Two Cadillac Racing entries took to the track at Road America on August 4th, 2024, and both V-Series.R race cars had a hard day in Wisconsin in a race riddled with plenty of full-course cautions and unscheduled pit stops.
Renger van der Zande and Sebastien Bourdais shared the No. 01 V-Series.R. They rolled off the grid in third place, but contact with a competitor early in the race sent the No. 01 machine for a spin as it careened off course. The race car sustained damage in the incident and had to make an unscheduled pit stop to replace the nose assembly along with the right front tire.
The No. 01 Cadillac Racing team returned to the track and ran mid-pack for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, in the closing minutes of the race, the No. 01 V-Series.R returned to the pits for a late-race tire change, relegating the team to a ninth-place finish.
“I think today wasn’t our day,” van der Zande said. “We were in a great position after the first stop. It was one of those days in IMSA where there’s a lot of yellows, and a big lottery. But, obviously, we had a crash, which hurt the car quite a bit and that put us at the back of the field… But it’s not a good day, also hurts for the championship. The Porsche extended its lead with two of its cars. It’s one of those days that you want to forget quickly.”
The No. 31 V-Series.R of Jack Aitken and Pipo Derani started fifth. Unfortunately, Derani made contact with a competitor on the opening lap, forcing the No. 31 Cadillac Racing team to the rear of the 10-car field. Derani fought back to eighth after his spin before swapping the controls to Aitken, who muscled his way out front, pressuring the leaders. However, Aitken was passed by the No. 7 Porsche and the No. 10 Acura with less than five minutes left, dropping him to fourth place at the line.
“A tough Lap 1, but we did what we had to do to work our way back into it,” Aitken said. “The race came to us a little bit with the way the cautions played out. For most of the races played it simple and worked our way through the pack by picking people off and with good strategy and found ourselves in position to win the race at the end.”
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