Cadillac Racing had a rough go at the Long Beach Grand Prix, as both of the luxury marque’s entries posted very different results during the 100-minute race on April 15th, 2023.
The race started out rough for Cadillac Racing, as Sebastien Bourdais had to perform a quick maneuver to avoid slamming the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R into the rear of the No. 60 Acura race car. Bourdais chased the No. 01 V-Series.R into the marbles, losing control of his race car and spinning right as the field entered the first turn of the first lap. He hit the inside retaining wall, triggering an electronic failsafe in the No. 01 Cadillac, and was unable to continue after the race car would not restart due to the failsafe.
Alexander Sims guided the other Cadillac Racing entry, the No. 31 V-Series.R, along with Pipo Derani. With Derani swapped into the cockpit, the team elected to pit for a full-service stop with 30 minutes left in the race. The No. 31 V-Series.R took on four fresh tires and a full tank of fuel. The pit stop put the team off the pace, and Derani ran out of time to salvage his run. He ultimately finished fifth in the GTP class, almost one minute behind the fourth-place finisher, No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8 of Phillip Eng and Augusto Farfus.
Up front, the No. 6 Porsche 963 of Nick Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet crossed the line in first. Meanwhile, the No. 01 Cadillac Racing team of Bourdais and van der Zande brought up eighth – or last – place in the division, after that early-race incident.
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