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CGR to ‘Reflect and Regroup’ After Intra-Team Crash

Renger van der Zande, Earl Bamber reflect on Turn 1 accident that took both CGR Cadillacs out of contention…

Image: IMSA

Renger van der Zande said Chip Ganassi Racing will “reflect and regroup” on the crash that took both of its Petit Le Mans race-contending Cadillac DPi-V.Rs out of contention.

The No. 01 Cadillac of van der Zande collided with Earl Bamber’s No. 02 entry while battling for third in Saturday’s ten-hour enduro at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, sending both cars hard into the Turn 1 barriers in dramatic fashion with less than on hour to go.

The incident brought out a much-needed full-course caution for the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-05 of Tom Blomqvist, who beat Filipe Albuquerque out of the pits and took both the victory and final DPi championship title.

It came in a day that saw both of the CGR-run Cadillacs run up front, combining to lead 171 laps.

“We came to Petit Le Mans to win and to finish the race like this is really difficult,” said van der Zande. “There’s never any intention to come together out there and we’ll reflect on this and regroup as a team.

“We can look back on a season where we had great success with wins in Long Beach, Detroit and Mosport.

“Chip Ganassi Racing and Cadillac put out a really fast car all year and to do that is no easy feat. It takes a lot of really talented people to make this all work.”

Bamber was handed incident responsibility, resulting in a stop plus 60-second penalty for the Kiwi once the No. 02 car rejoined after undergoing repairs.

“I think we had a fantastic race all day and had a really good car with the No. 02 Cadillac,” he said. “We managed to lead a lot of laps and hours and that’s something to be proud of.

“Obviously, I’m quite disappointed with what happened and mostly for everyone at Cadillac and Chip Ganassi Racing.

“We come here to win as a team, whether it’s the No. 01 or the No. 02, and that is a tough scenario to be in.”

The incident handed podium finishes to the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac of Pipo Derani, Olivier Pla and Mike Conway as well as the sister, Ally-sponsored No. 48 machine driven by Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Rockenfeller and Jimmie Johnson.

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John

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