Cadillac’s six DPi-V.R prototype race cars will start the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Rolex 24 At Daytona as a pack in fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and eleventh for Saturday’s 2:35 p.m. race start.
At the drop of the green of the 15-minute qualifying session at the World Center of Racing, the 11-car DPi field got up to speed quickly. Felipe Nasr, in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R, led the armada of Cadillac prototypes with a time of 1:34.333 that will have him starting from the third row in fifth.
“I felt like we had a decent run while getting the best of the tires when it was needed,” Nasr said. “The car was good and makes me feel confident going into the race. Daytona is a long race with qualifying only being a small piece and I am sure we can make up some ground and fight for the victory.”
Jordan Taylor had the wheel of the No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R and put in a lap of 1:34.479 that will have the No. 10 going away from the start in sixth.
“I think, realistically, we were racing for fifth-fastest time,” Taylor said. “We ended sixth by a half-tenth to the 31. But, I think for us, qualifying was more of a practice session than anything. We made some big changes just to see what they would do between practice and qualifying just to get a read on it because we’ve had such limited running. We understand now what our changes did, and now we move to night practice with some more direction. We weren’t necessarily going for the pole, which we knew wasn’t realistic, but it was more race prep, and that’s the ultimate goal when it comes to getting the car just right.”
New to prototype racing, Augustin Canapino drove the No. 50 Juncos Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R to a time of 1:34.679 good for seventh on the grid.
“First off, I want to start by saying thank you to Juncos Racing, Ricardo Juncos and Cadillac for their support,” Canapino said. “We are very happy with our results as this was our first time qualifying in IMSA both as a team and for myself as a driver in this series. This is a great starting point for the weekend in the No. 50 Cadillac DPi-V.R car and looking forward. We feel great being so close to the level of the teams we are competing against, which has exceeded our expectations. This team has achieved a lot in a short time, so we will keep working hard to prepare for our first endurance race.”
In the No. 85 JDC/Miller Motorsports Cadillac DPi-V.R, Tristan Vautier posted a time of 1:35.369 that will have him starting eighth.
“We are a bit disappointment with our speed,” Vautier said. “We didn’t come here with the biggest expectations because we are a new Cadillac team and the competition is very good. We accept that we have a leaning curve. We accept that. Everyone is motivated to catch up and we are now in race mode for 24 hours. We will attack, keep it clean and be there at the end.”
Stephen Simpson had the wheel of the No. 84 JDC/Miller Motorsports Cadillac DPi-V.R and will start ninth on Saturday based upon his run of 1:35.442.
“Not really where we want to be, but obviously an improvement from the Roar,” Simpson said. “Our engineers and mechanics have been doing a great job and working very hard the last couple of weeks. Like we have done the last couple of years, we do things with our way of thinking and we’ve always come out right. The Cadillac is very new to us, but we have taken a positive step forward. We have lots to learn from that session, but we are now switching to race mode.”
Filipe Albuquerque reported issues with his No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R from the start of the session. A mechanical problem at the rear of the car resulted in the team not taking a lap. The defending race winners will start the race from the rear of DPi field.
2019 Cadillac Racing IMSA WeatherTech teams and drivers:
No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R
Felipe Nasr
Pipo Derani
Eric Curran, endurance events
No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R
Filipe Albuquerque (PRT)
Joao Barbosa (PRT)
Christian Fittipaldi (BRA), Rolex 24
No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R
Jordan Taylor (USA)
Renger Van Der Zande (NLD)
Fernando Alonso (ESP), Rolex 24
Kamui Kobayashi (JPN), Rolex 24
No. 50 Juncos Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R
Will Owen (USA)
Kyle Kaiser (USA)
Rene Binder (AUT)
Agustin Canapino (ARG), Rolex 24
No. 84 JDC/Miller Cadillac DPi-V.R
Stephen Simpson (ZAF)
Simon Trummer (CHE)
Chris Miller (USA), endurance events
Juan Piedrahita (COL), Rolex 24
No. 85 JDC/Miller Cadillac DPi-V.R
Tristan Vautier (FRA)
Misha Goikhberg (RUS)
Rubens Barrichello (BRA), Rolex 24
Devlin DeFancesco (CAN), Rolex 24
Juan Piedrahita, Sebring, Watkins Glen and Petit Le Mans
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