Cadillac Racing dominated in the Motor City with Jack Aitken and Earl Bamber winning from the pole in the #31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R, in the Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic. With #10 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R finishing third, Cadillac sweeps two spots on the podium.

Bamber - Aitken dominated the whole weekend

Bamber and Aitken led each practice, started first and led 73 of 82 laps in the hometown of Cadillac and General Motors. Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports won the GTD division so it was a sweep for General Motors in their hometown.

There were two late cautions that bunched up the field, but each time the #31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R powered away without being challenged.

It’s the first win for Cadillac on the Detroit Street Circuit, but they also won four races just north of the street circuit at The Raceway At Belle Isle. This is Action Express Racing’s first win of the season and their 32nd IMSA win. This is the seventh consecutive podium for the No. 31, the longest podium streak in the current era of the GTP class.

Jack Aitken (#31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R) : “To do it here at the home of GM and Cadillac, with so many friends and family with us. My team absolutely nailed it. All of Whelen Cadillac, they put in an awesome lap (yesterday). We had a good strategy and a good pit stop. It really doesn't get a lot better than that. So, we're going to soak in in baby.”

How concerned were you with those late yellow flags and how big is this win for GM? “I think it's a win that we've been searching for a while, you know, since this program started with Detroit being home for GM, Cadillac, so many of the people on the program. It was very meaningful and we've come close with podiums, but yeah, to get the win. And like Earl said on the same day that the Corvettes managed to do the same. It's pretty overwhelming, but amazing, and very grateful to have the team around me that I do from Earl, who was just incredible with his pace this weekend and from his pole position to handing me the car in the race in the lead. Made my life very easy, which is nice. But the car was very impressive as well. You know, we had a very good car from the get go. The Wheeling Cadillac guys really, really nailed it and like I said, just feeling very grateful right now.”

Earl Bamber (#31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R) : “Yeah, I mean, we've had a great Cadillac this weekend. As soon as it hit the track, it was super quick. We sort of built on what we had last year. We knew that it was good. And yeah, just managed to pull a gap and just managing the energy. We had a little bit of tricky moment with the 23 (ASTON MARTIN THOR Team), I think they had a drive-through or something like that? I don't really know why they were near us, but we sort of started to get boxed behind them. So, the guys made a super late call to pit into turn 8. But we had enough of a gap as well, so I think we're one of the only cars to also change right-hand side tires. And we were just sort of making the job easier at the end of the race if the yellows came for Jack, which was the right call. But, you know, our team is great with the strategy at the moment. Whatever gets thrown to them, they know how to react. And, you know, just the fact that we can take tires, when no one else could just shows what they're doing in the lane and on the strategy stuff. And yeah, then Jack just did a faultless drive to the end although it was was pretty nervous with those yellows watching. It was a long hour to watch, a lot of pacing going on, but yeah, just really happy for Cadillac, and really happy for the Corvette guys also to finally get the win here at our home race.”

BMW M Team WRT continues podium streak

BMW M Team WRT remains on a successful path with the BMW M Hybrid V8. In the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race on the streets of Detroit, Philipp Eng and Marco Wittmann drove the #25 car to a second-place podium finish. It was the duo’s second consecutive podium after taking third place in Laguna Seca. For the team, following the celebrated 1-2 finish at the FIA World Endurance Championship race in Spa-Francorchamps, this marked its third success within just a few weeks – right before the major season highlight in June, the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Wittmann and Eng initially lost several positions from fourth on the grid in Detroit, but regained them thanks to the strategy of a late and, therefore, shorter pit stop. From that point on, closing driver Eng held second place and confidently defended it to the finish.

Philipp Eng (#25 BMW M Hybrid V8, BMW M Team WRT, 2nd place GTP): “Many thanks to the entire team. That was a strategic masterpiece! Marco drove a strong first stint and, after our pit stop brought us up to second place, I just had to bring the result home. That’s easier said than done on a tight circuit like Detroit, but in the end it worked out. I’m very happy for the whole crew.”

Marco Wittmann (#25 BMW M Hybrid V8, BMW M Team WRT, 2nd place GTP): “The second consecutive podium feels really good. I had a difficult start to the race and lost a few positions. At that moment it was clear that we could only move forward if we tried something different with the strategy. So I saved as much energy as possible to attempt an overcut. That worked perfectly, and the team managed to get us past the others during our pit stop and up to second place. Philipp did a great job afterwards. Many thanks to everyone!” Source: BMW Group

#10 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R third

Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor, drivers of the #10 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R, finished an impressive third to give Cadillac two spots on the podium. It is the third podium in a row in the city center of Detroit for the duo Albuquerque - Taylor.

Filipe Albuquerque (#10 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R) : “Detroit is treating us well in the races. Another podium. Three races in the city center of Detroit and three podiums. I’m happy with that coming from P7. Qualifying was frustrating, but turning that frustrating into a podium coming from P7, even with contact where I lost two positions. The team did a fantastic job. The car was good and Ricky just holding up everybody with the strategy that we took. It was risky, but it paid off. We are really happy with a podium, especially knowing our season, how it’s going, it shows that we never give up. We need to start somewhere and this is it. We start the momentum and let’s go forward.”

Ricky Taylor (#10 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R) : “Huge relief here in Detroit. Big day for Cadillac with a 1-3 result. Really happy for the team. We got very unlucky in qualifying with Filipe on a really good lap when the red flag came out. That could have totally changed our day, so the team was on the back foot at the start of the race. Again, nailed the strategy and put us in a good position to fight for a podium. I’m happy that everything worked out as planned and the team was flawless. Good momentum going into Le Mans. Happy for WTR and Cadillac.” Source: Cadillac Racing

Acura finished just shy of the podium

Acura finished just shy of the podium today in Detroit, with the #93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing duo of Nick Yelloly and Renger van der Zande coming home fourth in a contact-filled Detroit Sports Car Classic.

The #93 Acura ARX-06 avoided most of the carnage of the day, starting third and completing just one pit stop in the 'super sprint' 100-minute race, coming home fourth at the line. The team also took home the IMSA Sustainability Award for their efforts today. The award factors in tire use, energy use and finishing position to determine the GTP entry with the best overall sustainability accomplishments in a single race.

Nick Yelloly(#93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06)Finished fourth: "P4 at the end. I think with how the pit stop cycle went and our pace, we can be quite happy with that. We kept it clean, we got all the points that we could today. We will all bounce back in Watkins Glen, I'm sure. Great work from everyone as always and good points towards the championship." Source: Acura

Strong comeback from Porsche Penske Motorsport

After a disappointing qualifying session on Friday, the two Porsche 963 cars staged an impressive comeback during round five of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship on the tight Detroit street circuit. However, their efforts were not rewarded.

📷 © Porsche. Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 #6 ahead sister #7

Kévin Estre showed great determination from the start behind the wheel of the #6 car. With strong moves, the Frenchman consistently worked his way up the field, allowing his teammate Laurens Vanthoor to enter the second half of the race on course for the podium, thanks in part to a perfect strategy. At times, the gap to the second-place BMW was less than a second. But the fierce battles took their toll: Later in the race, a collision through no fault of their own necessitated an additional pit stop to replace the damaged 963 rear end. In the end, they finished eighth.
The sister car, #7, had a less eventful race. Felipe Nasr and Julien Andlauer drove consistently in the midfield of the GTP top category and finished the race in fifth place.

📷 © Porsche. Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 #7

Porsche is now in second place in the manufacturers’ championship. In the drivers’ standings, Laurin Heinrich (Germany) from the customer team JDC-Miller Motorsport is also in second place. The works driver duos Nasr/Andlauer and Estre/Vanthoor are in third and fifth place.

📷 © Porsche. Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 #6

Kévin Estre(Porsche 963 #6): “The first stint went really well, even though there were a lot of collisions and fierce battles on the tight street circuit. I fought my way up the field with everything I had. Our strategy was spot on. After the pit stop, we were in third place. Unfortunately, another driver rear-ended us shortly after that. We had to pit for repairs. In the end, eighth place was the best we could manage.“

Felipe Nasr (Porsche 963 #7): “We made the most of our limited resources on a difficult day. Fifth place was the absolute best we could do. We didn’t have the means to move up any further. We’ll take the points and focus on preparing thoroughly for the next race.“

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