Pipo Derani, a two-time IMSA champion for Action Express Racing and Cadillac, will not return to Whelen Cadillac Racing in 2025. Derani posted on Instagram that he and Action Express Racing have agreed to part ways at the end of the season. “We have …
Pipo Derani, a two-time IMSA champion for Action Express Racing and Cadillac, will not return to Whelen Cadillac Racing in 2025.
Derani posted on Instagram that he and Action Express Racing have agreed to part ways at the end of the season.
“We have mutually agreed not to go forward together past this year,” Derani said in the post. “We’ve had a fantastic time together with two championships, two endurance championships and many race wins and pole positions. I truly have enjoyed my time with this team and with Cadillac. I appreciate everything they’ve given me, what they’ve done for my career and all the good times we’ve had together will forever be in my memory. It’s time to go win a third championship this year together before both of us move different ways.”
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Derani won the 2021 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship DPi title with Felipe Nasr for the team, and followed it up with the successor GTP championship with Alexander Sims, as well as the Michelin Endurance Cup. He and Jack Aitken currently sit fourth in the 2024 GTP points.
Amid swirling rumors about who will take over the Cadillac Racing program from Chip Ganassi Racing – with Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti being the rumored candidate – Derani is the first confirmed driver change in GTP for 2025. Neither Action Express Racing nor Cadillac has given any indication that AXR would not be returning with Cadillac next season.
Felipe Drugovich will co-drive the No. 311 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R with Pipo Derani and Jack Aitken at the 92nd 24 Hours of Le Mans in June. The 2022 Formula 2 champion, who currently fills the role of test and reserve driver for the Aston Martin …
Felipe Drugovich will co-drive the No. 311 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R with Pipo Derani and Jack Aitken at the 92nd 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.
The 2022 Formula 2 champion, who currently fills the role of test and reserve driver for the Aston Martin F1 team, joins the Cadillac Racing effort for his first Le Mans start and his first appearance in the Hypercar class.
“Felipe has been on our radar for a couple of years,” Action Express Racing team manager Gary Nelson said. “After watching him race a sports car in the ELMS recently, we finally got a chance to meet him and work with him in some simulator testing. We were impressed by his maturity, discipline and knowledge.
“Next, we took Felipe to a track test, where he shared our car with Pipo and Jack. We are very excited to take the next obvious step and enter Felipe alongside Pipo and Jack at Le Mans. His record speaks volumes.”
Drugovich posted eight victories and five pole starts in 73 Formula 2 starts in 2020-2022, earning the championship with five victories, four poles and 11 podiums. He earned a record 14 victories in 16 races in winning the 2018 Euroformula Open Championship and was also the 2017-18 MRF Challenge Formula 2000 champion with 10 wins in 16 races.
As for sportscar racing, he brings LMP2 experience to the team gained from his current European Le Mans Series campaign in the highly competitive LMP2 class with Vector Sport.
“I am only 23-years-old, and I am having the most important opportunity in my racing car career until now thanks to Action Express and Cadillac,” said Drugovich.
“The 24 Hours of Le Mans is impossible to define in words, such is its magic and importance for cars in general and motor racing in particular. I am having the opportunity to live this 100 years history for the first time with AXR and Cadillac.”
With Drugovich down to race the Action Express-run Cadillac for Le Mans, Vector Sport has signed Patrick Pilet to fill his usual seat alongside Ryan Cullen and Stephane Richelmi for the 24 Hours.
Speaking with RACER last weekend at Paul Ricard during the ELMS meeting, Vector Sport team principal Gary Holland revealed that the team knew about Drugovich’s Cadillac drive long in advance. This allowed it to secure the signature of Porsche factory driver Patrick Pilet in his place for Le Mans alongside its full-season ELMS pairing of Ryan Cullen and Stephane Richelmi.
“For the past three years we’ve been in touch with Patrick about working with us on various programmes, but it never reached the finish line previously for one reason or another,” said Holland.
“He’s got a lot of experience, and ticks a lot of boxes, he’s done GTs at a high level as a Porsche factory driver and was part of the conversation when we were putting together a Hypercar programme (with Isotta Fraschini). As we stand it’s a one-off drive for Patrick with us, but never say never.
“As for Felipe, there was always the potential (for him to join Cadillac for the race) from day one. We are really happy for him. It’s good for him and it’s good for us because of Pilet’s experience in LMP2 with the Le Mans configuration. It’s plug and play.”
Pilet was in attendance at the ELMS 4 Hours of Le Castellet and completed a seat fit with Vector Sport on-site in preparation for his debut with the team. The 2024 Le Mans 24 Hours will be Pilet’s 16th start and fifth in LMP2.
Jack Aitken is stepping into the driver vacancy left by Alexander Sims moving to Corvette, and taking on the full-time position from his previous third-driver role for Cadillac Racing. He will join Pipo Derani as the full-season driver in the No. 31 …
Jack Aitken is stepping into the driver vacancy left by Alexander Sims moving to Corvette, and taking on the full-time position from his previous third-driver role for Cadillac Racing. He will join Pipo Derani as the full-season driver in the No. 31 Action Express Racing V-Series.R GTP car for the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season. Aitken was a part of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring-winning lineup for the team in March, as well as joining Derani and Sims for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
“Ever since I started this program with Cadillac Racing and Whelen Engineering, everybody has been incredibly kind and passionate in helping push me and the team forward,” said Aitken. “This is one of the reasons I’m incredibly excited to become a full-time member of the team next year. The competitiveness of IMSA and the quality of the calendar are another couple of reasons, and I thoroughly enjoy the style of racing I’ve experienced already this year in my endurance outings. I have to say a big thank you to Cadillac and Whelen Engineering for their continued faith in me as well as both of my teammates, Pipo and Alex.”
Aitken, a 27-year old driver of Scottish and Korean heritage from London, is part of a series of driver shuffles taking place as the 2023 season gets closer to its conclusion. Jordan Taylor is leaving Corvette to drive for Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport and Acura. Sims is taking Taylor’s place with Antonio Garcia, Tommy Milner and Nicky Catsburg at Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller, which will campaign two Z06 GT3.Rs in GTD PRO.
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“Jack came to the top of all the categories late last year when we were researching the various drivers who would be available for our endurance role,” team manager Gary Nelson said of the former Williams F1 reserve driver. “He has proven to be fast on the track, a fast learner of the GTP car and an asset to the team. We see Jack being a great pairing with Pipo in his expanded role next season.”
Aitken, teaming with Derani and Sims, brought the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R to Victory Circle following a pressure-packed final stint in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in March. The trio also finished second at Watkins Glen in June, where Aitken recorded the fastest lap among GTP entries.
Derani, Sims and Aitken currently lead the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup standings after three of the four races. Derani and Sims are a close second in the IMSA GTP teams’ and drivers’ championship standings with two races remaining.
“Alex came in with Formula E experience and that was huge for us,” Nelson said. “He is a tremendous asset for the whole team understanding the hybrid unit. For us to learn those things early on was very beneficial. Alex and Pipo make a great pair, and Alex is a big part of our championship run.”
An additional team driver for the 2024 IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup — which grows to five races next year with the addition of a six-hour race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway — will be announced at a later date.
It was the sort of thing that could have ended a championship – a snap spin on cold tires in the morning warmup that sent the No. 31 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R backwards into the wall driver’s left at Road America’s Turn 13. Alexander Sims, the …
It was the sort of thing that could have ended a championship – a snap spin on cold tires in the morning warmup that sent the No. 31 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R backwards into the wall driver’s left at Road America’s Turn 13. Alexander Sims, the driver who lost the car on the second lap of the warmup, was dejected, but fortunately unhurt. The car though, was loaded onto the flatbed with a hook, not rolled. That was the first sign that it was bad.
On a weekend with a typical Sunday schedule, it would be a herculean effort to get the car ready for the race. But the IMSA SportsCar Weekend at Road America didn’t have a normal schedule. Instead of a typical start time in the early afternoon, the race was scheduled for a green flag at 10:10 a.m. – less than two hours after the car arrived back in Action Express Racing’s paddock spot at 8:22.
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One thing was sure, that the car would not be starting on pole despite Pipo Derani setting the fast time in qualifying the day before. At best, it would start last in the GTP field. Worse, Derani might have to start from pit lane and then serve a drive-through penalty should the car not be ready to roll off the grid with the rest of the cars. The worst scenario? The car doesn’t make the race at all, and instead of just losing their championship lead, AXR is thrown into a points hole too deep to climb from.
The list of needs was long – it wasn’t just rear wing and bodywork, but a broken undertray, a lot of bent and broken suspension bits and a gearbox case with a big chunk missing. Plus, the hybrid components have to be replaced if they are exposed to g-forces above a certain level, and the crash exceeded that G-load.
The crew went to work. They had done a similar operation in 90 minutes at Le Mans, so they knew it was possible. Bodywork was pulled off, the broken gearbox/suspension assembly was removed as were the parts of the hybrid that aren’t contained within the gearbox housing, and installation of the new one began. In less than 30 minutes from the car arriving in the paddock, the new assembly had been mated to the car and the new hybrid components had been installed.
Then, simultaneously, bolts were being tightened in the rear, hoses reconnected and tied up with zip ties, and the brakes were being bled. Then the new undertray was going into place. At 9:42 a.m., the engine was fired, the gearbox run through the gears, and then rolled out of the paddock to the grid to cheers of spectators who had gathered to watch the odyssey.
“It was a great effort by the entire team, including Pipo handing off wrenches and being fully engaged, to get the car on the grid for the warmup laps and take the green flag with no mechanical issues,” said AXR Team Manager Gary Nelson. “The crew worked systematically and, as always, professionally. We are appreciative of the crew of the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R checking if we needed any parts or assistance. Cadillac Racing works as one team. We’ll soldier on.”
The No. 31 no longer had quite the pace it had exhibited during the weekend, and Nelson’s use of the word “soldier” is an apt description. Survive 2h40m of racing, collect some points for sixth place, and move on to Indianapolis.
“We take the positives from what the crew and team did to get the car into the race after what happened in warmup to Alex on cold tires,” said Derani. “Just to have gone into the race to score some points is great. Obviously, a difficult situation with the tires being too cold in warmup and getting Alex off-guard. We’ve being seeing that happen a lot this year. It was us today and could be someone else tomorrow.
“We leave here without the lead in the championship, but it’s one of those things that are out of your control. But the positive is we finished the race and scored points in the championship.”
With 30 minutes until green, the Action Express Racing crew expressed confidence that the No. 31 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R would make the race after Alexander Sims’ crash in warmup. “It just snapped,” was Sims explanation of the accident. With only …
With 30 minutes until green, the Action Express Racing crew expressed confidence that the No. 31 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R would make the race after Alexander Sims’ crash in warmup.
“It just snapped,” was Sims explanation of the accident.
With only two hours between warmup and race start, the Action Express Racing crew worked feverishly to repair the Cadillac. The championship-leading car was set to start on pole for today’s race, but will have to start from pit lane and serve a drive-through penalty after missing the recon lap.
The car sustained damage to the rear suspension and gearbox. The crew replaced the gearbox and rear suspension as a unit. The hybrid components also had to be replaced due to the crash exceeding the g-load rating. Driver Pipo Derani, who had set the quickest time in qualifying, lent a hand where he could, delivering parts and tools. The Chip Ganassi Racing squad offered help of parts or manpower as well, although AXR had the situation under control
By 8:55, the crew had the new hybrid unit and rear and was bleeding the brakes. At 9:30, bodywork and the undertray were going back onto the car, while mechanics were still tightening bolts at the rear and otherwise checking and buttoning up. The car was still in the air as of 9:40am.
The fresh pavement at Road America may prove to be quite a challenge for Sunday’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race, but in qualifying it was producing record laps in most classes. With most of the day having been somewhat overcast until …
The fresh pavement at Road America may prove to be quite a challenge for Sunday’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race, but in qualifying it was producing record laps in most classes. With most of the day having been somewhat overcast until qualifying, track temperatures were kept a bit lower than they might have been, and it showed in ultimate speed.
Pipo Derani, with both Cadillacs having been at the top in the practice sessions, might have been an easy pick to score the pole position, and he delivered with a 1m47.730s in the Action Express Racing V-Series.R. That time, a 135.27mph average around the 4.048-mile circuit, was nearly a second better than the old DPi lap record set by Dane Cameron in an Acura in 2019, the first time the GTPs have been quicker than their predecessors all season. It also brought critical points for Derani and Alexander Sims as they attempt to maintain their championship lead.
“With the new tarmac, it’s very important to be out front not only because it will be hard to overtake GTs on the outside, being so slippery. Also, in the moment that we are in the championship, to be starting out front has a big impact, I would say,” Derani explained. “Back when I won the championship in 2021, it was decided on the minimum, like one or two, three points. Being able to take these extra points home could mean something at the end of the championship.”
Derani set the quick time, then brought the Cadillac into the pits to put on a new set of tires to scrub for the race while waiting to see if Sebastien Bourdais in the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac could better his time. Not only did Bourdais fall 0.3s short at 1m48.036s, the Cadillac front-row party was spoiled by Matt Campbell in the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsports 963 who posted a 1m47.798s lap — pace not shown by any of the Porsches previously during the weekend, something Derani says isn’t too surprising to him.
“I think during practice there’s so many different programs that you do with your own team that you don’t really necessarily know each one’s true pace until qualifying comes. What we do know is that the GTP class has been very close and so you would never discard anyone before the checkered flag in qualifying. Not surprised. I think it’s good for the championship that everyone is very close. It’s good for the fans, and it puts an extra pressure on the team to execute races and execute practices and qualifying at a very high level, because you know that anything can can make a difference in the end.”
Filipe Albuquerque qualified fourth with a 1m48.156s lap in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Acura ARX-06 to start on the outside of the second row alongside Bourdais. Connor De Phillippi will start the No. 25 BMW M Team RLL M Hybrid V8 on the inside of the third row, with Colin Braun in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura alongside.
George Kurtz, who might have been racing elsewhere were he not leading the LMP2 championship with Ben Hanley, qualified the No. 04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR ORECA on the LMP2 pole with a 1m53.621s lap — more than half a second better than Rodrigo Sales in the No. 8 Tower Motorsports ORECA.
Kurrtz’s closest rivals in the championship, which was practically a dead heat coming into Road America, will start on the second row. Richard Dole/Lumen
Steven Thomas qualified the No. 11 TDS Racing entry third at 1m54.296s, with Ben Keating putting the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA on the outside of row two.
Nico Pino, who had a scary moment launching off the end of the curb at the exit of Turn 1 with all four wheels in the air, still managed to claim the LMP3 pole. Pino, a late substitution for Lance Willsey in the No. 33 Sean Creech Motorsport Ligier, turned a record 1m57.930s lap before he took flight to claim the pole by nearly a second. Bijoy Garg, making his first start in WeatherTech Championship, qualified second in the No. 29 Jr III Racing Ligier. Garg was supposed to partnering with Linus Lundqvist for his debut, but with Lundqvist getting the call-up from Meyer Shank Racing to drive their IndyCar in Nashville, he is instead driving with Colin Noble. Gar Robinson qualified the No. 74 Riley Motorsports Ligier third with a 1m58.224s.
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“This is the first time for me in Road America. I just got here for P1,” said Pino. “It was a lot of learning. We struggled a little bit through the practice sessions so we had to make big changes for qualifying, which obviously worked out. Then tried to explore the limits a little bit through the session, of course having some airtime at one point. Yeah, pretty happy with pole. It’s…a good position for tomorrow’s race, so we’ll now analyze and see how we can improve on being in great position for tomorrow.”
The GTD records were obliterated as well, with Alex Riberas beating the previous records by more than 2s in taking the pole for GTD PRO as Heart of Racing looks to repeat its double victory from Lime Rock. Riberas’s 2m02.918s (118.56mph) in the No. 23 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 was a scant 0.057s better than Daniel Juncadella in the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes AMG. Jordan Taylor qualified third in GTD PRO in the No. 3 Corvette Racing C8.R with a 2m03.143s lap.
After some early struggles, Riberas is giving back to the Heart of Racing crew that have toughed things out and turned the year around in a big way. Geoffrey Miller/Lumen
“A great day for Heart of Racing overall,” said Riberas. “It’s been a tough year so far. A lot of things that went against our way in terms of strategy, some mistakes, some things that didn’t quite work for our car, and we had to overcome those. But at the end of the day, momentum plays a massive role in terms of performance and in terms of getting the outcome, so I feel like we have that momentum right now…after the win at Lime Rock. The guys are doing a phenomenal job getting the car ready after the big crash that Ross [Gunn] had at Mosport. It just feels very special to be able to give them back a reward for all of those super long hours of work that they had to endure.”
Madison Snow will start the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 on the outside of the second row as he scored his first GTD pole since the qualifying format was opened up to either driver. His 2m03.291s lap reset the GTD record held by Ben Keating since 2019.
“It’s a tight field, a lot of cars and if you have to work your way up to the pack, it’s definitely a challenge. We’ve been in a tight competition with the Heart of Racing car, so every little point that you can get matters and the points add up at the end of the year.”
Snow’s closest pursuer in qualifying, Brendan Iribe in the No. 70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S GT3, will start directly behind the BMW, with Jack Hawksworth having qualified the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 fourth in GTD PRO and fifth overall. Iribe was only 0.091s off Snow’s best lap. Klaus Bachler put the GTD PRO No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R seventh overall to provide more separation to the third-place GTD car, Frankie Montecalvo in the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus.
Mike Skeen was fourth in GTD in the No. 31 Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes AMG, followed by Roman De Angelis in the No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin.
UP NEXT A 20-minute warm-up session at 8am local time ahead of a 10:10am Central time race start.
It was another Cadillac Racing one-two in the second practice session for Sunday’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race at Road America, this time with Pipo Derani at the top for Action Express Racing. His 1m47.986s – good for 134.95mph …
It was another Cadillac Racing one-two in the second practice session for Sunday’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race at Road America, this time with Pipo Derani at the top for Action Express Racing. His 1m47.986s – good for 134.95mph around the 4.048-mile, 14-turn circuit – was 0.201s quicker than Chip Ganassi Racing’s Sebastien Bourdais in the second Cadillac V-Series.R, reversing the order from the first practice.
“It was a positive day for all of us at Cadillac Racing,” said Derani. “A better order in the second practice, I would say. Jokes aside, it’s not only being quick in practice one and expecting to be quick in practice two. You have to keep working on it, trying different things to find a little bit here and a little bit there. It was a good start but obviously the competition is very stiff and strong. It’s a long track and a small mistake going really quick can cost you a couple of tenths and a position. Trying to put everything together is not easy and that’s why we’re trying to have a car that’s good and easier to achieve the desired lap times.
“Practice is very tight and we shouldn’t expect anything different in qualifying, which means that every detail is going to count,” Derani added.
Ricky Taylor was another 0.411s back in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Acura ARX-06. The two BMW M Team RLL M Hybrid V8s were fourth and fifth, Connor De Phillippi in the No. 25 besting Philipp Eng in the No. 24. Nick Tandy was the best of the Porsches in the Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 in sixth, just edging Mike Rockenfeller in the No. 5 JDC-Miller 963.
The new pavement at Road America has more grip, at least on the racing line, and is producing times below track records in several classes, indicating that several records will fall in qualifying. Even the GTP cars were under the DPi track record, set in 2019 by Dane Cameron at 1m48.715s.
The newfound traction on line has a price, though – a marked difference in traction once a car strays off the rubbered-in pavement, making passing in the race a challenge, and it has contributed to the plethora of session interruptions for crashes.
“It was very messy and very difficult to get a read with the red flags,” said Corvette Racing’s Antonio Garcia after the first practice session. “The track is tricky in a way. There is definitely way more grip overall. In years before, the racing line was way wider so you had room to find your way or choose your line. Here it is a tiny bit different. You need to really stick to the line, otherwise the drop-off in grip is quite fast. That’s why I think there were so many mistakes and offs and crashes. It’s going to be tricky in the race when you get passed or need to pass.”
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The second session was better than the first, in which more than a third of the practice time was lost to red flags. The second session had three stoppages — one for a harmless spin, but two for significant crashes. The first heavy crash was Steven Thomas in the No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA LMP2 car toward the exit of the Carousel, the second was Mike Skeen in the No. 32 Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes AMG crashing in The Kink.
Mikael Grenier had previously set the GTD fast time in the No. 32, which held as the fast GT time overall until the final 15 minutes, when the pro classes had the track to themselves. Grenier’s 2m4.327s (117.213mph) was quicker than the existing GTD record set by Bean Keating, also in a Mercedes AMG, in 2019 by almost a second.
Grenier bested Madison Snow in the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 by 0.287s. Frederik Schandorff was third at 2m4.911s for Inception Racing in the No. 70 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo. Seb Priaulx (No. 80 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R) and Bill Auberlen (No. 97 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3) competed the top five.
Once the qualifying simulations for the pro classes began in the final 15 minutes, the GTD PRO cars went to the top of the time sheet, Jordan Taylor turning the top time of 2m3.712s (117.8mph) in the No. 3 Corvette Racing C8.R. That time was a relatively large margin over second-place Daniel Juncadella’s 1m4.183s in the No. 29 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes AMG GT3. Jack Hawksworth was third in the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 at 2m4.225s. All the GTD PRO cars were within a second and all under Hawksworth’s track record set last year.
Ryan Dalziel, who with Dwight Merriman is the defending race winner in the No. 18 Era Motorsport ORECA, set the fast time in LMP2 at 1m52.244s (129.831mph), followed by George Kurtz in the No. 04 Crowdstrike Racing ORECA by 0.248s). Louis Deletraz was third at 1m52.581s for Tower Motorsports in the No. 8.
Garett Grist led LMP3 at 1m58.069s in the No. 30 Jr III Racing Ligier. Matthew Bell was second in the No. 13 AWA Racing Duqueine with a 1m58.488s lap. Gerry Kraut was third in the No. 85 JDC-Miller Motorsports Duqueine, another 0.186s back of Kraut.
UP NEXT: Qualifying in three separate sessions begins Saturday at 2:15pm Eastern. It will be carried live on IMSA.tv.
As Cadillac V-Series.R prototypes compete on two continents this weekend – in the GTP class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in Long Beach and in the Hypercar class of the FIA World Endurance Championship in the six-hour race at …
As Cadillac V-Series.R prototypes compete on two continents this weekend — in the GTP class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in Long Beach and in the Hypercar class of the FIA World Endurance Championship in the six-hour race at Portimao in Portugal — the Cadillac Racing teams are looking forward to the 24 Hour of Le Mans and working toward success in the world’s biggest endurance race.
For Action Express Racing, that will be a new experience. And while its No. 3 will see action in the six-hour race at Spa in two weeks’ time, Chip Ganassi Racing will run that car alongside its No. 2, with support and observation by key AXR personnel.
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“We’re fortunate to have the opportunity with CGR at Spa,” said AXR director of operations Chris Mitchum, who will travel to Spa for the race. “We will be much more than an interested watching party. Bill Keuler, our crew chief, will work on the 3 car with the Ganassi group. We’ve all gotten to this one-team point where we know each other and work together well.
“Not being a WEC team nor competing in the WEC, there are a lot of nuances that we know we don’t understand. One of our biggest goals is to understand the tech and inspection process. Having Bill as a mechanic on the ground to go through that and having myself there to watch the bigger picture and understand the flow is important to understand what the WEC officials are looking for and how the other teams operate. We want to take in as much as we can, and this is the best we can do without actually operating a car there.”
That won’t be the only preparation for Le Mans, as the team will do an endurance test at Road America with drivers Pipo Derani, Alexander Sims and Jack Aitken — the victorious trio from the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
“CGR is doing an endurance test. We’re doing a two-day test at Road America with all three drivers with our WEC car, so that’s our Le Mans preparation. That will work out well,” Mitchum explained. “They’ll drive the car they’re going to drive at Le Mans, use the seat insert they use. We’ll work though all our test procedures, and GM has a tight list of things that need to get accomplished. I think in doing that, it’s the best preparation we can have with the landscape as it is.”
The logistics in conducting a multi-continent campaign, especially with the current supply chain issues and shortage of spares, is challenging, although Mitchum notes that the capabilities to move cars and equipment is much more advanced than the last time he looked at going to Le Mans 15 years ago. But the team still has to get the car from the Road America test to France, and much of the other equipment and spares are already on the way.
“We have some great partners that we’re utilizing. You end up dividing your thought process between what parts and pieces you can operate in IMSA without them here and what parts and pieces you need,” Mitchum said. “Our biggest challenge is how do we operate at the spares level we want, on two different continents effectively at the same time. You don’t want to just air freight everything; you have to be realistic. Our sea container with support pieces and parts that we need left when we landed here in Long Beach and then we’ll air freight our car just after Laguna.”
The team will still have a car in the U.S., the one it will race in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen. But the team will have everything it needs to keep going should the worst happen.
“We will still take our primary car, a spare tub and all the spares we need so that we operate on our disaster-times-two plan the same as we would in IMSA as we would over in France. We’ve outfitted the inside of that sea container so if we need to do some fabrication work, we can use it as a workshop. There is not a stress level of how is it going to come together; it’s constant attention.”
Mitchum and the team are realistic in their expectations for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. What they do expect is to learn as much as possible in order to be better when Action Express competes there again.
One more surprising outcome of the dramatic three-car accident that eliminated the top-three running GTP cars with only 19 minutes remaining in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring was that anger was largely absent in the reactions afterward from the …
One more surprising outcome of the dramatic three-car accident that eliminated the top-three running GTP cars with only 19 minutes remaining in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring was that anger was largely absent in the reactions afterward from the drivers involved. Instead, the prevailing emotion was of sadness at how fate had conspired to shuffle the deck and enable the No. 31 Action Express Cadillac to navigate through the wreck and go on to win…tinged, in the case of Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport’s Filipe Albuquerque, with an insistence that, faced with the same situation, he’d do the same thing again.
The race-defining accident involved the three front-running cars. Albuquerque in the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06, pulled up alongside Mathieu Jaminet in the leading No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 hoping to overtake at Turn 3 as they came upon slower GT cars. Instead, Albuquerque went wide to avoid the Porsche that was also trying to avoid another car and the No. 10 ran off course. When Albuquerque’s Acura came back across the track, it hit Jaminet’s race-leading Porsche. They also collected the third-place No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 driven by Felipe Nasr in the melee.
While labeling the outcome “sad,” Albuquerque says that given the same circumstances, he would make the same move again.
“What a sad ending,” said Albuquerque. “Unfortunately, in the last pit stop, the Porsche managed to pass us. We were P3. It was kind of crazy that all my laps were in the lead and the last 20 minutes, I was behind somebody, which was weird. We knew the No. 31 had no chance because he had old tires and the fight was with the Porsche ahead of me. I think we had a little bit of an edge on them, but staying behind it was super hard to follow, so it needed to be done in traffic.
“The traffic came and I saw a hole — tight, but I saw it. I think he (Jaminet) moved, but I need to see the replay again because I don’t want to place blame on anybody. I think I was there and then there was contact with the two of us, and the second touch threw me completely in the grass and I couldn’t stop the car then I was a bowling ball, just knocking cars down.
“It was pretty brutal where I got hit once and then somebody hit me. I just felt like I was getting thrown from one side to another, but these cars are safe and I’m good, that’s what’s most important. It’s sad to not get the win when we had such a strong car and for the WTR Andretti team, they put a lot of energy into this. I’m not a guy to finish P2, I give it my all and I would do the same again.”
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Jaminet had a similar viewpoint, describing the incident as a lamentable inevitability of close-quarters racing. “I didn’t know he was there. And then I realized he’s there, so I tried to move to the right,” he related. “But he’s in the grass, and then he lost control, and then that caused the accident. So that’s really unfortunate.”
“It’s kind of standard Sebring at the end of the race,” said Jaminet’s co-driver, Dane Cameron. “It gets pretty rowdy in the night, the restarts in the dark and you come up on GTs. Obviously, it’s disappointing to end this way, but I must say I’m very, very proud of Mathieu. He was flying and doing a fantastic job and put us in position to win. It’s unfortunate it ended the way that it did but I’m very proud of all the boys and girls on the team. It’s been very difficult and many, many, many hours preparing. It’s a shame but I understand what Mathieu was doing there and it’s just unfortunate.”
A big crash while the leaders were trying to navigate traffic in the final stage of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring took out the top three GTP cars as well as several GT cars, and produced a surprise winner that should have been no surprise. The …
A big crash while the leaders were trying to navigate traffic in the final stage of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring took out the top three GTP cars as well as several GT cars, and produced a surprise winner that should have been no surprise.
The pole-sitting No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R of Pipo Derani, Alexander Sims and Jack Aitken, Aitken at the wheel for the finish, won the Twelve Hours of Sebring, with the No. 25 BMW M Team RLL M Hybrid V8 of Nick Yelloly, Connor De Phillippi and Sheldon van der Linde finishing second. The LMP2 winner, the No. 8 Tower Motorsports ORECA of John Farano, Kyffin Simpson and Scott McLaughlin finished third overall.
The No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsports squad of Mathieu Jaminet, Nick Tandy and Dane Cameron finished third in GTP while their wrecked heap of a 963 was carried on a flatbed back to the Penske transporter.
With several late-race yellows, a fight to the finish was set up with the top five GTP cars on the lead lap all full of fuel and with fresh tires. Jaminet led Filipe Albuquerque in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Acura ARX-06 with Jaminet’s teammate Felipe Nasr’s No. 7 PPM 963 in third. As Jaminet hit traffic in Turn 1, Albuquerque attacked and went inside. But as Jaminet was trying to navigate a pack of GT cars, he moved left, Albuquerque went off track, lost control and slid through the inside of Turn 3, hitting Jaminet’s Porsche on the other side of the apex. Nasr was next on the scene, hit the Acura, and then the No. 6. All three cars were done, and Aitken sailed through for the victory.
“It was a very, very tough race and we were trying to hold our position as good as we could,” said Aitken, the third driver in the No. 31 for the endurance races. “But the other guys were fighting extremely hard. At some point, you have to realize when it’s time to give up, and that’s part of the reason that we made it to the end today. We all drove pretty smart, I think as well as racing as hard as we could when we had the pace. But yeah, there was a little bit waiting for an accident to happen at some points in that race.”
It was a little bit improbable that AXR would be in a position to be fighting at the end. Derani started the race double-stinting the Michelin tires that he qualified on. Part way through the second stint, the car became a handful and Derani started sliding backward through the field, putting him in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“I think we underestimated a little bit of the fact that it was quite hot out there,” Derani explained. “We knew that we couldn’t make it, especially if went green most of the race, on the amount of tires that we had. So we tried to be a little aggressive in the beginning to have more tires at the end. The second half of the second stint was quite difficult. Very quickly after that I had a contact with a LMP3 That spun right in front of me, so had to had to stop for repairs and so removed that set of tires from the car.”
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The No. 31 nosed into the P3 car, damaging the front clip and pushing it into the tire. Shedding bodywork, the team tried to keep the car out until the pits opened, but it wasn’t going to make it. Between that and a stop-plus-10s penalty for an improperly served emergency service obligation, the team went down a lap with about 10 hours left in the race — plenty of time to get it back, and with under five hours to go, Derani was in the lead again.
However, he quickly discovered he didn’t have the pace to stay there. And later in the race, Aitken also realized the car didn’t have what they needed to fight for victory without the incident taking out the top three.
The victory was the fourth Sebring win for Derani, and put the AXR team into the championship lead.
After overcoming early setbacks, the Porsche Penske Motorsports, Porsche 963s showed winning pace…until the late chaos. Michael Levitt/Motorsport Images
The Porsches had the pace at the end, but they had some issues early on, including a puncture for the No. 6, then an incident with Tandy in the car when he slowed suddenly and then opened the door, proceeding to the pit where the crew tightened a hose after Tandy complained of a “weird gas.”
And, like every Sebring, the race had its share of bizarre incidents; but the most bizarre was Robert Mau in the No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports Ligier hitting the No. 6 963 with Cameron at the wheel during a yellow flag. While the field was behind the safety car, the No. 38 drove hard into the 963 as the wave-around process started, heavily damaging the Ligier and inflicting rear bodywork damage on the Porsche. Despite all that, they were there for the fight at the end, and without the notorious Sebring traffic, might have cruised to victory. But hard, aggressive racing took over.
“I’m really sorry to all the Porsche Penske motorsport group and team, all the Porsche family for that,” said Jaminet. “And luckily, I’m OK, Filipe’s OK, that’s the most important thing.
“We were racing hard — with 30 to go everybody pretty much goes all in. The 10 went on the left in the grass. And from what I saw on the outside the camera, I moved more to the left. But the thing is, I didn’t know he was there. And then I realized he’s there, so I tried to move to the right. But he’s in the grass, and then he lost control, and then that caused the accident. So that’s really unfortunate. I’m also really sorry for the 10. Filipe apologized straight away coming out of the car for his move trying to go down in the grass. So in the end, I believe it’s a really unfortunate racing accident, both drivers being fully at the limit.”
Like the 31, the No. 25 BMW went down a lap, only it was late in the race while the crew was working on the brakes. But yellows breeding yellows, they were able to get the lap back in short order and be there at the end.
“It’s Sebring, right? Last 20 minutes guaranteed, there’s always gonna be a crash of some sort, and normally it’s for the lead,” said De Phillippi. “I’ve been taken out twice from the lead myself. So from the start of the race, I told both my teammates Nick and Sheldon, if we just can be there at the end, just be on the bumper, something is bound to happen. And we had a clean race, all the guys did great stops, we kept the car in one piece … yeah, we didn’t have the perfect, outright pace. But at the end of the day it’s only our second race with the car and second race with the prototype car as a team and as a manufacturer. So hats off to everybody on the team at BMW and Dallara and all of our partners. I’m just super proud of everybody in this program.”
Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian’s chances ended late in the race when the No. 60 Acura ARX-06 lost a wheel. Two of the other GTPs had gone out earlier, the first being the No. 24 BMW M Team RLL car that had a technical issue and was retired after 172 laps. Sebastien Bourdais was looking quite strong in the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing, easily taking the lead from Derani on a restart with a little less than four hours to go and pulling out a lead.
But it all went up in smoke, literally, after 241 laps, Bourdais pulling into the pits with a fire. The team described it as a “fuel distribution issue,” one that had not occurred in testing or at Daytona.
“It’s obviously pretty disappointing for everybody,” said Bourdais. “The guys did a great job. A couple of incidents that kind of put us out of sequence and then we paid the price with the double stints on tires. Renger (van der Zande) did a heck of a job hanging onto the car because it was well over two stints on the tires and not easy. And a typical safety car reset the field. We had a great restart from last to ninth and we worked out way to the lead with a great pit stop by the guys.”
Tower Motorsports had a lot to cope with en route to victory in LMP2 for John Farano, Scott McLaughlin and Kyffin Simpson. Jake Galstad/Lumen
The LMP2 win and overall third for the Tower Motorsports squad seemed a remote possibility when Kyffin Simpson had an off and backed the No. 8 ORECA into the tire wall, breaking the rear wing. But the team got the car back together and stayed in the fight, McLaughlin finally holding off the No. 11 TDS Racing squad of Mikkel Jensen, Steven Thomas and Scott Huffaker in second.
“Unfortunately, Kyffin had that little moment, but he’s been flawless for the two races I’ve been with him,” said IndyCar Series driver McLaughlin after his second race in LMP2 and first at Sebring. “The team really did the right strategy and kept us on the lead lap, fixed our bodywork, thankfully the car was straight and we had a really fast race car. I was able to just use the right strategy calls from the team and and manufacture a result there at the end.
“But it was pretty full on — it was pretty hard racing at the end and definitely difficult. This is probably the darkest race I’ve ever been a part of, I’ve never seen anything like it. So I was just building up confidence every lap out there at night. Particularly racing with people but yeah, I really enjoyed it. Just really stoked for everyone — for John, Kyffin and the team.”
Christian Rasmussen, Dwight Merriman and Ryan Dalziel were third in the No. 18 Era Motorsports ORECA – also an unlikely podium finisher after an early spin and a couple of penalties left them digging themselves out of a hole. Five cars finished on the same lap, the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports car in fourth, followed by the No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR ORECA.
Riley Motorsports trio of Gar Robinson, Felipe Fraga and Josh Burdon dodged Sebring’s bullets to claim LMP3 honors. Michael Levitt/Motorsport Images
LMP3 was shaping up to be fight to the finish between the No. 74 Riley Motorsports Ligier and the No. 30 Jr III Racing Ligier until luck in the form of another full-course-caution-causing incident toward the end that set up the Big One. Shortly after a restart, Pietro Fittipaldi went off course and hit the tires. A wheel from Fittipaldi’s No. 51 Rick Ware Racing ORECA LMP2 bounced across track — whether that was the cause or the result of the crash is unknown. Fraga in the No. 74 avoided it, Grist in the No. 30 hit it square-on as it fell from the sky. That left Fraga a lap in the lead in the car he shared with Gar Robinson and Josh Burdon, able to cruise to victory.
“I saw the wheel,” said Fraga. “First my team told me that there was a car in the wall in Turn 1. But we were racing tight at that moment when I hit Turn 1 and I saw the wheel coming to the track and I was going to the right because the wheel was passing the road. But suddenly the wheel stopped in the middle of it. And I just waited for it to hit me. It was not meant to be, the wheel bounced and then I just saw Garret going with the lights crazy. So I said maybe he hit it. It was crazy. It was very, very lucky for us to not hit that wheel.”
The No. 13 AWA Duqueine of Orey Fidani, Matthew Bell and Lars Kern was second in LMP3, followed by the No. 85 JDC-Miller Motorsports Duqueine of Till Bechtolsheimer, Tijmen van der Helm and Dan Goldburg.
