Whelen Engineering Racing Ready for Road America
July 30, 2019
Barbosa Unlucky in Qualifying, to Start Seventh at Road America
August 4, 2019
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (3 August 2019) – Looking to give Whelen Engineering Racing its third victory at Road America in five years, Pipo Derani qualified the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi V.R sixth for Sunday’s IMSA Road Racing Classic. The race is the eighth of ten on the 2019 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship calendar, and is a driver and fan favorite event.
Sunny and warm conditions greeted the teams and drivers as the field was set in a 15-minute qualifying session. Derani’s best lap in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi co-driven by Felipe Nasr was one minute, 50.111 seconds, putting the familiar red-and-white car on the third row.
“I was pushing with everything I had,” said Derani. “We are just doing our jobs and unfortunately right now the best we can do is qualify sixth. It is not ideal because we are fighting for a championship. There is a big gap to the Acuras and Mazdas but it is just like this, and we will do the best that we can with what we have.”
Derani and Nasr are currently second in the DPi standings, only three points back with three races remaining. Whelen Engineering Racing won overall at Road America with a Corvette Daytona Prototype in 2015 and 2016.
“There are only three races remaining, and we can’t afford to make any mistakes from here,” Nasr said. “We are going to keep fighting for the championship. This is one of my favorite tracks on the calendar – Pipo’s, too!”
The IMSA Road Race Showcase takes the green flag at 1:35 p.m. CT. on Sunday. The two-hour, 40-minute race will have a delayed broadcast on NBCSN, beginning at 6 p.m. ET.
