| Renger van der Zande Says He and Sebastien Bourdais Must Win, Win and Win Some More If They Hope to Take the DPi Crown May 31, 2022By John OreoviczIMSA Wire Service  DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Renger van der Zande knows that through a variety of circumstances, he and his Cadillac Racing teammate Sebastien Bourdais have put themselves in a tough hole to dig out of to compete for the Daytona Prototype international (DPi) title in the 2022 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.They’ve sped to pole position in three of five races and claimed a race win at Long Beach. But they have also failed to finish three times, and as a result, lie a distant sixth in the DPi points standings. Van der Zande also knows that this weekend’s Chevrolet Sports Car Classic (3 p.m. ET Saturday on USA Network, Peacock and IMSA Radio), set to be staged for the last time on the Belle Isle Park temporary street circuit before moving to a downtown Detroit street course in 2023, marks the first (and one of the best) opportunities for clawing their way back into the points chase, which is led by the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 duo of Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor. Halfway through the 10-race campaign, Bourdais and van der Zande are 208 points in arrears of Taylor and Albuquerque. Another Acura pairing, Oliver Jarvis and Tom Blomqvist of Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian, are the closest pursuers, 32 points off the championship lead. The difference between qualifying first and winning compared to sixth place for both is 110 points. In theory, a couple perfect weekends for the No. 01 Cadillac DPi-V.R and bad outings for the No. 10 Acura could vault van der Zande and Bourdais right back into the title hunt.  “To be honest, we are very far away, so we’ve got to be all in for winning the races,” van der Zande said Tuesday. “I don’t know if we have a slight championship possibility still going on. So, it’s very simple. We can only win to even have a chance. We need to win every race, that’s the goal, and don’t do stupid things.“For them to finish sixth three times in a row for us to climb up, that’s going to be difficult,” he continued. “But who knows? I’m not giving up until the last hour of Petit Le Mans (the Oct. 1 finale at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta) as long as we have a chance. Winning races is still fun. We have a fast car everywhere we go, and we have good strategy. I am pessimistic about the championship, but I’m not giving up until it’s over.” Van der Zande should feel confident about his team’s prospects for the one-hour, 40-minute duel at Belle Isle. He’s a three-time winner on the 2.3-mile, 14-turn circuit, which features the imposing walls of a street course but with a generally smoother racing surface. Van der Zande won consecutive WeatherTech Championship Prototype Challenge (PC) class races at Belle Isle in 2015 and ’16. Last year in the No. 01 Cadillac, he and then-co-driver Kevin Magnussen took the overall and DPi win. Bourdais is also a two-time winner in Detroit, triumphing in IndyCar races at Belle Isle in 2015 and ’16. On top of that, the Cadillac DPi is generally considered more effective on low-speed, bumpy circuits than the Acura. The No. 01 Cadillac is also coming off an incredible victory in the last street course race at Long Beach, where Bourdais dropped to the back after making a mistake, then charged right back through the field to take the win. “We did very well at the last street course, and Sebastien had a race that was amazing,” said van der Zande. “I think the Cadillac has always done well at Detroit. It’s home for Cadillac and General Motors, and when you’re on the back straight and you see the GM Tower every lap, you kind of feel like the bosses are watching you.” Bourdais and van der Zande and their No. 02 Cadillac teammates Alex Lynn and Earl Bamber (who rank third in the standings, 104 points behind Taylor and Albuquerque) also expect to get an intra-team boost from the Chip Ganassi Racing IndyCar team, which just won the Indianapolis 500 with driver Marcus Ericsson. The Ganassi organization prepares the Cadillac Racing IMSA entries in the same Indianapolis facility as its IndyCar team. “I assume that when I arrive, I will only see happy faces,” van der Zande said. “There must be a good vibe in the team right now. They know how to make fast cars, for us and for the IndyCar group. “It’s amazing to be part of such a winning crew and it’s nice to be in the same paddock with them this weekend because for sure there will be all smiles.” |
