Familiar Faces Lead the Attack to Defend Championships
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Cadillac Racing is relying on continuity and experience to defend their 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship titles as Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) team, driver, and manufacturer champions for both the full season and the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup.
Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande return for their third season as teammates in the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R with six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon rejoining them for the endurance races.
“We had some success racing the Cadillac V-Series.R across the 2023 IMSA season but we are expecting even more in 2024. We are happy that Sebastien, Renger and Scott will again be in the 01 next year and that we can build on our learnings together,” said Mike O’Gara, director of operations for Chip Ganassi Racing which fields the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R in the WeatherTech Championship.
The lineup for the WeatherTech Championship GTP championship-winning No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R was previously announced with Pipo Derani being joined fulltime by 2023 endurance driver Jack Aitken. The duo will share seat time with 2023 Rolex 24 At Daytona winner and 2022 WeatherTech Championship DPi champion Tom Blomqvist for the endurance races.
“We are expecting the 2024 Rolex 24 to be the most competitive 24-hour race ever run in Daytona,” said Gary Nelson, team manager for Action Express Racing which fields the car. “After a steep learning curve in 2023, all teams now have a year under their belts with the hybrid GTP class. We know everybody is working hard to find small gains. We celebrated our 2023 championship for about one day, then it was back to work for Action Express.
“When they wave the checkered flag after 24 hours of racing in Daytona, we will get our report card. We believe the ‘homework’ we are doing during this off-season will get us a great chance to end up at the head of the class.”