Renger van der Zande and Sebastien Bourdais showed the endurance racing world what the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R was capable of during Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen on June 23rd, 2024, battling through rain, humidity, and challenging competitors in the GTP division to pull off its podium finish.
Rain showers drenched the track off and on during the six-hour sprint, and at one point, the race was red flagged for 40 minutes while officials waited for the rain to clear off the track and make the racing surface safe for speed again. Battling through it all, Cadillac Racing never strayed far from the font. When the race restarted for the final time with less than 17 minutes left on the clock, Van der Zande flew past the pole-winning No. 40 Acura ARX-06 to take P2 away.
With sights on the leader, van der Zande closed on the No. 7 Porsche 963 for the top spot, but ran out of time. A few more laps, and the Caddy team might’ve had it, but instead settled for a runner-up finish, just 0.749 seconds back. The result was Bourdais and van der Zande’s fourth podium finish in six IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship events.
“Congratulations to Cadillac Racing team and the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R on their runner-up finish in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen. Every member of the team can be very proud of their efforts on preparing the racecar for success, from both a technology and durability standpoint,” said John Roth, global vice president of Cadillac. “The podium finish today showcases the remarkable capabilities, expertise and determination of the Cadillac Racing team.”
Exiting the race car after his run, van der Zande said, “It was really enjoyable to fight for the win. Congrats to the car that won, and I think we’re happy to be P2. We had a good start and had speed in the car on the dry track, but it faded away a bit. We were doing OK until the rain came. And when the track dried out and we were on slicks, we gave it our all. We’ll take the points home to go into the final few races of the championship.”
Meanwhile, the No. 31 Cadillac V-Series.R of Pipo Derani and Jack Aitken had a different view of the race. After leading early, the No. 31 V-Series.R spun out. Then, the race car made contact with competitors and swerved off-course, necessitating repairs that put it one lap down and relegated the Derani-Aitken duo to an eighth-place result.
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