A positive first day for Cadillac at the Roar

Cadillac failed to climb to the top of the timesheet on the first day of the Roar at Daytona, the qualifying weekend for the Florida classic. But for the manufacturer from Detroit (Michigan), the main thing was elsewhere.

The aim was above all to validate the components of the operating system and to find the right settings for the three V-LMDh when they were confronted with traffic for the first time.

142 laps completed

The three American prototypes thus totaled 142 laps, number 01 (Bourdais, van der Zande, Dixon) leading the charge with a best lap of 1:35.585, synonymous with third time in Free Practice 2 behind the two Acuras. 

Renger van der Zande was satisfied with this performance: “ In the second session we drove to the end and made some nice improvements to the systems. This is what you have to do at Roar: strive to optimize the settings. »

« Overall, it's a pretty positive day for Cadillac Racing, confirms his teammate Earl Bamber, lined up in the No. 02 Cadillac. It's a new era, so there's a lot of excitement in the paddock and it's great to see so many fans already there. We have two new cars (operated by Chip Ganassi Racing. Editor’s note), so we're developing everything as we go along and we're constantly learning, like throughout the development phase, we're always learning. I think the pace was good today and we will continue to go faster. »

Aitken gets his bearings

On the #31 Action Express Racing car, which remained mostly in the garage during the inaugural session, it was Jack Aitken who completed the majority of the laps in the afternoon session. The Briton, who will discover the Florida classic and its specificities, especially tried to get his bearings in the dense traffic specific to the International Speedway.

 « There were a lot of people on the track and it's good to get an idea of ​​what the race will be like, he testifies. We weren't necessarily looking to do good laps, because we'll have to deal with traffic. It was about finding a rhythm, overtaking the backmarkers and doing it without taking too many risks. The car was solid. We have a good baseline from the December test and the track is still mellowing out, so it has little grip at the moment. It will improve as the week progresses. »

Meet at 17:15 p.m. (French time) for the third of the weekend's five Free Practice sessions.

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