Tandy Anticipates Cadillac ‘Has the Edge’ in Race Trim

Nick Tandy anticipates Cadillac will be able to carry over its advantage held during qualifying for the Rolex 24 at Daytona into next weekend’s race, although he adds that it is “very close” between each of the four manufacturers in the GTP class.

The British driver qualified seventh aboard the No. 6 Penske Porsche 963 in a fast-paced session that saw every car except the Proton Competition entry eclipse Oliver Jarvis’ 2019 lap record.

Cadillac headlined proceedings with a front row lockout for Pipo Derani and Sebastien Bourdais, ahead of Tandy’s stablemate Felipe Nasr and fourth-placed Connor De Phillippi.

Tandy indicated that the close nature of qualifying, where first and ninth were separated by less than a second, was reflective of the current pecking order in the class.

“It looks very close to be honest,” Tandy told Sportscar365.

“There have been different conditions in which certain cars are better or worse. I think we are all in the ballpark.

“I don’t think we are looking the best at the moment overall over 24 hours, but it’s not like last year where we saw a dominant chassis throughout testing, so I’m feeling optimistic.”

When asked which of the four GTP manufacturers has the edge in race trim, Tandy replied: “Cadillac, over a broad range of conditions, including day and night.”

The Brit admitted that the pair of Cadillacs were also ‘a step ahead’ during Sunday’s qualifying session, which on the No. 6 Porsche 963 was compounded by a lack of setup direction.

“For us it was difficult,” Tandy reflected.

“We were good on the infield, but we didn’t [get the] car in the window at all for the high speed stuff. We were really bad in braking for Turn 1 and the Bus Stop.

“Between the two cars at PPM, if we mixed the good bits of both, we might have had a good qualifying car. But we’ve never tested the car in qualifying trim at Daytona since this time last year, so you just have to make a best guess and hope for the best.

“We didn’t get it right this time, but race pace looks a lot better. Generally this week we have been happy.”

Derani, for his part, attributed Cadillac’s performance in qualifying to a greater level of understanding with the Dallara-chassised machine heading into the second season.

“Obviously the conditions helped but as usual, this time of the year is quite cold in Daytona so more or less, the perfect condition for qualifying,” the Brazilian said.

“But I think everyone else is just so much more integrated with their tools and how to extract lap time from such a difficult car.

“I would say at least on our side, we’re a much better team with the electronics and the complexity of the hybrid race car than we were 12 months back.

“To be honest, we weren’t really talking about what was possible. We were just trying to maximize the tools that we had.

“We knew we were pretty much there when we did a simulation in practice. But quite honestly I was quite surprised that we were almost one second quicker than the previous practice.

“But I think the conditions were perfect for that as well. It was cold. The tires were working well. Obviously in qualifying you’re on low fuel and so-on.

“We were a bit more surprised than not for a lap time.”

De Phillippi ‘Expected Record to Fall’ in GTP’s Second Year

After qualifying fourth, Connor De Phillippi reacted with surprise to the extent by which the old lap record was broken, although he added that a new benchmark time was likely to come.

“Obviously everyone has a bit more power than last year so we were kind of expecting it to fall, but to fall by that margin was quite impressive,” De Phillippi told Sportscar365.

“I think it shows every manufacturer has made a big step in the car and the systems, setup, etc.

“Im certainly proud of our guys. We’ve closed the gap percentage-wise to the competition, which is nice.”

Like Derani, De Phillippi indicated that the conditions during qualifying, most notably the temperature and strong winds, played a significant role.

“Obviously having a headwind at the end of the Bus Stop definitely helps you a lot more than having a tailwind,” he said.

“If the wind was opposite direction, I would probably say it would have been worse. I think with the cool conditions with these tires, maybe it wasn’t quite optimal, but it looked like everybody was able to switch them on.

“I think if it was a bit warmer, we probably would have had a bit more pace, but overall, it was pretty ideal conditions.”

Jamie Klein contributed to this report