Sebastien Bourdais told media including Motorsport Week that he was “really happy” with his third-placed result during Hyperpole qualifying for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
“It was a really solid lap, said the Le Mans-born #3 Cadillac V-Series.R driver after the Hyperpole session.
“You always leave something on the table at a track like this, but at the end of the day, I’m really happy where we ended up.
“The car hasn’t felt great for most of the test, but when we hit the track for qualifying, the car was amazing.
“This time I didn’t get any traffic. The first preparation lap I just pushed through because I knew it was a throw-away lap.
“That’s why when they told me I was only going to get one lap, I was thinking there was no way and that I couldn’t get the tyres up to temperature.
“We probably were going to be too low on fuel to do three and two [laps]. It is what it is.
“At the end of the day, I was super happy that we could jam that thing in. It’s amazing and awesome for Cadillac.
“I’m really happy. The thing has four wheels on it and we didn’t put a foot wrong. We can go racing now.”
Due to the #2 Cadillac’s five-place grid penalty, earned after Earl Bamber’s crash at the preceding FIA World Endurance Championship round – the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps – the #3 crew of Bourdais, Renger van der Zande, and Scott Dixon will start on the front row in second place.
During the exciting Hyperpole session, Cadillac asserted potency with both the #2 and Alex Lynn, and the #3 with Bourdais at the wheel.
Bourdais set a strong benchmark for provisional pole with 3:24.816, before Alex Lynn and Kevin Estre produced lap times which surpassed the yellow Cadillac, who completed his session due to a lack of fuel to continue.
For the main race on the weekend, 15-16 June, Cadillac start on the front row with the #2 in seventh place out of a record 23 Hypercar entrants.
