Leads Cadillac runners with another top-five finish
Mansfield, Ohio (6 May 2018) Looking to make a successful defense of the team’s 2013 Mid-Ohio race victory, the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R finished fourth with drivers Filipe Albuquerque (PRT) and João Barbosa (PRT) coming home just one spot shy of the podium despite excellent teamwork all weekend long.
The race was round four of the 2018 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, with the team looking to score a third victory of the year with the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R. From the pit stops to the strategy to the performance of the drivers, the team executed fully on the race plan, but just came up short of a return to the Mid-Ohio podium.
Barbosa started the race from sixth on the grid and was able to hold station in the opening segments of the race before turning the car over to his fellow Rolex 24 At Daytona champion Albuquerque. The Mustang Sampling squad delivered when it came time for the pit stops, helping the team move forward with excellent execution. The visit to Mid-Ohio was the first for Albuquerque, who ran a strong race pace through the extended green flag run to come home fourth at the finish as the leading Cadillac DPi-V.R.
“It was an interesting race with no yellows, I wasn’t expecting that certainly not at Mid-Ohio since it’s a very narrow track with a lot of traffic,” said Barbosa. “Everyone behaved, which is really good! Our race was the best it could be. The team did a great job and we were able to make up a few positions. We didn’t have the outright pace, but we had a consistent car, great pit stops, and great strategy. That’s all we had today, so we move on to Detroit and hopefully we can be stronger there.”
“The track it’s self is pretty interesting, but we did’t have the pace that I wish we did,” said Albuquerque. “Overall the winning car was in a different category than everyone else. But it was a clean race with no adventures with the safety car, which could have played a little better for us. We did win our race being the best Cadillac. It was a smart race because we gained points towards the championship. In my opinion, Action Express won the race, our race-we did a brilliant job with strategy, with our stops and made the most of whatever we had.”
The next race on the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will be the Chevrolet Grand Prix in Detroit on June 2.
