IMSA at IMS: Cadillac completes successful test

A sweltering two-day IMSA-sanctioned test on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course that incorporates sections of the famous oval helped Cadillac Racing lay the foundation for its race return visit in seven weeks.

The No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R, co-driven by Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande, and the Grand Touring Prototype championship-leading No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R with Pipo Derani and Alexander Sims sharing time behind the wheel totaled 453 laps.

The No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R recorded a best lap of 1 minute, 14.809 seconds (117.370 mph) – third overall – while the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R posted a best lap of 1:15.039 (117.010 mph) during the four sessions of preparation for the Sept. 17 TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks.

The 2-hour, 40-minute penultimate race of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season will mark the return of the top class of sports car racing to the IMS road course since the 2012-14 NASCAR Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series races as part of the NASCAR Brickyard weekend.

Bourdais, who co-drove a Daytona Prototype with Alex Popow to victory in the 2012 race on the 2.534-mile IMS road course, has also made 10 INDYCAR starts since 2014 on the revised layout with a best finish of fourth in 2014, ’15 and 2018.

“It’s a very different era for the cars,” said Bourdais, who has also made nine starts in the Indianapolis 500. “This one is a completely different challenge, but the feel is quite similar. It’s tough to qualify, but it never hurts to have a bit more experience at a place like this. I went in the car (for the opening session), and we were up to speed really quick. Right away, you have some references that come right back to mind and you have to slow it down a bit. But, overall, you can move very natural compared to some other tracks.”

Van der Zande previously competed in two sports car races at IMS, while Derani and Sims will compete for the first time at the facility that opened in 1909.

The four drivers will quickly turn their attention to Road America and the 2-hour, 40-minute race Aug. 6. Cadillac Racing posted eight podium finishes on the 4-mile, 14-turn racecourse in the DPi era, including victory in 2021 (Derani and Felipe Nasr).

In addition to Derani and Sims pacing the Driver/Team Championship points, Cadillac Racing sits atop the GTP Manufacturer Championship standings.

No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R

Pipo Derani: “It’s the first time here in a long time for IMSA and the first time for the GTP cars, so we’re trying to understand what we need. We have a race coming up soon and we’re in the fight for the championship, so you want to take advantage of a couple of days’ testing. The weather is very hot and likely quite different from what it will be in mid-September, but nevertheless a test that is valuable to us for information so that we can get here with a good and strong car straight out of the truck.”

Alexander Sims: “It’s been a very constructive test. The car has worked well and we’ve learned a lot by being able to have lots of continuous running and do lots of setup adjustments and things with the systems. This is my first time here and I got dialed into the track quite quickly. It’s not one of the more demanding tracks from a sort of braveness point of view, but nevertheless it’s very technical and you have to find a good rhythm. It’s tough to know what the weather conditions will be in seven weeks when we’re back, but the fundamentals of what the track requires from a setup point of view are there, so it’s helpful to be able to run through those in our Cadillac V-Series.R.”

No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R

Renger van der Zande: "It’s special for us with the Ganassi team and their families living here close to the Speedway. I’m happy that we are testing and trying things on the car that we’ve had on mind but couldn’t try because of limited time on race weekends. From that perspective, it’s already very successful and we seem to have some speed in the car as well. I think in GTP at the moment that it’s clear that the cars are very equal in lap times, so small differences can make for a step forward in qualifying for the race.”

Sebastien Bourdais: "Obviously it’s great to be back here at the Speedway. It’s going to be a great event for IMSA and something that everybody wants to be part of. Indianapolis is a great motor racing town, and it was very much desired by the crowd to put something together here. It’s a different setting as far as the racetrack is concerned compared to most of the other places we go. It’s very heavy braking, a quite long straight line and kind of a lot stop and go areas where the heavier sports cars are put to the test, so it’s good to be able to come and test and try different things and pick options. Because once you come for race weekend, everything happens so fast. You are limited on the number of tires, you are limited on time, you have two drivers going in the car. So testing here is critical for tuning the cars and get ready for the race.”