Cadillac extended its lead over Acura in the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship manufacturer’s standings with a dominant 1-2-3 finish on the streets of Long Beach this past weekend.
The No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R of Pipo Derani and Felipe Nasr led the Cadillac trio across the finish line, with Kevin Magnussen and Renger van der Zande securing a runner-up finish in the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing entry. Completing the all-Cadillac podium was the No. 5 JDC Miller DPi-V.R of French duo Loic Duval and Tristan Vautier.
The No. 10 WTR Acura ARX-05 of Ricky Taylor and Felipe Albuquerque finished fourth in the DPi class, while the No. 55 Mazda RT24-P of Oliver Jarvis and Harry Tincknell was fifth. The No. 60 MSR Acura ARX-05 ran toward the back of the DPi pack all day and was later forced to retire from the race after contact with a GTLM car caused significant rear end damage to the prototype.
With only one race left in the DPi class season, all three Cadillac teams will be looking to minimize mistakes both on track and in the pit lane to secure as many points as possible for the General Motors luxury brand. Cadillac narrowly leads the DPi manufacturer’s standings with 3,311 points, while Acura is second with 3,223 points and Mazda third with 3,039 points. As usual, the gruelling, 10-hour-long Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta will serve as the IMSA season finale, presenting a major challenge to both DPi manufacturers in contention for the title.
While Cadillac leads the manufacturer’s standings, the WTR Acura pairing of Taylor and Albuquerque lead the DPi driver’s standings from Derani and Nasr. Whichever of these driver pairings finished ahead of the other at Road Atlanta is essentially guaranteed the title, adding an extra layer of excitement to the season-ending race.
The Motul Petit Le Mans will go green on Saturday, November 13th at 10:10 a.m.
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Comments
That was a great race to watch, the 6.2L engines in the Cadillac DPIs really propel them off the turns. The suspensions also give them an advantage on these street courses that can be rough.
I’m looking forward to see both Cadillac and Chevrolet Corvette in the Le Mans 24 hours, the former in the LMDh class and the other in GT pro.