Van der Zande, Taylor Explain Frantic Detroit Finish

Photo: Brett Farmer/IMSA

Renger van der Zande said it was a mutual decision from himself and his Honda Racing Corporation USA engineers to “go for it” in the closing laps of Saturday’s Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic, that saw Acura Meyer Shank Racing break through for victory.

Van der Zande made a move on the then-leading No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R of Ricky Taylor on Turn 1 with four minutes to go.

It came after Taylor got around the then-leading No. 7 Penske Porsche 963 of Felipe Nasr for the lead just ten minutes earlier.

“I don’t think we had the fastest car, really,” said van der Zande. “Especially when the Porsche passed us in the pits and the Cadillac passed us in the pits, they kind of took off on us.

“At that point, we needed something else to have a fight for the win.

“At one point, I thought, ‘Well maybe they’re going to have a get-go with each other. And that’s what happened.

“Ricky, you don’t meet a nicer guy than him outside the car but he’s one of the toughest guys in the car. That’s what you saw when he overtook the Porsche.

“I just wanted to make sure I was right behind him because after the restart, everyone’s tires were struggling to get the same grip that we had before the yellow.

“It was slipping and sliding and that’s when I pushed really hard to stay close.

“It worked. They had a get-go with each other and I was able to pass the Porsche after they were fighting each other.

“I had to stay close to Ricky. I knew the car was a bit stronger in Turn 1 because the straight-line speed of the Cadillac was just way more.

“Turn 3 was not really an option so I said, ‘OK, If I have a go, if I have a chance, it’s going to be Turn 1, even though it’s a tight one and there might be a pileup.

“I asked on the radio to the team and said, ‘Hey, do you think if I have a chance can I go for it?’ In the end it’s their decision to take the risk and they said, ‘Go for it.’

“That’s when we mutually decided to go for it.”

After co-driver Filipe Albuquerque started eighth but ran long into his stint, Taylor emerged from the pit stop sequence in second and knew he had a chance for the win.

“[I was] getting all the tools in place to mount an attack on Nasr,” said Taylor. “He made a little mistake in Turn 1. There’s not a lot of opportunities here, so I went for it.

“He defended quite a lot and we made a little bit of contact towards the apex of Turn 3.

“It allowed me to be really close into Turn 4, when he defended. As soon as he opened the door, I was going to go for it.

“The car hung on. I thought if I could put him between me and Renger, I was confident. Up until that point, after the restart, Nasr and I had pulled a little gap on Renger.

“I could see Renger coming back, so I knew Renger was the car to beat and I knew if I could put Nasr between us, before Renger got to me, that could be the race over giving me a good enough buffer.

“But Renger being Renger, he makes it happen and he got by as well.

“As soon as I saw him come through, I was like, ‘Man, I’m going to have to earn this.

“When I did make the move [on Nasr], I think I got some pick up on the tires and I locked up and made a couple of mistakes. Then they cleaned off and I felt quite confident again.

“I made a little mistake in the last sector and we were coming up to some GT cars and I thought I had a good enough buffer from Renger still.

“Honestly, not expecting the move, he made a really nice pass into Turn 1.

“It took a lot of confidence on his part to make the dive and I wasn’t expecting it. He made a really good move.

“There wasn’t another good opportunity for me get by. At the end of the day, I think the best car won.”

Despite making the pass for the eventual win with just minutes left on the clock, Van der Zande didn’t know it was over until the checkered flag.

“When we made the pass for the win, I kind of lost it, like a little child, because I was so excited,” he said.

“This is IMSA. IMSA is never over. There’s traffic, there’s chaos, there’s yellows, there’s a dogfight that you can still have in the end with a couple laps to go, and that’s exactly what happened today.

“On raw speed, there was no chance we were going to get it, or get both of them. But in the chaos that IMSA has, the luck you have to have with traffic sometimes and then making a move there at the end, just balls out, and all-in, it’s fantastic and really cool.”

John Dagys

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