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Two-time Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix race winner Renger van der Zande is profiled in the first IMSA “Drivers Stories.” The Dutchman returns to Detroit in May to drive the hybrid No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R with four-time INDYCAR champion and 2022 Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix winner Sebastien Bourdais.

WATCH THE VIDEO [HERE].

“I’m looking forward to returning to Detroit to race – this time on a different street circuit than Belle Isle,” van der Zande said. “We’ve had success on street circuits with Cadillac Racing and I’m confident Seb and I can deliver a big victory for Cadillac in its home race.”

In 2022, van der Zande completed a 50-minute fuel-saving stint, having taken over from co-driver Bourdais, to deliver the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R a victory at Belle Isle in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The DPi race was split into those who opted for one-stop strategies and those who pitted twice. While van der Zande was squeezing every drop of fuel out of the No. 01 Cadillac, Pipo Derani in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R was on a charge through the field after the team opted for a two-stopper.

The No. 01 Cadillac, the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura, and the No. 02 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R were all following the same one-stop strategy. This meant that they were vulnerable to a determined Derani, who was closing in on them. Although Derani, Earl Bamber, and Oliver Jarvis raced each other hard, van der Zande maintained control of the race from the front.

Cadillac swept the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) titles. Cadillac has won the overall Rolex 24 title four times since the inception of the DPi era. Van der Zande is a two-time winner (2019, 2020) with Cadillac Racing, while Bourdais is also a double winner (2014, 2017). 

van der Zande and Bourdais are in their third season as teammates for the full IMSA GTP season. They won the IMSA GTP race at Laguna Seca in May 2023 and teamed with six-time INDYCAR champion Scott Dixon to place third in the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona and runner-up in the season-concluding Petit Le Mans. The trio also finished fourth overall in the centenary 24 Hours of Le Mans last June. … Bourdais, van der Zande and Dixon are Cadillac Racing teammates for the 2024 Rolex 24 for the third consecutive year. … In 2022, van der Zande and Bourdais co-drove the No. 01 Cadillac DPi-V.R to three victories — at Long Beach, at Belle Isle and Canadian Tire Motorsports Park — starting from the pole in the former two. … Laguna Seca 2023 was the 19th IMSA victory for van der Zande and the 11th for Bourdais. … Bourdais is a four-time INDYCAR champion. … van der Zande is in his 11th season of IMSA competition. 

The racecar features a purpose-built Cadillac 5.5-liter DOHC V8 engine developed by GM’s Performance and Racing propulsion team based in Pontiac, Michigan. Cadillac is the only GTP manufacturer to use a naturally aspirated engine.

Knowledge, data acquisition, contingency preparation, communication and a host of other crucial elements were gleaned from the first season of GTP competition, which early on had served as a means to evaluate the new racecar, but it quickly evolved into a platform for learning and growth.

“There has been a huge advantage from where we were 12 months ago to where we are now,” said Chris Mitchum, director of race team operations for Action Express Racing which runs the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R. “In racing years – if you can compare it to dog years – I think we’ve achieved at least three years’ worth of work in one year’s worth of time across the Cadillac program.

WATCH THE VIDEO [HERE].