Cadillac Racing Has Success, Heartbreak At Watkins Glen 2023

Cadillac Racing fielded two entries for the Six Hours of the Glen at Watkins Glen on June 25^th, 2023: the No. 31 Cadillac V-Series.R driven by Pipo Derani, Alexander Sims and Jack Aitken, as well as the No. 01 V-Series.R driven by Renger van der Zande and Sebastien Bourdais. The former ended the day on a high note with a third-place result, while the latter unfortunately finished four laps down due to a series of incidents. 

The No. 01 V-Series.R was quick, and even set the race record for fastest lap, getting around Watkins Glen’s 3.4-mile 11-turn road course in 1:33.028 while under Aitken’s control. The No. 01 Caddy looked to be the car to beat, but as the timer ticked down, the Caddy team found itself under fire from No. 6 Porsche of Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy for the lead, and ultimately finished third behind the No. 25 BMW of Nick Yelloly and Connor de Phillip as well.

“The car felt good all day,” said Derani after the race. “Unfortunately, on the second to last pit stop we had an issue with tire pressure which compromised our pace. And then the GT blocking and I made contact that destroyed the front splitter. By that point we were compromised and didn’t have enough to close on the leader. Overall, a good points day for us – especially in the endurance championship – and we’ll keep fighting.”

Meanwhile, the No. 01 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R was involved in two on-track incidents that left the Caddy race car damaged and resulted in a penalty that proved too severe to overcome. This team finished four laps down in sixth in the GTP class overall. 

“I feel disappointed because we had bad luck, and the race just didn’t go our way,” said van der Zande. “It was pure survival out there and that’s just not a nice feeling when you’re not in a competitive position.”

Bourdais added, “We had a good start, and the car was strong. We were making some good numbers but halfway through the stint we had contact with the Porsche. That was disappointing and I thought we had gotten away OK but then we got run into by the BMW, which really sabotaged our race because the rear of the car was severely damaged. It was definitely one of those days where what could go wrong did go wrong.”

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