first win here as well. Teammate Kevin Magnussen will be seeing the undulating California road course for the first time in practice on Friday.
I think WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca kind of fits our V Performance Academy Cadillac pretty well,” said van der Zande. “We’ve always been competitive there in the past. The track is very low grip, and the tire wear is pretty massive. The Cadillac DPi-V.R is a well-balanced car and we can manage our tire wear. I hope to be fighting for the win at the end of the race. I really like the track personally. It was my first race in America and my first win in this country as well in 2017. This will be the first time for the team with the Cadillac at the track. I am confident we can be competitive. IMSA has the cars running close together with their balance of performance, so should be good racing.”
The No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R comes to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca looking to sharpen its competitive edge. Tristan Vautier and Loic Duval are seeking to close out the last three IMSA races of the season strong starting with this weekend in California.
“I am really looking forward to racing at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca this weekend,” Vautier said. “It’s one of the more iconic tracks on the IMSA schedule. We have been competitive on every track we have been to this year. That is a credit to IMSA, they have kept the cars very close. As a team we have had a tough couple of races at Watkins Glen and Road America. We are hungry to get back to the competitive form we had early in the season when we won Sebring. Last year at this race we had a fast car but had some bad tire degradation in the race. So, we know what to work on for this weekend. We are in the last stretch of the season with Laguna, Long Beach, and Petit Le Mans. We are head down and hope to finish it out strong.”
Cadillac Racing WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Line-up and Championship Points:
2. No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R, Felipe Nasr, Pipo Derani (second in IMSA DPi points, 2,239, -41 to leaders)
4. No. 01 V Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R, Renger van der Zande, Kevin Magnussen (fourth, 2,179, -203
6. No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R, Tristan Vautier, Loic Duval, (sixth, 2,057, -323)
1. Cadillac leads the DPi Manufacturer Championship by 90 points
Source. Kyle Chura/Cadilleac Racing. Photo. Richard Prince
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