Two out of two for Cadillac! After Daytona, the Detroit (Michigan) brand won a second consecutive pole position for the 12 hours from Sebring (Florida). And like at Daytona, it's even a 100% Cadillac front row, with the No. 31 in front of the No. 01. In 2024, the V-Series.R seems to be the queen of the fast lap in IMSA ! However, these are under conditions “difficult” that Pipo Derani took pole, at the end of a qualifying session truncated by a red flag caused by Mathieu Jaminet's accident on the Porsche n ° 6.
“It's never easy when you have a red flag and you only have to do one lap, confided the Brazilian, who even believes that the full potential of the Cadillac was not exploited on Friday during qualifying. I was told on the radio that I could potentially do a quick second lap if I attacked. So I attacked, but I was too close to the No. 40 Acura. I was able to take a tour, but I was a little disturbed. It wasn't a very clean lap, because [Louis Delétraz] made a few mistakes in front of me, so I lost a little bit of time trying to control that distance to make sure I guaranteed a lap in case I wouldn't have a second one. There was more to look for. It wasn't a perfect lap but it was enough to be on pole. »
Cadillac fears falling temperatures at Sebring
While we are delighted with this first row in the Cadillac clan, the American team nevertheless remains cautious ahead of the difficult test which awaits the GTPs this Saturday, on the demanding Sebring circuit. Beyond the atypical characteristics of the Florida track and its emblematic bumps, Cadillac fears nightfall and falling temperatures. The two V-Series.Rs could be in more difficulty against the Acuras and the Porsches in these conditions, like last year.
“With the GTPs, the Cadillac seems to be, at least here at Sebring, very strong in the heat of the day compared to the others. We tend to lose this advantage a little at night, believes Pipo Derani. Last year we saw Acura and Porsche very strong at the end. We restarted at the front and lost some of the advantage we had gained throughout the day. We led a lot of the race last year, but at the end we weren't as competitive as we were at the beginning. This is an area that the team has been working on since last year to try to improve. »
At Sebring, Cadillac will try to take revenge against Porsche after its defeat at the 24 Hours of Daytona. The BoP granted a little more power to the V-Series.R, despite an additional 30 kilograms of ballast, while the Porsche 963 lost 11kW of power on this second run.
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