Deletraz: Road America has always been great

IMSA

Jul 27

Louis Deletraz, who co-drove with Jordan Taylor the #40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R to a runner-up finish in the most recent IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race, met with the media via Zoom conference call to preview the August 1-3 Motul SportsCar Grand Prix at Road America.

Q: What are the things that you most look forward to racing at Road America?

Louis Deletraz: “Road America has always been great. It's an awesome track; so fast. Obviously, it will be the first time with the Cadillac. It’s still a new car to us, but we just came off a great event at Watkins with our first podium, our first double podium for the team. We want to build momentum from that, so let's try and do that. We think the tarmac has lost some grip compared to last year, so we'll have to work with that and obviously looking forward to it.”

Cadillac #40 — 📷 © Luc Warnotte at Daytona: DNF for K. Kobayashi / L. Deletraz / J. Taylor with #40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R

Q: Does the podium at Watkins Glen give you confidence and motivation to try to get your first win next week at Road America?

Louis Deletraz: “For sure. It’s not been the easiest start of the year, clearly. And to finally get a podium, which we worked hard for, at Watkins is good. To share it with the 10 car was fantastic. It's the first time since we have had two cars at Wayne Taylor Racing. We want more, we want to win. Yes, we got a little help from the Safety Car at Watkins at the end of the race, but we still would have finished fourth with a good strategy and good calls from the team. So, I think we can do well next weekend at Road America and go get that first win and catch back some points in the championship.”

Q: Are you even thinking championship at this point or going all out for wins?

Louis Deletraz: “Honestly, no, we're not looking at a championship. We've had such a rough start to the year that we're too far to catch up. But never say never. We will go for wins. If we can win all three last races, we will and see where we end up. At the end, we're a team. If the 10 car has a shot at it, we will help them, or any Cadillacs. It's one big team here, so we're here to help each other.”

Q: How difficult is it to adapt when you go from the GTP to driving an LMP2?

Louis Deletraz: “The first three, four laps, it always feels like you have to go back on something and adapt. But, overall, I think it's an advantage to be able to race all the cars around, especially LMP2. It's not a prototype, it's more racing, more traffic, and more chance to fight for victories, which is always the goal. And I think you arrive to the next event just warmed up. I think it's different drivers to drivers, but I really like racing other cars at the same time.”

Q: Next year, Road America will be an endurance round. Does an endurance race change your approach as a driver?

Louis Deletraz: “For sure, the approach changes. In sprint races, you need to run at the front. There won't be so many pit stops to try and gain positions, so track position is always what you want, which means more risk straight away. Also, qualifying matters more. When Road America will become a six-hour race, it will change. You want to survive, you want to cycle through the first three hours and then get to the front, I would say. So, the approach changes a little bit. But, overall, I think from a driver perspective to have six hours at Road America, I'm really excited about it. Such a great track.

"Is bigger, so for all those cars it's easier with traffic and I'm looking forward to it. No offense to Indy, I like the track too, but Road America will be exciting.”

Q: How much has the team learned about the Cadillac this year?

Louis Deletraz: “We've learned a lot. Daytona was the first one. Obviously, everything was new, so much learning for the team side, for the drivers, all the engineers. Also, getting to know each other between the Cadillac guys and Wayne Taylor Racing took some time. You see rewards from teams who have been with the same manufacturers for three years and there's no way to skip that. But every race we’ve improved, every race we learned. And myself and I think everyone on the team feels more comfortable. I think we also understand where the car wants to live in terms of setup for different tracks -- for bumpy tracks and high-speed tracks -- we've seen through now with Watkins. So, Road America, I think is definitely the race we're most ready for, and where we have the most data and the most experience. So, I’m really looking forward to see how we get on there.”

Q: What do you like best about Road America and if you were king of the world would you prefer to drive first or second?

Louis Deletraz: “The whole track is a bit like Spa. If you compare, it has a lot of elevation, high grip, pretty smooth. So, there's a lot of nice corners like the Carousel. It's a good mix between technical, low speed, and high speed. It is a challenge to put a big lap in. It's always rewarding when you see a good lap time and you’re up front to have made a lap there. It's just a track you get on and you enjoy, and that's something that you can only describe if you’re in the car. If I had to choose to drive first or second, I mean, at the end, I don't really care as long as we have a good result, I will be very happy. The race is 2 hours, 40 minutes, so both drivers will get enough time.”

Q: So, you feel pretty good about helping a driver into the seat as well as just getting out?

Louis Deletraz: “Exactly. That's no issue. I think we work hard to improve our driver change times. It is important in a sprint race. You can have an early yellow and switch drivers quite early into the race. We try to get our times down. I think anything below 15 seconds is good and you try to make it as good as possible, less mistakes as possible, and make sure it's smooth, so you don't lose positions in the pits.” Source: Cadillac Racing

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