Sportscars: Cadillac ends Ganassi – Van der Zande partnership: “It’s like telling your parents they’re getting a divorce”

Renger van der Zande with Mike Hull, director of Chip Ganassi Racing

In the week leading up to the 12 Hours of Sebring, one of the highlights of the IMSA season, Cadillac announced that it will not continue its existing partnership with Chip Ganassi Racing at the end of this year. The Chip Ganassi Team competes on behalf of Cadillac in the North American IMSA SportsCar Championship and the FIA ​​World Endurance Championship. Our colleague Renger van der Zande is one of the drivers. “It feels like your parents are telling you they’re getting a divorce,” Van der Zande said in response to AUTOSPORT.NL. However, he is still optimistic: “We have only the second race of the season, there are opportunities for all sides.”

Text: René de Boer (X: @renedeboer, Threads: @rebocarrdb)
Photo: Rebocar/R. de Boer

Cadillac has been working with Chip Ganassi Racing since the 2021 season, first in the form of the DPi model and since last year with the LMDh car, which allowed the expansion of activities to the FIA ​​​​WEC. In addition to the American headquarters of Chip Ganassi Racing in Indianapolis, which also has an IndyCar team, there is also a European base near Stuttgart, where the WEC program is run under the leadership of former Porsche engineer Stephen Mitas.

In IMSA, Cadillac has a second team in the form of Action Express, which could expand the campaign to two cars next year. It is not yet known who will drive a Cadillac in the WEC (or maybe two, a number that the WEC organization considers to be the minimum to achieve the best balance of performance).

Team owner Chip Ganassi interviewed by Shea Adam of IMSA Radio

Renger van der Zande has been driving for Chip Ganassi Racing since 2021, where he is very happy. He still cannot say what effect the decision announced by Cadillac will have on him. “There are still many unknowns about what will happen in the future and we are working hard,” he says. “Let’s first see if we can win races this weekend and if we can win more races this year, because that’s where I’m at and that’s what I’m focused on!”