IMSA News: No. 01 Cadillac recovers 2 laps to win Petit Le Mans

The No. 01 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R came back from two laps off the pace Saturday to win the 27th annual Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

“Remember, we have a long way to go; we’ll get ‘em,” race strategist Mike O’Gara for the Chip Ganassi Racing-run racecar said after the team’s third on-track setback with 7 hours, 30 minutes left in the 10-hour race at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

O’Gara and the rest of the team know the truth in that encouragement, especially in the ebb and flow of the endurance race on the 2.54-mile, 12-turn course. Indeed, with good pace, solid strategy and steering clear of further incident, drivers Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande and Scott Dixon combined to get back on the lead lap and in position to challenge for a podium spot.

And, under a bright half moon, the team reaped the rewards of their perseverance with a dramatic victory to the delight of a record crowd for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season finale.

It was the fifth Petit Le Mans victory for Cadillac Racing, which has recorded a first or second in every 10-hour race at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta since joining IMSA prototype competition in 2017. Van der Zande has three victories (2018, 2020, 2024) and a pair of second-place finishes (2019, 2023) with Cadillac Racing.

The drama wasn’t finished for the No. 1, though, as its headlights began flickering on and off in the closing laps. The team risked being ordered to pit lane if both lights remained off, but van der Zande was able to get one or both lights to stay on intermittently until taking the checkered flag 2.948 seconds ahead of Tandy.

The No. 7 Porsche finished third to clinch the GTP team, driver and manufacturer championships for both the season and in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup.

The late-race drama wasn’t limited to the GTP class, with a frantic dash to the finish in the last 35 minutes following a restart from the fifth full-course caution of the race. Soon after the restart, Albert Costa Balboa wheeled the No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 past Loris Spinelli in the No. 78 Forte Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 for the lead in the Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) class. Spinelli made multiple attempts to retake the lead but was rebuffed by Balboa each time, with the final margin just 0.718 seconds.

Jordan Pepper gave Lamborghini the win in the Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) class, taking the No. 19 Iron Lynx Huracán GT3 EVO2 to the class victory by 2.361 seconds.

But it was the battle behind him that drew the attention. Ross Gunn was running in third in the No. 23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 but needed to finish in second to secure the driver and team championships. He was unable to get past Daniel Serra in the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3, though, which allowed the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R to hang onto the GTD PRO title by a mere four points.

In the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class, Mikkel Jensen pulled away from the field in the No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA LMP2 07 after the final restart to win by 17 seconds. By finishing fourth, the No. 52 Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA and drivers Nick Boulle and Tom Dillman clinched the LMP2 championships.

AO Racing Porsche Hangs on for GTD PRO Title as Iron Lynx Lamborghini Wins Race

The No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 and co-drivers Philip Ellis and Russell Ward locked up the GTD team and driver championships early when other class cars retired from the race. The No. 57 wound up finishing ninth in the GTD race.

Shortly after the midway point of the Motul Petit Le Mans, Laurin Heinrich held a four-point lead over Ross Gunn in the Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) driver championship standings.

A few minutes later, Gunn was back in front by 16 points. Then he wasn’t, and then he was again. And on and on it went, a back-and-forth, hours-long battle for a memory that will last a lifetime.

When the 10-hour race ended, Heinrich had won the championship by holding on to 11th place in the finale race of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season while Gunn’s spirited battle to catch Daniel Serra for second place ended just 1.845 seconds short.

As Heinrich crossed the finish line knowing he’d won the championship, he lost his composure.

“I completely freaked out,” Heinrich said. “I took the fan in the car and I shook it so much that it ripped off. I had it in my hand. It was crazy. … My engineer was speaking to me in the moment and saw it live (on the in-car camera). He was like, ‘Dude, you’re going to pay for that.’”

Heinrich’s No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R encountered mechanical issues early in the race and fell five laps behind. That’s when the championship battle between Heinrich and Gunn turned into a math problem. Heinrich solved it by just four points with the help of his co-drivers, Michael Christensen and Julien Andlauer.

Being out of the car was the most difficult part of the drama, Heinrich said.

“I didn’t leave the pit for the whole race,” he said. “I was checking our race, which was quite uneventful, and then I was checking the race up front and where the (No.) 23 was. That, for me, was probably the hardest part.”

Gunn and his co-drivers, Alex Riberas and Roman De Angelis, gave it all they had. With 30 minutes remaining, Gunn recorded the fastest lap of the race in GTD PRO – 1 minute, 18.954 seconds – but he couldn’t get past Serra for second place, which would have won him and the No. 23 the championship.

The stress of the situation wore on the entire team.

“I think the race today took at least 10 years off my life,” said AO Racing co-owner Gunnar Jeannette. “We have had incredible reliability all year. So, of course, when it mattered, we had a simple issue put us six or seven laps down. We managed it how we manage races all year – minimize the losses and have some luck.”

While the drama unfolded behind him, Jordan Pepper held on for victory in the No. 19 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 he co-drove with Franck Perera and Mirko Bortolotti. In the end, Pepper finished 2.361 seconds ahead of Serra for the team’s first IMSA victory.

“It was such a good feeling obviously, to close it out this time,” Pepper said. “I’m very proud. It was just an intense, intense battle out there on all stints. There was a point when we were mixing it up with the GTD cars and I got the lead.”

Two hours into the race, the No. 77 Porsche – which started from the GTD PRO pole position – began to slow dramatically with a gearbox issue. Andlauer stopped and restarted several times on course before pitting so the team could work on the problem. After falling five laps behind the leaders, the Porsche returned to its early race pace.

The rest was just a matter of addition and subtraction.

“I was always asking on the radio where the (No.) 23 was,” Heinrich said. “With 15 minutes to go, they told me he’s half a second behind Serra. If he overtakes Serra, we lose the championship. I just thought, ‘This can’t be true.’ In the end, it was enough.”

Winners Quotes

Renger van der Zande: “Super happy to finish this off with a bang. It’s the last race for Chip Ganassi with Cadillac. It’s my last race with Cadillac. I’ve been with Cadillac for seven years now, which makes me very proud, but also sad to leave. Nice things come to an end, and this is the right way, with Cadillac. In the last four years (with Chip Ganassi Racing). Chip has been so nice to me, Mike Hull, Mike O’Gara, the team. I think this year, we had such a good team, and everyone was working in the same direction. This win was really good.”

Sebastien Bourdais: “I don’t even know where to begin. Last year, we were winning until the final 30 minutes. This year we weren’t leading until right at the end. We had a torque sensor issue which affected the beginning of the race, so we had to do 100 laps on a set of tires. It looked like a lost race but the guys managed to fix it, and get us back to contending for the win at the end. I’m super happy to be able to finish on a high like this. It was frustrating last year to lose it, so we’ll definitely take it. I’m super happy for everyone at Chip Ganassi Racing, Cadillac, and my two awesome teammates. It couldn’t be a better send-off.”

Scott Dixon: “I’m so happy for the team. What a day. I’ve never been a part of anything like that. It’s so cool. As everybody saw the way it started we had a tricky day. We had a sensor issue, and kudos to everybody on the team side and Cadillac engineering for working through that and working with IMSA to enable that. Everybody had tremendous stints. I’m just so happy for everybody on the team and Cadillac.”

2014 Petit Le Mans Results