Photo: Perry Nelson/IMSA
Renger van der Zande believed that he and co-driver Sebastien Bourdais had Saturday’s Chevrolet Sports Car Classic at Belle Isle covered from the “beginning to the end” with the Chip Ganassi Racing duo taking their second IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship victory of the season.
The No. 01 Cadillac DPi-V.R, which started on pole, led all but four laps of the 100-minute race that delivered a new distance record.
While Bourdais controlled the opening stint, van der Zande came under pressure from both the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-05 of Oliver Jarvis and a hard-charging Pipo Derani in the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac while having to save fuel.
All three podium finishers completed the race on a single stint compared to the two-stop strategy from several other DPis, including the Whelen Engineering-sponsored Cadillac of Derani.
“At the end I had to make it more exciting with all the fuel savings,” said van der Zande. “Everybody bunched up behind me and had a go with each other.
“I’m super happy to have the 02 on the podium as well.
“Seb did a fantastic job in qualifying. That really made the difference this race. We could manage it from the beginning to the end.
“That’s what I did when I got in the car. He gave me a little bit of a gap, so I didn’t really have to fight anyone coming out of the pits.
“I took it home from there. I’ll take the honor of jumping in the fountain but I think Seb made it easy for me today.
“I just managed the rear. I looked at the mirrors the whole time. I had to save fuel whenever I can. When I had a big gap, I was finding ways to save fuel and then pushing in the corners.
“If they were in front of me, I don’t think I would have won today.”
With the win, van der Zande and Bourdais have moved into fourth place in the DPi championship standings, having made a considerable 65-point haul in the title race.
The CGR pairing are now 143 points behind new leaders Jarvis and Tom Blomqvist.
“It’s a good points day,” said van der Zande. “It’s never over until it’s over.
“The only thing we need to do is keep winning races and then see where we end up in the championship.
“We had a tough beginning of the year, not only for us drivers but for the whole team, it’s kind of tough with some mechanicals.
“At Mid-Ohio, I had a spin of course, touching the 10 car.
“It’s a [small] field; there’s only six cars. If you win, the other one really has to be down to catch up with everyone. That’s what happened today with the 10 car and us.
“That’s what you need; you need to be a bit lucky. The only luck you can make is by winning races.”
MSR Delighted With Runner Up Result on Street Circuit
Jarvis and Blomqvist, meanwhile, were elated with a second place finish at a circuit that typically does not suit the ORECA-chassied Acura DPis.
It came, however, after a 15 kg increase in the Cadillac’s minimum weight made prior to the weekend, which Bourdais called a “very unfavorable BoP.”
“To come away with a P2 on a street track is pretty awesome,” said Jarvis.
“It was a tough race, it felt like the 01 was taking it steady out front trying to bring the 02 into play which made life a little bit difficult.
“I’m happy to bring the car back in one piece and on the podium and score some good points. Big thanks to the team.”
Blomqvist added: “We’ve made huge strides in the right direction in the past few events and this one we capitalized on the performance.
“It was a Cadillac event and to sneak ourselves in there with a P2, it couldn’t be much better than that.”
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