The Whelen Engineering Cadillac team leads the IMSA DPi points heading into the season finale IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Motul Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta this weekend, October 11-13.
Whelen Engineering leads DPi points
Cadillac leads DPi manufacturer standings
Cadillac teams lead TPNAEC standings
Vautier for Barbosa in Mustang Sampling Cadillac
Konica Minolta Cadillac looking for first win of 2018
Seven Cadillac DPi-V.R cars set for 2019
Championships on the line this weekend at the 2.5-mile, 12-turn Road Atlanta track located 40 minutes north of Atlanta. The Whelen Engineering Cadillac team is pulling out all of the stops as they go for the IMSA DPi championship. The team has a four-point lead over second place, so a strong run in Saturday’s 10-hour race is a must. Cadillac has a 38-point lead in the IMSA DPi manufacturer standings. The Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup (TPNAEC) points have Cadillac teams in the top two positions. The Whelen Engineering Cadillac drivers lead with 31 points, followed by the Mustang Sampling Cadillac team with 25.
Eric Curran, Felipe Nasr and Gabby Chaves will be looking to run a calculated race in No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R this weekend. The team leads the championship points and have put in the hours of preparation and testing necessary to run well this weekend.
“We’d love to win the race, but first we’ve got to make sure we do what we have to do for the championship,” Curran said. “It will come down to executing as a team and not putting ourselves at risk. You have to be there at the end, and Road Atlanta is not a very forgiving place. It is a real driver’s track with how much speed you carry into the corners, but it is also a really challenging race. It is ten hours, and anything can happen in a race like Petit Le Mans.
“If we can execute on everything, hopefully we will be in a position to take the IMSA championship and the Tequila Patron Endurance Cup, which we’ve never done with the Whelen car, and go out with a win. What a way that would be to close out 2018.”
“Final race of the year already? – how quickly the season goes by!” Nasr said. “I’m heading to Petit Le Mans fully prepared. We had the opportunity to test at the circuit a few weeks ago with the Whelen Engineering Cadillac and we were able to get ourselves ready for the final race. It’s a really fun track, with fast flowing corners, but it’s also very tricky for clearing traffic. It has all the ingredients to make it an exciting 10-hour race.
“I know we have the best team behind us in the paddock when it comes to endurance racing. Petit is very demanding and also physically challenging for us drivers. As a team, our goal remains the same – expect to win!”
Filipe Albuquerque and Christian Fittipaldi will be joined by Tristan Vautier at Petit this weekend. Vautier is sitting in for the recovering Joao Barbosa for the weekend. The trio are prepared to run for the win in the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R as well as support their Whelen Engineering Cadillac teammates.
“The crash in Laguna was very frustrating because there was nothing Joao could do,” Albuquerque said. “It was a domino effect created when the pole car did not accelerate normally. As each driver on the inside row behind him began to accelerate, then had to hit their brakes, a gentleman driver hit us from behind. It changes my approach completely heading to Petit Le Mans. Now I will not think about the championship because there is nothing to fight for. I will just go full attack mode to win the race. Second place is not an option. I really want to secure the win. For me, Petit Le Mans is one of those races that I have on my bucket list to win. I consider it a very prestigious event and we are totally motivated to win it.”
Jordan Taylor, Renger Van Der Zande and Ryan Hunter-Reay will be running for the win in the No. 10 Cadillac DPi-V.R. The team that won five races in a row in 2017 is still looking for their top step podium finish in 2018. With nothing to lose as they are out of contention for the championship the trio is planning to go for it on Saturday
“We have nothing to lose this year heading into Petit, so we are just going for the win,” Taylor said. “Unfortunately our championship fight ended at Laguna, but we have been battling for the win at every race in the second half of the season, which gives us confidence heading into Atlanta. We don’t have to focus on racing for the TPNAEC points or anything else, it’s just about the overall win. With no points pressure, it allows us to take as much risk as we want to. We don’t have to worry about any of the TPNAEC stages or anything like that, so we can put all our focus on the end of the race.”
In 2019, the Rolex 24 Hour At Daytona will see seven Cadillac DPi-V.R race cars on the grid starting with the Roar Before the 24 test weekend in just three months. The Action Express team returns with two cars, Wayne Taylor Racing with their entry, Spirit of Daytona with their blue Cadillac, JDC-Miller with two new cars and Juncos Racing with their new Cadillac will compete in 2019.
Motul Petit Le Mans will be televised live Saturday, October 13 starting on FS1 from 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. then transitioning to FS2 12:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. EDT.
