Cadillacs missing the right set-up at ROLEX 24

IMSA

Jan 30

📷© Luc Warnotte at Daytona. Three Cadillac V-Series.R.

The #10 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R, with drivers Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque, Will Stevens and Brendon Hartley, led the three-car contingent with a fifth-place finish among the 12 GTP entries. The #31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R and #40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R were eliminated from contention in the first half of the twice-around-the-clock race.

#10 Cadillac sixth-place finish

Starting with ROAR the weekend before the race, the Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R seemed to miss the setup of their new Cadillac. Felipe Albuquerque was the fastest of the WTR drivers with the 13th fastest lap of the 6 sessions they drove during the ROAR weekend. But that was still 1 second slower than Dries Vanthoor fastest lap with the BMW. As Felipe Albuquerque said “it was hard to drive, very hard to drive”.

During the 3 practice sessions ahead of ROLEX 24, Felipe Albuquerque (#10) and Louis Deletraz (#40) did drive respectively the 7th and 8th fastest lap by driver, still 1.038 and 1.040 seconds slower than Dries Vanthoor.

📷© Luc Warnotte at Daytona. Both Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R.

During the first four hours of the care, both WTR Cadillacs never scored better than 7th (#10) and 9th (#40) being left behind. Thanks to cautions they were able to rejoin the group with #40 taking the lead at the end of the fifth hour.

During the night the #10 Cadillac became pretty decent, pretty nice and competitive to drive enabling the squad to be second at the end of the 9th hour and even lead 8 laps during the 10th hour. That was the only time that the #10 WTR Cadillac was able to take the lead during the race.

In the day, when the sun came out, the #10 Cadillac didn’t have the pace to challenge the top four ending fifth overall.

Ricky Taylor: “Hard week but I think we came away with a good result. The team maximized the performance, and we go to Sebring with some points and start the season working toward the championship with Cadillac.”

Filipe Albuquerque: "What a tough day in the office. A long race. During the night actually the car was pretty decent, pretty nice and competitive, but we missed something. I mean, it’s our first race with Cadillac, learning the car. We seemed to miss the setup for the daytime; it was hard to drive, very hard to drive. We did what we could. I don’t think it’s that bad to finish P5 with what we had, so it’s what it is. So, we’ll learn and move on.”

Will Stevens: “Overall, we came in with expectations to be higher up, but we did the best we could. At points in the race we seemed strong, especially in the night. I thought we could mix it up with the others and the car came to life in the night for sure. I think we just struggled a bit more in the heat, especially this being the hottest day of the week. Overall, I think it’s been a good first race for Cadillac and me back with Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing. I think we can build on this and I look forward to Sebring.”

Brendon Hartley: “I had another great experience with WTR. You have to learn the car at the Roar, all my teammates did a great job getting me up to speed. I loved working with everyone again, I think that’s one of the real strong points, every year I have with WTR. It’s been a great group of people, great atmosphere, team spirit. I mainly drove in the night and the car came alive; at some points we were flying. All the guys behind the scenes did a great job in fine tuning all the settings to get the balance that we wanted because we didn’t start the race with the ideal balance. Unfortunately, in the day, when the sun came out, we didn’t have the pace to challenge the top four. Overall, I think it was a really positive experience. First race for Cadillac with WTR, lots to learn and I really enjoyed it, and I hope I can come back at some point.” Source: Cadillac Racing

Misfortune for #31 Action Express Racing’s Cadillac

The fortunes for Action Express Racing’s second overall victory in the Rolex 24 were dashed just before midnight ET when the #31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R with Frederik Vesti behind the wheel shot up the banking of the oval Turn 4 and made heavy contact with the SAFER Barrier. Vesti was uninjured.

📷© Luc Warnotte at Daytona. #31 Whelen Racing Cadillac V-Series.R.

The team received the car in the garage at 12:15 a.m. and immediately set to work on repairs and replacements. The car, driven by Vesti, Jack Aitken, Earl Bamber and Felipe Drugovich, rejoined the race 78 minutes later and soldiered on to ninth place in class.

Earl Bamber: “I think we were very competitive and had something to fight at the front. We led laps. It's a shame. I guess we all just have to come back next year. It's good that Fred got some laps again, it's good for a Cadillac to finish a race and you have two cars finish. But we came here to win, so I think we’re all pretty gutted. But looking forward to the season we know we've got a great package, the drivers are on fire. So, I guess we’ll roll on and see what we can do at Sebring.”

Jack Aitken: “Repairing the car) shows the passion for this race. Just to finish is a massive achievement. In my time here we've been to this race three times with this car and we've had the pace every single time. But it just hasn't quite come together for us, so it's a bit of a sad one. But we put in a really good showing. I think it's going to motivate us to come back next year and make sure that we put it all together. I’m really proud of the whole Whelen Cadillac team for getting back out there and finishing the job.” Source: Cadillac Racing

#40 forced to retire after leading

During the early evening, the #40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R was able to lead the race during 49 laps. Around 9pm, cold tires were the culprit as the #40 was involved in a multiple-car incident in Turn 2 off a restart with Louis Deletraz behind the wheel. Deletraz was checked and released from the infield care center and the car was retired.

📷© Luc Warnotte at Daytona. #40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor racing Cadillac V-Series.R.

Louis Deletraz: “Very cold tires, especially when you race at night. I’m fine. Luckily, we have a very strong car. Cadillac has a very safe car. I think I just didn’t have enough grip in the tire and lost it straight away and after that got hit by an LPM2. I feel very bad for the team and it’s a shame that it happened so early in the race. A sad way to end the 24.”

Jordan Taylor: “Obviously, a tough day. The car showed a lot of speed when the sun went down and the cooler temps came in. Kamui was a rock star getting the car to lead a couple of times. We were just clicking off the laps as you have to do at Daytona just the get to the end and go fight from there. It looked like just a tiny touch of cold tires or maybe a touch from another car sent Louis off. He’s OK, so that’s the main thing. Unfortunately, we got collected by another car after the spin and that basically took away our chances to repair the car. Tough one for the team.”

Kamui Kobayashi: “Unfortunately, we had the crash after the restart. Louis is OK, so that’s the most important part. I think we had a strong car, led laps and were working on making the car better for the morning. Everybody did a lot of hard work. I was missing experience in the Cadillac, but the team did an excellent job getting everything in order. It’s a shame we couldn’t take the checkered flag.” Source: Cadillac Racing

Cadillacs missing the right set-up at ROLEX 24

#10 Cadillac sixth-place finish

Misfortune for #31 Action Express Racing’s Cadillac

#40 forced to retire after leading

BMW ended ROLEX 24 with a hangover