Though it was down in seventeenth place three hours into the World Endurance Championship’s most well-known race after qualifying second by the hands of Alex Lynn, the #2 V-Sequence.R achieved a stable race thereafter.
Regardless of very unstable climate situations, there was little bother to report for the blue Chip Ganassi-run automobile apart from a nostril change within the evening.
It thus rose to the lead, which it occupied on the twenty first hour of the competition – though its technique was out of sync with its rivals, that means it typically tumbled down the order at pitstops.
Nonetheless, the #2 Cadillac struggled within the final a part of the race, as a number of showers damped an in any other case slowly drying monitor, and it completed simply seventh, 49 seconds off the race-winning #50 Ferrari.
“Clearly unhappy that I could not struggle for the win,” Palou informed Motorsport.com after his maiden Le Mans 24 Hours race. “We have been wanting actually good, I might say, from ten hours to go. Then even the final two hours.
“Sadly, did not actually have the tempo we would have liked on the finish. Simply struggled loads with total grip on the rain and in combined situations. A whole lot of enjoyable, some actually good stints, however on the finish we did not actually have the tempo we would have liked.”
#2 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Sequence.R: Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn, Alex Palou
Photograph by: Shameem Fahath
Requested if there have been issues that he and Cadillac may enhance based mostly on their efficiency at Circuit de la Sarthe, Palou replied: “All the time! There are at all times issues you possibly can enhance on small races, think about on a 24-hour race! I feel everyone feels the identical means.
“Simply struggled loads on the combined situations. I feel we have been good on absolutely moist, good on absolutely dry, however not nice on combined situations. We have to see if it was the automobile set-up, if it was the driving, if it was the BoP that did not assist, so I do not know in the meanwhile, however for certain it wasn’t perfect.”
Subsequently requested to broaden on his feeling in combined situations, Palou added: “Only a lack of tempo. We could not go quick. Once we tried and pushed, we have been killing the tyres. Regular lack of tempo, the automobile felt okay till we tried too match everyone else’s tempo, after which we simply misplaced a ton of grip.”
Staff-mate Earl Bamber, an outright Le Mans winner with Porsche in 2015 and 2017, concurred: “We had a terrific tempo within the dry, however finally not the tempo within the moist. That is what kind of killed our race on the finish there. We have been positively in competition, that is one other step nearer to the aim.”
The opposite two Cadillacs had a a lot more durable race, with the #3 automobile shared by Sebastien Bourdais, Scott Dixon and Renger van der Zande affected by a terminal oil leak after 18 hours.
It had beforehand acquired a drive-through penalty for rushing below full course yellow, and had a visit by the gravel by the hands of Bourdais at Indianapolis nook in addition to struggling a whack towards the wall by Van der Zande.
In the meantime, the #311 automobile entered below the Whelen Cadillac Racing banner had an enormous affect towards the tyre barrier when Pipo Derani misplaced management at Indianapolis, all however placing an finish to its race.
