IMSA | Derani: “Cadillac already strong, Pole thanks to the details”

Pipo Derani and the Cadillac were the great protagonists of the Qualifying for the 24 Hours of Daytona which took place on Sunday.

At the International Speedway in Florida the Brazilian produced an applause-worthy performance, confirming the excellent form of the V-Series.R which had already shown good results in the Roar Before the 24 test week.

In the 15' that decided the starting grid for the first race of the IMSA SportsCar Championship scheduled for next weekend, Derani however brought out the best in himself and from the General Motors LMDh prepared by the excellent Action Express Racing team, giving the US team took the Pole Position in the GTP Class with the great time of 1'32″656.

The South American of the Whelen-designed car #31 not only allowed him to beat the Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac #01 driven by the excellent Sébastien Bourdais by 0″071, but first of all to lower the Pole Position time of last season, year in which all the LMDhs made their debut but there was a different Balance of Performance, and then to establish the new American track record that had stood since 2019, the year in which Oliver Jarvis set a 1'33″685 with the Mazda DPi.

“With the help of a great team and a great Cadillac we were flying today: it's a privilege and a pleasure to drive a car like this, really well balanced,” said Derani, who had already managed to be faster than usual in the very short Session 6 of pre-qualifying tests, useful for checking that everything was in order and with the setup already geared towards making an assault on the record.

“We did a Qualifying simulation before and I think we were a couple of tenths away from being first, but I think we worked on exactly what we needed to do for the session between the end of practice and the start of the assault on Pole.”

“Great teamwork that didn't make it possible to overturn the situation, but to improve what was necessary. The car ran like a train and it was nice to enjoy and feel all its potential.”

Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images

#31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R: Pipo Derani

Pipo then explained that his Cadillac felt great all week, being able to express its best and only working to refine the details.

“To be honest it wasn't a question of understanding what was possible, but of trying to maximize the tools we had. We knew we were in a good place when we did the Qualifying simulation, but honestly I was surprised that I was almost a second faster faster than previous tests”.

“I think the conditions were perfect for this too, I think that even in the cold the tires worked well. Obviously in Qualifying you consume less fuel and so on, but I would say that we were a little more surprised in general than we were with the weather on the lap.”

“In the end I always try to do my best with what I have, I don't know if the others are hiding, but we'll see it during the race. As far as we're concerned, our potential was seen with the Pole obtained, but the performances the others are not in my hands.”

“To be honest, I think a lot of it has to do with understanding the car. The track conditions help, but as usual at this time of year it's quite cold in Daytona. More or less, it's perfect for Qualifying, but I think everyone else I think everyone knows how to exploit such a difficult car and get some good times out of it. I would say that, at least from our point of view, we are a much better team at managing the electronics and the complexities of an LMDh than we were 12 months ago.”

The Cadillac double therefore confirmed that the V-Series.R, at least from the point of view of pure performance, is there. Now we will have to put everything into practice even in a long and difficult race like the 24 Hours.

“I think we are working in the right direction, last year we were close to Pole, but we weren't able to take it, while today I think everyone is very close. The Porsche was a couple of tenths away, so I think it's a matter of details In the end it's a matter of refining them to find that little bit more, and today we managed to do that.”

Photo by: Art Fleischmann

#01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V-Series.R: Renger van der Zande, Sebastien Bourdais, Scott Dixon, Alex Palou

In the CGR pits, however, there is a slight bitter aftertaste in Bourdais' words, who however looks at the positive side of having both Cadillacs in front.

“It was obviously a great day for Cadillac; you always want to take the first two places and for us it was a good effort, but we couldn't do everything we wanted to get a perfect performance,” explains the Frenchman.

“But we have a really solid car and now we will try to adjust things over the next week to get the best possible for the race. We will try to do well as a team, together with the drivers, and hopefully we can come out of it with a watch on our wrist.” , he concludes by mentioning the Rolex that will be given to the winners.

Laura Wontrop Klauser, GM Sports Car Racing Program Manager, adds: “I am very proud of everyone involved in the program. The work has never stopped from when we started designing the car, to development, testing, races and anything you consider doing in the winter.”

“It's a demonstration of the amount of hard work and commitment put in, we arrived ready and we will continue to work hard and be ready to chase victory.”