Connect with us
Mr. Magic Car Wash

Sports Cars

Chip Ganassi Racing Returning To IMSA Competition In 2021 With Cadillac

Published

on

Chip Ganassi Racing

INDIANAPOLIS, IN (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Seven-time Champions Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) are returning to IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car competition following a year hiatus from the sport.

CGR is partnering with Cadillac to field a Daytona Prototype international (DPi) entry beginning in 2021.

“We are very excited to welcome Chip Ganassi Racing to the Cadillac competition family,” said Rory Harvey, Cadillac Vice President. “Their success across many forms of racing, including sports cars, will be a great addition to our IMSA WeatherTech line-up.”

“Partnering with Cadillac is a tremendous opportunity for our team and we want to start delivering for them in January at the Rolex 24 At Daytona,” said team owner Chip Ganassi.

CGR has the greatest stretch in Rolex 24 At Daytona history highlighted by eight wins and three second-place finishes from 2006-2018.  Ganassi is the only team owner in history to win three-straight Rolex 24 At Daytonas (2006-2008).

“We can’t wait to get back to IMSA and fight for the overall win after several years competing in the GTLM class,” said Ganassi, who last partnered with Ford Motor Company to field Ford GT’s in IMSA and the World Endurance Championship (WEC).  That partnership resulted in several GTLM class wins including the prestigious 24-Hours of Le Mans.

In 2020, Cadillac scored its fourth consecutive Rolex 24 At Daytona win, and followed with wins at Sebring and Petit Le Mans en route to a second-place finish in the Championship.

Three Rivers Karting

In 2019, they scored wins at the Rolex 24 At Daytona, the 12 Hours of Sebring, Long Beach and Petit Le Mans.

The 2018 season saw the program win the Rolex 24 At Daytona en route to the Prototype Driver, Team and Manufacturer Championships.

The program began in 2017 when Cadillac teams won every title in the inaugural season of the IMSA DPi formula including a one-two-three sweep of the Driver Championship, along with the Team and Manufacturers titles.

CGR has seven Championships (2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013) and 64 race wins to their credit since their introduction to sports car racing in 2004.

“Chip’s pedigree at winning the Rolex 24 At Daytona eight times as well as their championships in this form of racing gives Cadillac another stalwart team to compete for the 2021 IMSA DPi championship,” said Harvey.

Ganassi is already a member of the General Motors family as the NASCAR operation fields Chevrolet’s.

“Our relationship with General Motors has expanded from the NASCAR Cup Series and we couldn’t be happier,” said Ganassi.

Driver lineups and partnership details will be announced at a later date.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Sports Cars

Heartbreak for Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing at 12-Hours of Sebring

Published

on

Chip Ganassi Racing

SEBRING, FL (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Things were looking promising for Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing through the first eight hours of the 71st running of the 12-Hours of Sebring endurance race but disaster struck in hour nine.

Sebastien Bourdais was leading the field when things started going wrong on the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R forcing the car to pit road.  Smoke and flames could be seen coming out from underneath the bodywork as the car came down pit road.

“The No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R experienced a fuel distribution system issue,” Cadillac Racing said in a statement. “It is the first time we have seen it in testing — including a successful 24-hour test at Sebring International Raceway in November and two days of testing at the track in February — and race conditions. Cadillac Racing will figure out the root cause and prepare for the next race.”

“The team has worked hard to prepare for this race,” said Mike O’Gara, CGR Director of Operations. “We proved we have a fast race car and great pit stops. Some things happen that are out of your control, but that’s racing. I’m proud of the effort from the entire team, and I know we’ll keep at it and continue chasing this championship.”

The No. 01 Caddy started from the front row and led 120-laps in the race before the retirement with Bourdais grabbing the lead after just over an hour.

Three Rivers Karting

“It’s obviously pretty disappointing for everybody,” said Bourdais, a two-time 12-Hour winner.  “The car was quick. Cadillac seems to have something that works pretty well at Sebring, so that’s really encouraging. I think we made some great progress from Daytona in performance, so that’s also encouraging for the rest of the season after finishing on the podium. It’s great to see the program heading in the right direction and everyone at Chip Ganassi Racing and Cadillac are working very hard to make progress.”

6-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES Champion Scott Dixon added to the lead following the first driver change, building a 47-second lead before turning over the driving duties to Renger van der Zande following the fourth pit-stop, 4-hours and 7-minutes into the race.

“It was quite the race,” said Dixon. “The car was really fast and I felt like everybody on the team did a tremendous job. We had some ups and downs, but ultimately, we were top-three most of the race and led a good majority of it. Just bummed that it ended the way it did, and we didn’t win the race. It’s one that’s eluded me, and it would have been great to take this one. But, we had great speed, great teamwork and everybody did a hell of a job.”

van der Zande was just as quick, setting the fastest lap of the race (1:48.311) on lap 165.

“Sebring is a special one, and it’s a shame that it didn’t fall in our direction,” said van der Zande. “We had a strong Cadillac car here and while we’ve been testing all over, we’re still trying to improve things across the board. We’re still learning. We go deep to try to optimize performance. It’s just an unfortunate end to the race after showing so much speed.”

The No. 01 Cadillac crew will compete in their next IMSA race on April 15 in Long Beach, California.

Continue Reading

Sports Cars

Chip Ganassi Racing returning to the 24 Hours of Le Mans

Published

on

Chip Ganassi Racing

DETROIT, MI (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Chip Ganassi Racing is returning to the 24 Hours of Le Mans this June with the newly named Cadillac V-Series.Rs where they will compete for the overall win in the Hypercar class.

Ganassi will field two Caddy’s in the twice around-the-clock endurance event.  The No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R received an automatic entry based on its full-season participation in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn and Richard Westbrook are the drivers.

The No. 3 Cadillac V-Series.R is a full-season IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship entrant in the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class, where it races as the No. 01. Sébastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande and Scott Dixon will be the drivers.

Three Rivers Karting

“We are all looking forward to Cadillac returning to Le Mans and challenging for the overall victory. It has been decades since an American manufacturer has achieved this and we will be strongly pushing to achieve our goal,” said Bamber, the overall winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2015 and 2017.

“We are thrilled to return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the full Cadillac Racing team,” said Rory Harvey, Global Vice President of Cadillac. “Over the last 20 years Cadillac Racing has built a legacy of winning on the track and we feel very privileged to return to Le Mans during this exciting new electrified era in racing.”

“Cadillac is excited to build on its racing legacy by competing against the very best internationally and at one of the world’s toughest races,” said GM sports car racing program manager Laura Wontrop Klauser. “We’re proud to be representing the United States and the Cadillac V-Series.R is a great continuation of our racing heritage.”

Chip Ganassi Racing last competed in the 24-hours of Le Mans in 2018-2019 when they campaigned Ford GT’s in the LMGTE Pro Class.  CGR took home the class win in 2016 with Bourdais, Joey Hand and Dirk Muller taking the checkered flag 50-years after Ford’s first overall 24 Hours of Le Mans victory.

Continue Reading

Sports Cars

Meyer Shank Wins 2nd Straight Rolex 24 at Daytona

Published

on

IMSA

DAYTONA, FL (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Meyer Shank Racing kicked off a new era of IMSA racing by winning their second straight Rolex 24 at Daytona, the twice around the clock endurance classic that kicks off the annual Motorsports calendar in the United States.

Tom Blomqvist drove the pole-winning No. 60 MSR Acura ARX-06 to a 4.190-second victory ahead of Filipe Albuquerque in the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 from Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport, to capture the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class win in the first race with hybrid-powered prototypes. It was the second consecutive and third overall Rolex 24 victory for the MSR, which led a race-best 365 of the 783 laps.

“What a car we’ve built and I’m so grateful to be able to drive that and be trusted with the duty to take it to the finish,” said Blomqvist.  “Amazing, I was a bit nervous because the (No.) 10 car was definitely the second fastest car when it came down to it. But yeah, we held it off and had to take it to another level to secure this victory. I just have to say, a massive ‘well done’ to everyone who’s been a part of this project.”

Ricky Taylor finished second in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Acura.

“First of all, it was an amazing job by Acura and HPD for giving us two cars to fight for the win,” said Taylor.  “I don’t think it can be overstated how amazing that accomplishment is when considering the likes of Porsche and BMW and the struggles they had. Our cars ran flawlessly. To our team, this accomplishment of consecutive top-two finishes is really unprecedented, especially considering it persists through different car manufacturers and specifications. This is our ninth top two since 2013, and I don’t think any other team in the world has that type of consistency in 24-hour races.”

Chip Ganassi Racing came home in third and fourth with Renger van der Zane brining the No. 01 Cadillac V-LMDh home in third place followed by teammate Earl Bamber in the No. 02 Caddy in fourth.

Three Rivers Karting

“Yeah, finishing second or third is not what we came for, but hey it’s the first time and we got points for podium to start the season off with Ganassi,” said van der Zande. “At the end of the day, we didn’t have the pace to win, and we didn’t have the speed on the straights to win. It’s time to collect and see where we can improve as a team. I think it’s a tribute to GM and to Dallara and Ganassi to build a car that lasts for 24 hours. I think that is an amazing thing and yeah, congrats to the winners.”

“I think just an all-around good job by Chip Ganassi Racing and Cadillac to come out and run 24 hours and have both cars on the lead lap, have both cars with potential to be on the podium,” said Bamber. “Missed a little bit of pace to Acura and hate we missed out on the podium, but its good points in the championship. Now we can go on to Sebring and WEC.”

Proton Competition took the victory in the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) category in a photo finish as James Allen eked out the narrowest of victories by just 0.016 seconds over Ben Hanley in the No. 04 Crowdstrike by APR ORECA.

The No. 17 AWA Duqueine D08 turned the Le Mans Prototype (LMP3) class race into a 24-hour romp as drivers Anthony Mantella, Wayne Boyd, Nico Varrone and Thomas Merrill dominated at Daytona.  Most other cars in the class faced mechanical or other issues during the race. The margin of victory for the No. 17 AWA Duqueine over the second-place No. 33 Sean Creech Motorsport Ligier JS P320 was a whopping 12 laps.

In the GT Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) Class, Cooper MacNeil co-drove the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 to the class victory alongside Mercedes factory drivers Maro Engel, Daniel Juncadella and Jules Gounon in MacNeil’s last start as an IMSA WeatherTech SportCar driver.

The next race for the IMSA WeatherTech Sport Car Championship is the 12-Hours of Sebring March 15-18 at Sebring International Raceway.

Continue Reading