If there were no starts in the middle of the pack on the grid, Cadillac could have at least two consecutive podiums under its belt in the final races of the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Just like in the last event of last season in Bahrain, also at the opening of the 2024 season in Lusail the V-Series.R #2 found itself losing time and ground due to a collision at the start.
The 1812 Km of Qatar had seen Alex Lynn finish in fifth place in the fight for the Hyperpole and the pace of the American Dallara-chassis car was one that could aspire to a good result.
But this time too, at the green light there was a contact that ruined the front left part of the LMDh prepared by Chip Ganassi Racing, with Lynn hitting the Peugeot #94 in the chaos in the middle of the group, sending Paul Di Resta into a spin.
No penalty for him, but the damage caused saw the mechanics replace the nose at the first stop made, inevitably dropping down the order. And in a race without a Safety Car, this meant remaining stuck at the back with very little hope of recovering, also because in the following stop an operation was carried out on the wing, which was also damaged in a contact during the battles on the track.
A shame because Lynn, Earl Bamber and Sébastien Bourdais had the potential to do even better than that fourth place that arrived at the last minute (thanks to the disqualification of the Peugeot #93) and at least try to cross arms against the 9X8 – which traveled second until on the penultimate lap – having a similar pace, while the Porsches were actually a little faster.
#94 Peugeot Totalenergies Peugeot 9X8: Paul Di Resta, Loic Duval, Stoffel Vandoorne
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
“We knew it would be a long race and the positive aspects after the Free Practice were that the race pace seemed good, but there was also the awareness that in such a large grid, doubled compared to the past, it would be a great battle”, he said. said Lynn, who then looks at the glass half full.
“We wanted to score points, Porsche was very strong and so was Ferrari, but between day and night we managed to have good tire wear.”
“The start was chaotic, considering it was the first race of the year and the way it started, I think the result is definitely positive.”
“It's our best finish since Le Mans last year, so a good way to start the season.”
Bamber is of the same opinion: “Starting the season with a fourth place is more or less how we started last season and I think it gives us a good boost.”
“The team did an extraordinary job and the strategy allowed us to get back on top. If we had said at the beginning of the day that we would have achieved a fourth place, I think we would have accepted it comfortably.”
“It's a result we can rely on for Imola and Spa and for the rest of the season.”
#2 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R: Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn, Sebastien Bourdais
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
Bourdais, who joined the two starters for this race, instead underlined the validity of a strategy with one pit stop less than others: “We found ourselves in difficulty at the beginning and we played with the strategy for a long time; this was the plan for the race, we stuck to it and soon saw that we could adopt the strategy of staying under 10 stints.”
“We told ourselves that if we could maintain this strategy, we could get a great result, and that's exactly what happened. I'm very happy for the team and I had a lot of fun in the car.”
Mark Stielow, director of motorsports at General Motors: “We worked hard in the winter and achieved many results from both GM and the Chip Ganassi Racing team.”
“It's our second year together and we can already see cohesive teamwork. It wasn't the result we were hoping for, but the car looks good, it has good speed and I can't wait to face the rest of the season. I think that we have a good package.”
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