IMSA Drivers Reflect on “Very Special” DPi Era

It could be graceful and a handful, often at once. Nimble yet sturdy, a breeze to drive on its own but a beast to handle in traffic. It is, simply put, a beautiful challenge.

The DPi class is about to run its final race in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Six seasons and 58 races later – and one final down-to-the-wire championship battle remaining – drivers are preparing to bid farewell to an able, fast old friend.

“I’ve really felt like I had to enjoy the final laps around the track at each race this year with this car,” said Renger van der Zande, who has driven in the most races for Cadillac in the DPi.

“It’s been very special at each track to do the last lap, the last dance around the track with this car.”

The official last dance comes Oct. 1, with the Motul Petit Le Mans to close the season at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. After that ten-hour sendoff, DPi steps aside for the next generation of top-tier prototypes – the GTP class starting in 2023.

Since its 2017 inception, DPi has proven a worthy and demanding test for manufacturers, teams and drivers alike. The same aerodynamics and high-level downforce that made DPis blinding fast on most every WeatherTech Championship circuit have also made them more problematic in passing each other.

It’s resulted in many memorable, high-risk maneuvers that have thrilled fans and even earned begrudging love from the drivers involved.

“You can really hang the car out and push,” said Oliver Jarvis, who’s raced and won in Mazda and Acura DPi entries. “You can really find some time by taking a bit of risk, but you can also stick it in the wall and look silly.”

Juan Pablo Montoya fashioned successful careers in IndyCar, Formula 1 and NASCAR before joining the WeatherTech Championship full-time and capturing the 2019 DPi championship with Acura Team Penske and co-driver Dane Cameron.

The DPi still impressed the Colombian.

“It’s such an amazing car,” Montoya said. “… It reminds me of driving a Formula 1 car. You can hustle it around and you still have to manage it.”

Even seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson has been captivated in his two-year stint driving in the Michelin Endurance Cup events.

He was amazed at the pace of his No. 48 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R at Watkins Glen International in particular.

“In one of these DPi Cadillacs, the pace and effort you have to drive around that racetrack is quite impressive, especially comparing it to my days in NASCAR,” Johnson said.

“Some of the braking zones, the Bus Stop and the Carousel, it’s just mind-blowing how fast these cars can travel through those tight little areas.”

One of the most significant characteristics of the DPi car was its difficulty to overtake other DPis.

Similarly matched DPi cars needed the slower classes to assist in passing. Uncomfortable for DPi drivers, but desirable for entertaining racing and down-to-the-wire championship battles.

Two-time DPi champion Ricky Taylor – once with Cadillac and once with Acura – says the success of the car is in part due to that difficulty overtaking others in the same class.

It’s forced DPi drivers to use cars in slower classes as obstacles to execute passes on other DPis.

“That form of prototype is very reliant on clean air and the downforce from the top of the bodywork,” Taylor said. “The reason IMSA has been so good in the DPi era was the difference in closing speeds between multiple classes.”

Taylor will try to win the final DPi championship in the Motul Petit Le Mans.

He and co-driver Filipe Albuquerque and their No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-05 are just 19 points ahead of Tom Blomqvist and Jarvis in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura DPi.

The DPi class has been especially good to Cadillac, which has won 27 of the 58 races, three team championships and three manufacturer titles competing against Acura (16 wins from 2018-present), Mazda (seven wins from 2017-21) and Nissan (four wins from 2017-19) at different junctures along the way.

The competition is so tight this year that, should Cadillac win the pole and race at Road Atlanta, the GM brand and Acura will finish in a dead heat for the final DPi manufacturer crown.

Van der Zande, who teamed with Sebastien Bourdais this year in the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac, points to the car’s sleek look in attracting new fans.

“When I meet people who don’t follow motorsports and show them a picture of our car, they’re always amazed,” van der Zande said.

“They’re like, ‘Wow, that’s a spaceship!’ It’s been around for a long time, so it’s almost a classic. People have bought them as an investment for the future because it’s such a classic and iconic race-winning car.”

It also helped to bridge the gap between old and new. As it prepares for its farewell, the DPi sets the stage for the highly anticipated GTP that will take over as the top class in 2023.

“I feel like the DPi was a good step in the evolution,” Taylor said. “It came from the Daytona Prototype, which had some level of manufacturer styling to a little bit more with the DPi, and then evolving into the full-fledged LMDh/GTP era. It’s a good step. It was massive.”

Appealing, iconic, difficult to master and unbelievably fast. All in all, a memorable racing machine.

“It’s an awesome car to drive,” Bourdais said. “On my own in qualifying, I really had some fun times.”