Cadillac to Start on Second Row at Mid-Ohio

 
Lexington, Oh., May 4, 2019
 
Cadillac to Start on Second Row at Mid-Ohio
 
Cadillac looking for fourth win on season
 
The Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R was the top qualifying car for the brand and will start from the second row for tomorrow’s running of the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship Acura Sports Car Challenge at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
 
Cadillac qualifying times:
4. No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R, Derani, 1:12.320
5. No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R, Barbosa, 1:12.326
7. No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadilac DPi-V.R, Van Der Zande, 1:12.525
8. No. 84 JDC/Miller Motorsport Cadillac DPi-V.R, Trummer, 1:12.595
9. No. 50 Juncos Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R, Owen, 1:13.394
10. No. 85 JDC/Miller Motorsport Cadillac DPi-V.R, Goikhberg, 1:13.570
 
The Cadillac teams have been dealing with changing weather conditions all weekend. Yesterday a near all day rain hampered track time with cool temperatures greeting the teams today. For race day is supposed to be 65-degrees and sunny, throwing another set-up challenge to the competitors.
 
In qualifying Pipo Derani had the wheel of the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R and was at the top of the time sheet early. As the rest of the field got their Michelin tires up to temperature the lap times began to fall. Derani ended the session as the top qualifying Cadillac driver with a time of 1:12.320 good for a second row, fourth place, starting position. Derani and teammate Felipe Nasr are the current IMSA DPi championship points leaders.
 
“In general, the balance was good,” Derani said. “It is such a low grip track. Starting fourth is a positive and being the first Cadillac was also positive. We will just go from here. The car felt really good from the beginning and we hit a limit, but the first three could improve on that by a big margin. The other cars were super quick here last year but I think that for the race, we should have a good car.”
 
Joao Barbosa drove the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R to a fifth place starting spot. He shares the seat with Filip Albuquerque.
 
“I was pushing really hard, and I felt the car was really good,” Barbosa said. “I pushed a little too hard coming out of (corner) two. There was still a lot of water there and I had a little wiggle that put me on the grass. It was just when the car was at the peak so I feel like I left a little bit on the table there. It took me two laps to get back with clean tires, but I managed put in a good lap in the end. The Cadillac is running really well and is strong on the long runs. I think we’ve got a pretty good race car that we can push for a long time and we will just have to see where it all stacks up. I feel like we’ve got a great shot at a good result tomorrow.”
 
In the No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R Renger Van Der Zande posted a time good enough for seventh. Jordan Taylor will finish the race in the black Cadillac that won the Rolex 24 in February.
 
“We shouldn’t be happy with where we are in qualifying, but we didn’t have any practice to set up the car and we didn’t have it very smooth here last year at Mid-Ohio – we knew had some work to do,” Van Der Zande said. “We came here with a big list of things we wanted to try this weekend but we couldn’t do it (because of wet weather). This morning in practice, at least we had a few laps to set up the basics of the car, but there’s more to find out on this track. Even during this qualifying session, we learned a little bit, but there’s more to come. I think the qualifying lap I did, there wasn’t much more in it. In the end, there’s a long race tomorrow where a lot can happen. Hopefully it will and we’ll try our best.”
 
Simon Trummer put in a solid lap that will have him starting the No. 84 JDC/Miller Motorsport Cadillac DPi-V.R from eighth with teammate Stephen Simpson.
 
“We messed up qualifying a little bit,” Trummer said. “I couldn’t do the last two laps with a fuel pump issue. I think I had a couple of tenths left in the car. That would have been a couple spots, maybe four. Again, the team made a step forward, the Cadillac feels good. It is not the ideal track for us. I feel good in the car and we will be competitive in the race tomorrow.”
 
Will Owen was at the controls of the No. 50 Juncos Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R and drove to a ninth place starting spot. Kyle Kaiser will take over for the finish in the orange, green and white Cadillac.
 
“Overall it has been an interesting couple of days here at Mid-Ohio as the weather conditions have changed so much,” Owen said. “Yesterday it rained in the morning so we decided not to go out until the second session, which was on a damp track. Today’s morning session we had a very low grip track. It then rained before qualifying, but was able to dry back up before we were on track. Our qualifying did not go as we hoped for as I pushed a little too much too early. The track was only getting better and better, but we peaked out before I was ready to lay down that perfect lap. It was still a good qualifying session with some lessons learned, and it’s a blast driving the Cadillac here at Mid-Ohio.”
 
Misha Goikhberg and Tristan Vautier will start the No. 85 JDC/Miller Cadillac DPi-V.R from the fifth row for the two-hour-40-minute race that will start at 1:40 p.m. ET.
 
“It was a difficult session,” Goikhberg said. “The weekend has been challenging, every session is different with the weather conditions. It is the same for everyone. We had pretty good balance on the car, just not a lot of overall grip. It is tough to start tenth, but with some good strategy, some set-up changes and we will try to drive into the top five.”
 
The IMSA WeatherTech Sport Car Championship Acura Sports Car Challenge from Mid-Ohio will be televised live on NBCSN, Sunday, May 5, starting at 1:30 p.m. ET.
 
Fans can also listen to live race coverage on IMSA Radio on IMSA.com and RadioLeMans.com.
Photo credit: Cadillac/Richard Prince

Cadillac DPi-V.R racing history, in 2018 the Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R won the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona; Cadillac won the IMSA Prototype Manufacturer Championship; Whelen Engineering Cadillac drivers Eric Curran and Felipe Nasr win IMSA Prototype Drivers’ Championship; Whelen Engineering Cadillac wins the IMSA Prototype Team Championship; Cadillac wins Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup (TPNAEC) Manufacturer Championship; Whelen Engineering Cadillac drivers Eric Curran and Felipe Nasr win TPNAEC Drivers’ Championship; Whelen Engineering Cadillac wins TPNAEC team championship. In 2017 Cadillac teams won every title in the inaugural season of the IMSA DPi formula including: Cadillac wins DPi manufacturer championship; Cadillac wins TPNAEC (Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup) manufacturer title; Jordan and Ricky Taylor 2017 IMSA WeatherTech DPi driver champions; Konica Minolta Cadillac team champions; Mustang Sampling Cadillac drivers Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi and Filipe Albuquerque won the TPNAEC DPi driver championship; Mustang Sampling Cadillac won the TPNAEC DPi team championship; Whelen Engineering drivers Dane Cameron and Eric Curran finish second in the driver’s championship; Mustang Sampling Cadillac drivers Joao Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi finish third in the driver’s championship; Cadillac teams combine to win seven races in 2017: Rolex 24 Hours At Daytona, Twelve Hours of Sebring, Long Beach, Circuit of the Americas, Detroit, Watkins Glen, and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. 

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