Cadillac V-Performance racing teams Konica Minolta and Mustang Sampling will start the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship BUBBA burger SportsCar Grand Prix at Long Beach first and second, respectively, for tomorrow’s 4 p.m. ET start.
The Konica Minolta Cadillac team is continuing its storied run. Following up on their wins at the Rolex 24 Hours At Daytona and the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, Ricky Taylor drove the No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R prototype to the pole position with a time of 1:13.549. The duo of Ricky and Jordan Taylor led this morning and this afternoon’s practice sessions, and capped the day with a pole run.
“We came here motivated as we won the first two big races,” Ricky Taylor said. “I think this is the most valuable pole of the yea, as track position is so important here. We have won here the last two years. This year is going to be tougher. There are more cars on the track with the addition of the GTD cars. We are looking at two pit stops, the GTD and GTLM cars just one. There has been one yellow the last two years combined. With different pit strategies it can make for a messy race. It is difficult to pass here. I am glad to have the track position to start the race. Last year, I had to make a move on Christian [Fittipaldi] for the lead into Turn 1. Pole is a vulnerable position here. I will have to have a good start. This is our first street race with the Cadillac DPi-V.R. Cadillac has done a great job with car. The confidence it gives you in the seat is just incredible. You feel the bumps here, but it really doesn’t upset the car too much. The first gear we are running is very long, so we have to take care exiting the hair-pin turn. Hats off to the team for giving me a great car.”
Christian Fittipaldi had the wheel of the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R for the 15-minute qualifying session. Fittipaldi posted a time of 1:13.753 and will start on the front row in second. Teamed with Joao Barbosa, the team is hungry for an overall win after finishing second at Daytona and Sebring.
“It was a good qualifying run,” Fittipaldi said. “I am happy to start the race tomorrow second. The Mustang Sampling Cadillac, with everything that was mandated for this race, the team finds solutions to lose the minimum amount of performance. We are strong for the race tomorrow, but so is the 10 car. I am happy with the work of the team. I think we went a little backward from practice one this morning. We still need to try adjustments, we could have went quicker. I had a good run, we just weren’t quick enough to beat the 10 car today.”
Eric Curran drove the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R to a fifth place starting position with at time of 1:14.444. Curran will start and then hand it over to Dane Cameron for tomorrow’s 100-minute race on the streets of Long Beach.
“The first practice here is always tough,” Curran said. “When you are the first cars on the track, the streets are dirty and it takes a while to get some rubber down. From where we were this morning to where we are now is better. We have been fighting an unusual brake issue on our Whelen Cadillac. I was skating into Turn 1, so we have to get a handle on that for that race. Cadillacs are one-two and we are fifth. We need to get our brake issue situated, so we can get up front with the other two cars. I love this place. It is a lot of fun coming to Long Beach.”
The IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship BUBBA burger Sports Car Grand Prix at Long Beach will be televised Saturday, April 8 LIVE ON FOX starting at 4 p.m. ET.
