Метка: Su00e9bastien Bourdais

Bourdais returns to WEC in Bahrain finale with Cadillac

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Sebastien Bourdais will join the factory Cadillac team for the final round of the 2024 World Endurance Championship in Bahrain early next month.

Bourdais, the outright 2014 Daytona 24 Hours winner, will join Alex Lynn and Earl Bamber in the #2 Chip Ganassi-entered Cadillac V-Series.R for what would be his third appearance in WEC this year.

The Frenchman started the season with the American outfit in the new Qatar 1812km round before returning at the Le Mans 24 Hours in Ganassi’s second entry, teaming up with IndyCar star Scott Dixon and sportscar ace Renger van der Zande in the #3 Caddy.

“It’s good to get back in the car with Alex and Earl,” said Bourdais, who finished third in the recently concluded IMSA SportsCar Championship with the US arm of the Ganassi Cadillac squad. 

“Performance-wise, it seems like the car is in a really good window. It’s pretty light, good on power and competitive, so there is definitely something to play for. Bahrain is a really big challenge. It’s an extremely abrasive racetrack. 

“Tyre deg is very high and using the tyre the right way and not hurting it but making it function without making it slide is a critical thing to do. You have to do it with setup, dampers, traction control and you name it. We’ll try to find some recipes that work and hopefully, we’ll wind up in a good spot.”

Ganassi/Cadillac Racing has been one of the few teams to take advantage of the regulations to run a two-driver line-up for six-hour races this year.

#2 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R: Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn, Sebastien Bourdais

#2 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R: Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn, Sebastien Bourdais

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

This meant that Lynn and Bamber raced as a duo in five of the eight rounds this year, with Bourdais partnering them for the pair of rounds in the Middle East at either end of the campaign and IndyCar champion Alex Palou serving as the third driver in the Le Mans centrepiece event.

It marked a shift in the marque’s approach from 2023, when the now-retired Richard Westbrook took part in every round along with Lynn and Bamber.

The WEC was planning to mandate three drivers in each Hypercar entry from 2025, but appears to have gone back on that idea after pushback from teams.

Cadillac’s best result of the season so far is a fourth-place finish achieved at the returning Austin event in September.

The General Motors brand will end its partnership with Ganassi following the Bahrain event to begin a new chapter with Jota, which will be running a pair of V-Series.Rs in Hypercar next year after competing in 2023-24 with customer Porsche machinery.

“We started off the season really well. Eventually [we] didn’t get the result because of the circumstances, but we certainly deserved a good finish,” said Bourdais.

“The car was very competitive in the race and we played the short game really well. Unfortunately, it’s been a bit of a tough season results-wise. There was always something coming in the way of a good result. If we could send it off on a high that would be pretty cool.

#2 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R: Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn, Sebastien Bourdais

#2 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R: Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn, Sebastien Bourdais

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

Other changes

Elsewhere, Alpine has shuffled its driver line-up following Nicolas Lapierre’s decision to retire from racing. While Jules Gounon will join the team as expected, he has been drafted in the #35 Alpine A424 alongside Ferdinand Habsburg and Paul-Loup Chatin.

Charles Milesi moves from the #35 car to team up with Mick Schumacher and Matthieu Vaxiviere in the #36 car, taking the spot previously occupied by Lapierre.

In LMGT3, Conrad Laursen will replace Clemens Schmid in the #78 ASP Lexus RC F GT3, while Giorgio Roda and Giammarco Levorato will race the #88 Proton Ford Mustang GT3, with both Mikkel Pedersen and team owner Christian Ried stepping away from the cockpit for the bonus points finale.



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Bourdais denies celebrating Le Mans pole prematurely

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Thursday’s decisive qualifying session, gathering the top eight cars from each category, was interrupted with just under eight minutes remaining on the clock, due to Dries Vanthoor crashing out at the wheel of the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 at Indianapolis corner.

At that time, Sebastien Bourdais had provisionally set the fastest time with the #3 Cadillac V-Series.R, a 3m24.816s.

During the red flag, seconds before the session was restarted, members of the Chip Ganassi-run factory team – which usually operates the car in the IMSA Sportscar Championship – were seen celebrating around their driver, whose father Patrick looked particularly elated.

Patrick Bourdais with Cadillac Racing team members

Patrick Bourdais with Cadillac Racing team members

Photo by: Nikolaz Godet

However, as it turned out, not only the session was restarted, but Bourdais’s reference was beaten by Alex Lynn in the sister #2 Cadillac – a full-season World Endurance Championship entrant – as well as Kevin Estre. The #6 factory Penske Porsche’s driver took pole position for the WEC’s most prestigious race with a 3m24.634s marker.

When Motorsport.com asked Bourdais if he actually was celebrating, the Le Mans native replied: «No. If anything, I was telling everyone: ‘There are seven minutes and 40 seconds left, I don’t know why you’re here asking me for pictures.’

«That’s quite funny, because when we weren’t on pole, nobody was there anymore. It was funny, but it’s quite typical from the press.»

Bourdais explained that he would have liked to go back out on track for a final attempt, but a combination of extending his initial run and the red flag interrupting his second outing prevented him from doing so.

#3 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R: Sebastien Bourdais

#3 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R: Sebastien Bourdais

Photo by: Nikolaz Godet

«We had planned enough fuel to do two and two [laps],» he added. «Because the in-lap was faster during the first run, we kept pushing as there was a risk of rain and there were a few drops already, so you didn’t really know what was going to happen. That third lap of the first run was three or four tenths faster, so we kept going until the end.

«Unfortunately, as you’re not allowed to refuel during Hyperpole, this left us with just one lap for the second attempt, but the red flag happened…

«I don’t think I could have got a better time in one lap on the second run, but we were going to try anyway, and the red flag was completely detrimental to us in that regard. We couldn’t have done another out-lap, a flying lap and hoped to be fine. That’s how it was.»

Bourdais and team-mates Scott Dixon and Renger van der Zande will start the race from second position on Saturday, with the #2 Cadillac taking a five-place penalty due to Earl Bamber’s crash with the #31 BMW LMGT3 car at the previous Spa-Francorchamps WEC round.

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BMW beats Cadillac to quickest time in FP2

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Eng, whose BMW is run by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, beat Sebastien Bourdais (Cadillac V-Series.R) and the second BMW of Connor De Phillippi in the 90-minute practice session.

This weekend’s 2h40m event is being run for GTP and GTD machinery only.

After the Porsche Penske Motorsport 963s of Nick Tandy and Felipe Nasr swapped the top spot between them early on, Connor De Phillippi took over in the #25 BMW M Hybrid V8, lapping in 1m14.916s inside the opening 20 minutes.

Eng then made it a BMW 1-2 in his #24 sister car, lapping in a session-topping 1m13.349s as De Phillippi improved to 1m13.722s just before the halfway point.

Bourdais broke up their party in the #01 Chip Ganassi Racing-run Cadillac, taking the second spot with 1m13.573s, 0.224s off the fastest time.

Ricky Taylor suffered an early off at Turn 3 in the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06, the car that set the pace on Friday, and also suffered a flat tire later. His off-track moment was mirrored by Renger van der Zande in the #01 Cadillac in the second half of the session.

The session was red flagged with 15 minutes to go when Jarrett Andretti went off at Turn 5 in the Andretti Motorsports Porsche 911 GTD entry.

At the resumption, Eng remained on top, ahead of Bourdais and De Phillippi. Dane Cameron made a late improvement to take fourth in the #7 factory-run Porsche 963, ahead of the sister car of Mathieu Jaminet.

Pipo Derani was sixth in the Action Express-run Cadillac that Jack Aitken crashed yesterday. Ricky Taylor was seventh, ahead of the sister Acura of Louis Deletraz, who improved late on.

Richard Westbrook (JDC-Miller) and Gianmaria Bruni (Proton) rounded out the GTP class in their customer Porsche 963s.

#14 VasserSullivan Lexus RC F GT3: Jack Hawksworth, Ben Barnicoat

#14 VasserSullivan Lexus RC F GT3: Jack Hawksworth, Ben Barnicoat

Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images

Lexus beats Corvette in GTD

In GTD, Jack Hawksworth set the pace in Vasser Sullivan’s #14 Pro class Lexus RC F with 1m20.376s, ahead of Nicky Catsburg in his #4 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R.

That’s the way it stayed until the end. Marvin Kirchhofer (Pfaff Motorsports McLaren 720S) was third, just pipping the top pro-am entry, the Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Lamborghini Huracan of Danny Formal.

Qualifying starts later at 7:35pm ET.



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Repaved Laguna Seca “to be at least a couple of seconds faster”

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Last year saw a full resurfacing of the 11-turn, 2.238-mile road course for the first time since 2006, which also included a new pedestrian bridge on the front straight as part of a $14.9 million project.

The project began shortly after last May’s IMSA event and was completed by July, with IndyCar the first major series to race on the new – and quicker – surface in September.

Ricky Taylor holds the DPi track record with a 1m13.924s (108.987mph) flying lap, which came in April 2022. The current GTP generation – that replaced DPi – featured Matt Campbell’s Penske Porsche 963 hit a 1m14.774s (107.748mph) lap on the old surface during its inaugural trip to Laguna Seca last year.

For Bourdais, who comes in as the defending race winner with No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R co-driver Renger van der Zande, a recent test showed promise of increased grip, which will likely lead to a jump in pace.

“We did come and test with both Cadillacs, both BMWs and both Penske Porsches, so we did have time to experiment and try quite a few things,” said Bourdais. “Grip has gone up a lot.

“It’s probably going to be at least a couple of seconds faster and it’s always an awesome feeling when you drive on a repaved track. I’ve always enjoyed Laguna, but tire degradation was high, and grip was quite low at the end of the cycle of the old pavement.

“So, now it’s full force, maximum attack and commitment, so it’s a ton of fun to muscle those GTPs around. You should see some pretty incredible speeds around the weekend.”

crash, Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet

crash, Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet

Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images

When looking back at the IndyCar round on the new surface, van der Zande noticed cars “flying off” because of the lack of grip off the one racing line.

However, in recent IMSA testing cars did not suffer the same issue, with “grip everywhere” on the track. With that, though, he believes the increased speeds will still lead to several cars venturing off course but also tighten up the field.

“Those new tarmac changes will most likely bring the field together,” van der Zande said. “I expect a close fight again.

“Also, strategy-wise it’s going to be very interesting because of the tarmac, so we’ll see what plays out. It looks like we’ll be quite a bit faster than the GT cars at Laguna Seca compared to the other tracks. From that perspective it’s easier to overtake them.”

With 34 cars spread across three classes, with GTD Pro and GTD also on track this weekend, managing traffic could be tougher than normal with faster lap times.

“When the cornering speeds increase, traffic tends to have a bigger influence on pace because you’re getting checked up and losing more time in the corners,” Bourdais said.

“It’s the same for everybody, but timing where you hit traffic and how it pans out tends to have a bigger effect on the race. Laguna still tends to be much of a one-lane track, and it gets dirty on the outside.

“The multi-class racing tends to help widen the line, but as the track grips up and rubbers up on line it tends to get dirtier and it’s a bit less encouraging you to go around the outside of people and pull an optimistic move.”

#01 Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V-Series.R: Renger van der Zande, Sebastien Bourdais

#01 Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V-Series.R: Renger van der Zande, Sebastien Bourdais

Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images

Considering how much quicker the pace could be per lap this year, he was asked if that will play a role in energy deployment and pit strategy: “It will be higher because you need more energy to go faster,” Bourdais replied.

«It just doesn’t happen through cornering speeds. You are on the throttle. We tend to have fairly wide windows with the GTP cars over those races, so we’ll see how it shakes out.

“But it should be feasible on two stops.”

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No tires strategy “only way” to win Long Beach

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After starting third, Bourdais spent most of the early portion of the IMSA’s 100-minute classic in the runner-up spot pursuing pole-sitter Pipo Derani in the Action Express Racing-prepped No. 31 Cadillac.

The pivotal moment of the race came when Derani pitted on lap 26, handing off to co-driver Jack Aitken as the team put on two new left-side tires.

Bourdais pitted the next lap and relinquished driving duties to Renger van der Zande, with the decision made to continue running on the set of tires that started the race, which saved time and propelled them into the lead.

A number of incidents simmered any chances Aitken had of building enough pace up to retake the top spot. In the end, van der Zande was able to hold on and best Aitken to win by 0.564s in a race that went 68 laps around the 11-turn, 1.968-mile street circuit.

“Strategy won this race,” van der Zande said.

“The tires were kind of gone at the end. It was quite slippery. But I’m very proud of my team.”

The concept to take no tires mirrored last year’s winning call by Porsche Penske Motorsport, which were able to take advantage of a harder rubber.

When asked by Motorsport.com during the post-race press conference where the confidence came from to take no tires despite a speculated higher tire wear going into the event, Bourdais shed light on the subject.

«It came from yesterday’s data,” Bourdais said.

“Obviously, we really dreaded a lot of tire deg because it’s the softest of all the tires that there is in the Michelin panel. And it’s kind of weird, but the degradation was actually very little, and the wear was almost nothing.

“When we saw that, we went through the fact that the sun kind of came through the clouds around noonish, track temp is quite low compared to what we were expecting.”

 

And there was the added concern of how difficult the handling would be on new tires that would take time to build up to temperature on the out-lap.

“Being second anyways, we have to try something to jump those guys, so over-cutting them was obviously the call and doing no tires was the best way to maximize the speed on the out-lap,” Bourdais said.

“They only took two tires, but it was the second difference. So, it was definitely the right way to go and Renger made it stick. Obviously, look a lot smarter afterwards, but yeah, we were not entirely sure it was going to work. But that was the only way we were going to try and win this race.”

The outing marked 20th IMSA victory of van der Zande’s career and the 12th for Boudais. The driver pairing also won Long Beach in 2022.

The unofficial championship standings have the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport duo of Dane Cameron and Felipe Nasr leading with 1,032 points, with Bourdais and van der Zande trailing by 58 points.

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Bourdais spins then tops FP2 for Cadillac

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Bourdais lapped his #01 Chip Ganassi-run V-Series.R in 1m11.637s around the 1.9-mile temporary circuit in the 90-minute session.

Nick Tandy set the earlier pace in the #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963, lapping in 1m12.579s, a quarter of a second clear of Connor De Phillippi’s RLL BMW M Hybrid.

FP1 pacesetter Pipo Derani began chipping away in his #31 AXR Cadillac V-Series.R, getting within 0.237s of Tandy after 20 minutes of the session had run.

De Phillippi improved with 40 minutes on the clock, topping the times at 1m12.554s before team-mate Nick Yelloly took over the #25 and chipped another 0.002s off that, to pip Tandy by 0.027s.

Yelloly then went even quicker, recording a 1m12.121s, with Bourdais jumping to second in the Chip Ganassi-run Caddy, 0.28s in arrears. Derani retook P2 with 15 minutes to go, 0.097s off Yelloly.

Bourdais improved his time but stayed third on 1m12.359s, before spinning off at Turn 1. He recovered from his moment to set the fastest time of 1m11.637s on his final lap.

Behind Yelloly and Derani, Philipp Eng was fourth in the #24 BMW from the PPM Porsches of Tandy and Dane Cameron.

Richard Westbrook (JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963) was seventh, ahead of the Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06s of Jordan Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque (separated by 0.48s but almost a second off the pace), and Mike Rockenfeller, who has joined Gianmaria Bruni this weekend in Proton’s 963.

The GTP class is using Michelin’s soft-compound tire at Long Beach for the first time outside of Daytona night running, and an extra set has been made available for Saturday’s 100-minute race.

#66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3: Sheena Monk, Stevan McAleer

#66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3: Sheena Monk, Stevan McAleer

Photo by: Josh Tons / Motorsport Images

Acura fastest in GTD

In GTD, Parker Thompson set the early pace at 1m18.838s in the #89 Lexus RC F, 0.012s ahead of Loris Spinelli’s #78 Forte Racing Lamborghini Huracan.

Danny Formal then put WTRA’s #45 Lamborghini on top of the pile, rattling off three consecutive improvements to work down to 1m18.361s. But behind him, it was insanely close.

Albert Costa moved up to second in the Conquest Racing Ferrari 296, 0.021s slower, ahead of Matt Bell (AWA Corvette C8.R), who was 0.07s in arrears, with Spinelli a further 0.006s back.

But then Steven McAleer vaulted the Gradient Racing Acura NSX from last to first in class, lapping in 1m18.259s in the seat he’s taken over from Katherine Legge.

Qualifying begins at 8:00pm ET, ahead of Saturday’s 100-minute race.

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