Acura won Motul Petit Le Mans, but it was Cadillac’s day.
After 10 hours, Pipo Derani and Alexander Sims claimed the first Drivers Championship of GTP’s new era in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and Whelen Engineering Cadillac Racing took the team trophy. On the strength of a 12 Hours of Sebring victory and a second in the Six Hours of the Glen, Derani, Sims and Jack Aitken are the Michelin Endurance Cup champs as well. Cadillac, with the help of the Chip Ganassi Racing arm of Cadillac Racing, took the Manufacturer Championship both overall (its fourth) and for the MEC (fifth).
“It has been an amazing 16 months,” declared Derani. “So much work behind the scenes, obviously from every manufacturer, but especially us. We weren’t the first ones to get the car rolling and there has been so much work to get to this championship. A big thanks to everyone from Cadillac, who I know spent hours and hours in simulators and development and back at the factory, missing sleeps, and it’s so much effort from everyone. To be here after what I believe is the most incredible season finale of the championship, with four manufacturers fighting for the championship, which shows how tough and how competitive the championship is…to be the one leaving with the trophy and as the manufacturers champion, it’s fantastic.”
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For Derani, it was his second championship in three years, after taking the DPi title in 2021 with Felipe Nasr. Sims, in his only season in GTP ahead of moving to Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports next season, gained his first professional championship. Former Williams F1 reserve driver Aitken has some good momentum to carry on to his role as Whelen Engineering Cadillac Racing’s full-season driver alongside Derani in 2024.
“It’s been a real pleasure to be a part of this new era,” said Aitken. “I think the standard of drivers, teams [and] machinery that we have competing in the series, [and] in WEC as well, is just phenomenal. To have such a close finale, after there were so many ups and downs for everybody through the year, is really amazing. I think we’re all still slightly in disbelief, but it’s a just reward for all the hard work that’s gone on with the program.”
Cadillac didn’t win the most races in the first season of the new era of GTP. It’s two teams took a victory apiece, Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande nabbing one at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Acura captured three wins, all by Petit Le Mans winner Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian. Porsche Penske Motorsport also had drivers standing on top of the podium three times, and BMW had one win. But while Derani said it was “consistent inconsistency” that had the championship so close, one fact remains – the No. 31 was always there at the end. It may not have always been at the front, but neither was it dumped in the paddock in pieces before the race ended, nor was it parked with a mechanical issue.
Part of the latter item — the reliability — comes through the work that Cadillac and its teams put in before the season began.
“The feeling right now is pride. I’m pretty sure it’s bursting out of my chest,” smiled GM Sports Car Racing Program Manager Laura Wontrop Klauser. “Because the amount of work that went into this program, starting from day one when the car was just a picture on the computer screen, and how it grew into becoming something that we were testing physically and then finally hit ground, back in July [of 2022]. And the two championships we ran this year bringing all three cars to Le Mans, having all three at Rolex, and to walk away with an IMSA championship — I think is just something where all those long hours, those nights, [the lack of sleep]…being able to walk away here with our heads held high and and really feel proud of what we did. We were going to be proud no matter what happened today, but to come off with the championship win for manufacturers and for the team with the No. 31 is just an experience that will obviously be with me for the rest of my life.”