Cadillac had a tough FIA World Endurance Championship weekend at Imola, with multiple drivers from team downcast after the 6 hour race, which was won by Ferrari.
‘Tough and disappointing weekend for the 38’, said Sebastien Bourdais, one of three drivers in the #38 Cadillac V-Series.R.
‘It started with qualifying being completely ruined by the 6 car and then the race.
‘Obviously, starting where we were was never going to be easy.
‘Earl [Bamber] did a good job at the start and it started to look good and then there was that contact that spun Earl out and then we got a penalty and the gap gets big. Tire deg was clearly a big issue.’
Bourdais’s teammate Earl Bamber started the #38 Cadillac in 15th position. He got as high as 12th before making contact with the #94 Peugeot of Loic Duval, with the Peugeot driver nudging the Cadillac onto the grass. Duval would later receive a penalty for the incident.
However, Bamber then received a penalty of his own after he spun the other Peugeot, the #93 with Paul di Resta at the wheel, at Tosa corner. He was served with a drive through penalty for his trouble, with the team never recovering the gap even with multiple safety cars, eventually finishing 16th, with Jenson Button also driving the car.
‘Pretty tough day,’ said Bamber after the race.
‘We were hoping for a lot more speed in the car. The Peugeot turning down on us in the end didn’t impact our race too much. We lost nearly another two laps, so tough day for us and hopefully we can regroup to Spa where we had a strong car last year.’
Points a consolation for #12 Cadillac
The other Cadillac, the #12 machine piloted by Alex Lynn, Norman Nato and Will Stevens, did a little better, managing to score a solitary point for 10th position.
However, the three were not happy with their performance.
“Obviously, a tough day in the office,’ said Stevens.
‘We just struggled for pace the whole race. On our side, even on what’s a tough day, we still scored some points, which on days like today you need to try and score what you can at least we got that. We need to make improvements before Spa, which should suit us more than this track.’
The Briton started the car from ninth after his teammate Lynn qualified the car the previous day. Stevens retained this in the opening stint but got a penalty for infringements during the first full course yellow period early in the race.
This dropped them back out of the top 10 and, for the rest of the race, they had to fight to get back into the top 10. Norman Nato did over three hours in the car and brought it up to score points.
“A bit of a tough weekend,’ said the Frenchman, echoing the tone and words from the other Cadillac drivers.
‘We knew it was going to be difficult for us. We tried our best; we’re still learning about the car and with a new team. Lot of experience taken and we want to move forward and to get points at Spa and Le Mans.
‘I’d say it was important to make it to the end. Not in the position we wanted, but we learned a lot and want to come back stronger,’ he finished.
READ MORE: Valentino Rossi shares ‘mixed feelings’ on Imola podium finish
