Cadillac V-Performance racing teams Konica Minolta Cadillac, Mustang Sampling Cadillac and Whelen Engineering Cadillac are headed to the challenging Road America race track in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin for the IMSA WeatherTech Championship Continental Tire Road Race Showcase to run August 3-6.
The rolling natural terrain Road America circuit is a driver favorite. The race tracks 14 turns and four-miles encompasses some of the most challenging turns the drivers will see on the IMSA WeatherTech schedule. The Kink and the Carousel will task the drivers and engineers to apply the perfect set-up on the Cadillac DPi-V.R race cars this weekend.
Coming into the race, the Cadillac DPi-V.R is undefeated in IMSA WeatherTech competition for 2017 with seven victories in as many races. Equally impressive is that the Cadillac V-8 engines that are in all three DPi-V.R race cars are the same the teams have been running since Sebring.
Eric Curran and Dane Cameron come into the weekend on a roll having won the last race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R.
“Road America is a lot of fun, because it’s an old-school racetrack that’s been around a long time,” Curran said. “It’s a special place. I’ve been racing there a long time and I used to do a lot of testing there for RealTime Racing. Action Express has done very well there. Dane (Cameron) and I won the last two years in the red and white Whelen Corvette DP, and we’re excited to return with our new Whelen Cadillac on that fast, flowing track. Road America is among my top three or four tracks, and I think it will really suit our Cadillac.”
Joao Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi are excited to drive their No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R at one of country’s best racetracks.
“I think racing the Cadillac for the first time at Road America is going to be a big learning curve, but I think we’ve made a lot of progress since our race at Detroit,” Barbosa said. “Road America is a great race track for the drivers, and I think it’s going to be an amazing track with the new DPi cars, with all the downforce and speed that they have. Our team has always done a good job there, so I’m looking forward to seeing if we can continue the success we’ve had at Road America.”
Ricky and Jordan Taylor in the No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R have logged five of the Cadillac wins in 2017. The brothers have had two tough races and are looking to get back on the top step of the podium this weekend at the track located an hour north of Milwaukee.
“We definitely had two tough races,” Ricky Taylor said. “We had a flawless run for the first five races, but two tiny little moments had big implications on our results at Watkins Glen and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. That’s just racing, you have highs and lows. We had a strong car at both of those events, so I don’t have any concerns that we’ll be back up front for the final three events. Road America is a unique track. It has a bit of everything. Long, high speed straights, high speed corners, low speed corners, elevation change, surface changes. It makes it a bit of a challenge to find a good compromise to get the lap time out of the car and a good car in race conditions. It’s a challenge for a driver to put a lap together, but it’s very rewarding when you do. We’ve had a strong car at all the different styles of tracks this year, so Road America shouldn’t be any different. Road America was one of the tracks that I was looking forward to most when we go the new Cadillac DPi-V.R. Corners like Turn 1, the carousel, and the kink should be extremely fast. They seemed quick in the old Daytona Prototype, but the added downforce this year will make the track that much more enjoyable.”
The Konica Minolta team is up 19 points in the championship with just three races remaining.
“Our approach doesn’t change,” Ricky continued. “We’re still going out and racing our own races. We’ve won five races this year and there is no reason we can’t keep winning. Our guys have put us in winning positions all year with a winning car, so we’ll keep fighting for this championship.”
The IMSA WeatherTech Championship Continental Tire Road Race Showcase at Road America will run Aug. 3-6.
Source. Kyle Chura/Cadillac Racing
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