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No. 90 Spirit Of Daytona Cadillac DPi-V.R Nabs Pole For 12 Hours Of Sebring

The blue No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Cadillac DPi-V.R secured pole position for this weekend’s 66th running of the 12 Hours of Sebring, posting a 1:47.432 in Qualifying with Tristan Vautier at the wheel. Sebring represents Cadillac’s second pole start of the season out of as many races, despite the fact that the Cadillac DPi-V.R was given an extra 10 kg (22 pounds) of ballast after its victory at Daytona earlier this year.

“No one expected that lap time,” Vautier remarked after Qualifying. “The lap really didn’t feel that good. I saw a 47 on the dash and I didn’t expect it to be that quick. That was the first time we were on new tires and low fuel, so the pole is good.”

Spirit of Daytona Racing, which competed as VisitFlorida Racing from 2015 through 2017, is brand-new to the successful Cadillac DPi-V.R race car. Last year, the team ran a Ligier powered by a Gibson 4.2L V8. Its inaugural race performance with the Cadillac was a let-down, the team withdrawing just before midnight after an engine misfire manifested that couldn’t be repaired at the track.

“We just got the car in early December,” Vautier said. “We were in the top five in Daytona and even led the race… We are focused on the race tomorrow, since Daytona was a disappointment. We will push through the day and stay in contention and look to the last two hours to really race.”

Spirit of Daytona Racing can expect plenty of competition from the other three teams running the Cadillac DPi-V.R race car – especially Mustang Sampling Racing, which qualified in eighth, and is looking to build on its success from the Rolex 24 at Daytona with another consecutive win. Wayne Taylor Racing, which won the 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in the Prototype class, only managed to qualify in tenth. Like Spirit of Daytona Racing, WTR, too, was forced to withdraw from the race at Daytona, after a bout of tire punctures.

“It is not what we came for to qualify tenth,” driver Renger Van Der Zande – formerly of VisitFlorida Racing, but now with WTR – said. “We are trying to find a good handling car. We have seen some speed, but not exactly what we want. We are still working on the Cadillac and we will need it to be just right for the end of the race tomorrow. The Konica Minolta team is strong and we will make some adjustments for the warm-up tomorrow.”

The fourth Cadillac DPi-V.R team in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Whelen Engineering Racing, qualified in fifth for Sebring with a lap time of 1:47.853.

Aaron Brzozowski is a writer and motoring enthusiast from Detroit with an affinity for '80s German steel. He is not active on the Twitter these days, but you may send him a courier pigeon.

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Comments

  1. How long until they take hp away or make them add weight to level the competition. So sad a series feels the need to keep cars as close as possible.

    Let the manufactures build their best and see who collects the most trophies

    Reply
  2. Hey Cadillac, why not advertise the participation and success in the racing series?? Audi does a good job with great TV and internet ads, adding to the prestige of the brand and their sales keep going up year over year. Oh wait, Audi has a competent marketing department. Sorry, I forgot.

    Reply
  3. GM use to! They had the commercial about the corvette and explained that it was required to reduce it engine output drastically in order for the competition to compete with the corvette and they still won a ton of races!

    What did that ad Do? Nothing!

    If the Cadillac has 100 more hp because their engines are better then so be it

    Reply
    1. Reminds me of the Dodge Demon ad with the NHRA’s letter banning it from events for being too quick. Great ad.

      Reply
  4. Torque and cooling are at the fore front of the 4.2 LTA TTV8,and Caddy needs to get SDR TO PARTNER WITH KATECH to race develop this engine so BoP IS NO LONGER AN ISSUE !SDR is a good team and deserve a heads up,in sponsorship !

    Reply

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