Cadillac Racing has chosen to race with two three-driver crews at the 24 Hours of Daytona, the first event of the IMSA SportsCar Championship to be held at the end of January 2024.
General Motors have therefore chosen to trust the two lineups chosen for the next season of the American series which will see the V-Series.R return to action in the GTP Class with Sébastien Bourdais and Renger Van Der Zande, plus Scott Dixon for the Endurance Cup aboard the #01 of Chip Ganassi Racing, while in Action Express Racing we will see Pipo Derani and Jack Aitken at work on the LMDh #31, joined by Tom Blomqvist for the longer races.
Two days of collective testing are scheduled for next week on the Florida track which will help the Cadillac teams to better refine the cars, already defined as very solid and promising after what was seen and gathered during the double commitment between IMSA and WEC in 2023 .
We will therefore not see any upheavals from an aesthetic point of view, even if every opportunity to improve will have to be seized next year too, as happened in the debut year.
Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images
#31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac V-LMDh Cadillac V-LMDh: Pipo Derani, Alexander Sims, Jack Aitken
“We will take into consideration all the lessons learned at Daytona 2023 and apply them to see what we can do to prepare for next year – underlines General Motors head Laura Wontrop Klauser – One of the things we are excited about is that now we are able to focus on the car and understand it better, as well as ensuring we have full support from GM and Dallara, ready to help the teams succeed.”
“One of the most challenging aspects of this year was the lack of time. We went from race to race and did some testing from time to time. In fact, it was our racing program in 2023 that kept us busy, the which was phenomenal because there’s no better test than a race to see what you can do with the car. So it will be nice to get back to Daytona and focus on a test plan.”
![#01 Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V- Series.R: Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande](https://cdn-6.motorsport.com/images/mgl/24vmoe46/s1000/01-cadillac-chip-ganassi-racin-1.jpg)
Photo by: Art Fleischmann
#01 Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V- Series.R: Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande
On the drivers front, there is great anticipation and curiosity to get back behind the wheel of the American car, as Bourdais explains: “Towards the end of the season, with the two tests we did, we started to get to know the car better and understand what’s good and what doesn’t work; it takes time.”
“People think we did a lot of testing, but it was all about homologation and reliability. We are still very far behind in our understanding of the car in terms of suspension and performance design. Since we homologated the car, there has been there was little time to optimize it and understand it to find that last half second that changes the cards on the table on race weekends. It will be a continuous learning process, to try to make ends meet and match the data.”
Van Der Zande also agrees: “The test days are useful for understanding the car because we are still developing the car, optimizing the package. It’s a dream car to drive and a dream championship to participate in.”
![#31 Action Express Racing, Cadillac VSeries.R, GTP: Pipo Derani, Alexander Sims](https://cdn-3.motorsport.com/images/mgl/Yv8j1Pj0/s1000/31-action-express-racing-cadil-1.jpg)
Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images
#31 Action Express Racing, Cadillac VSeries.R, GTP: Pipo Derani, Alexander Sims
Derani adds: “As with any new car, you want to be able to carry out more and more tests and trials, especially when it comes to such a complex racing car, with the hybrid; it requires a longer path in terms of development. We are close to more than a year since we started developing this car, but we’re only now starting to understand some things that make sense for the set-up and making it go faster.”
“There is still a lot to improve from everyone. We have done a great job despite the difficulties encountered this season. It is always a learning process and you have to be humble enough to know that you have to continue like this if you want to be successful in this season. series”.
Aitken comments: “We have a lot to work on and improve; I think that’s the case with everyone with these cars which are still so early in the development cycle that everyone is learning quickly. We’ve made great progress over the course of the season, but when we don’t there are races, everyone has the opportunity to breathe a little and make changes, updates and progress. It will be a busy time for us. The race to be ready for the Roar and Daytona will be very intense. Even if it all seems a long way from now, it will come quickly.”
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