IMSA: Cadillac sweeps inaugural GTP championships
Cadillac Racing closed the inaugural IMSA WeatherTech Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) season with multiple GTP Championships at Petit Le Mans.
Cadillac clinched its fourth IMSA Manufacturer Championship, fifth IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup Manufacturer Championship, fourth Driver/Team Championship, fifth IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup Driver Championship and third IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup Team Championship since entering IMSA prototype competition in 2017.
The No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R secured both driver/team titles. Pipo Derani, who celebrated his 30th birthday on Oct. 12, earned his second Driver Championship in the past three seasons.
“You can’t ask for better than straight As. This program has been a challenge of resilience, and everyone has stepped up — all of the partners that are involved from GM, Dallara, our race teams, our hybrid-supplier partners. We delivered excellent results. It was not an easy year. We had our ups, and we had our downs. Ultimately, our eyes were on the prize, and we were ready to seize any opportunity that was thrown at us.”
The No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R, with Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande and Scott Dixon sharing duties behind the wheel, finished second to the No. 60 Acura ARX-06 under yellow. Derani, Alexander Sims and Jack Aitken drove the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R to sixth place.
A Cadillac led more than half of the 397 laps over the course of the 10-hour race on the 2.54-mile, 12-turn Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta course, and van der Zande set the fastest lap of 1 minute, 10.917 seconds on Lap 312. It was the fifth time in the nine races that a hybrid Cadillac set the GTP pace.
Less than 16 months since making its on-track test debut and 37 weeks since the opening race, the Cadillac V-Series.R has proven its reliability and performance on the variety pack of North American road and street courses. The Cadillac V-Series.R features an all-new Cadillac 5.5-liter DOHC V8 engine developed by GM’s Performance and Racing propulsion team based in Pontiac, Michigan, paired with the common energy recovery system.
“It’s amazing; what a season,” Derani said. “It was up and down but up there when it mattered for the overall championship, the endurance championship and the manufacturer championships. I’m proud of all the work behind the scenes by so many people to get to this point in the first year of GTP. There are so many things out of your control in a race like this. The end of the race was very tense. I overtook both of the BMWs and came away victorious.”
The 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season begins Jan. 19-21 with the Roar Before the 24, which includes practice and qualifications to set the starting lineup for the Jan. 27-28 Rolex 24 At Daytona.
Cadillac Racing podiums at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta since 2017:
Wins: 2020 (Renger van der Zande, Scott Dixon, Ryan Briscoe)
2019 (Pipo Derani, Felipe Nasr, Eric Curran)
2018 (Renger van der Zande, Jordan Taylor, Ryan Hunter-Reay)
Second: 2023 (Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande, Scott Dixon)
2022 (Pipo Derani, Olivier Pla, Mike Conway)
2021 (Pipo Derani, Felipe Nasr, Mike Conway)
2019 (Renger van der Zande, Jordan Taylor, Matthieu Vaxiviere)
2017 (Dane Cameron, Eric Curran, Mike Conway)
Third: 2022 (Jimmie Johnson, Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Rockenfeller)
2020 (Pipo Derani, Felipe Nasr, Filipe Albuquerque)* Six-hour race