Starting the Rolex 24 from pole doesn't change the plan for van der Zande

Moving up one position on the grid for the Rolex 24 At Daytona hasn’t changed Renger van der Zande’s outlook for the race ahead, as he and his Acura Meyer Shank Racing crew look ahead to the race itself.

“It’s always good to lead the field in any race that you’re in. To have Acura MSR and HRC US on the pole is great for the entire team,” Van der Zande said, following the news that the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen V-Series.R had been penalized after qualifying. “We have a long race ahead of us and nothing really changes going into the race, we’re still aiming for the win.” 

The No. 93 Acura of van der Zande, Nick Yelloly, Alex Palou and Kakunoshin Ohta moved from the outside to the inside of the front row for the start of the race on Saturday when the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen V-Series.R that had originally claimed pole position was found to have exceeded the maximum allowable tolerance for wear on the rear skid block during the post-qualifying technical inspection.

This violation sent Jack Aitken, Earl Bamber, Frederik Vesti and Connor Zilisch to the rear of the 11-car GTP field. Wayne Taylor Racing’s No. 40 Cadillac will now move to the outside of the front row after being promoted from third to second.

Van der Zande was initially pleased with the front-row start, saying after qualifying, “I think this truly showcases what we've learned over the course of our first year working together as a group. There are so many people, so many resources, and so much talent, but we still needed to find a cohesive way of working together — and that is exactly what you see now when you look at our team.”

He has a chance at taking his third overall victory in the Rolex 24, while Palou can become the 17th driver to win both the Rolex 24 and the Indianapolis 500.

“We're going into our second year of this Meyer Shank Racing and Honda Racing Corporation USA effort, and the homework we've done has been incredible," said van der Zande. "I've never seen it at this level before in any team. The only thing that we needed to improve last season was the execution, and today was a good example that we have learned how to do exactly that. 

“We're starting from the front at Daytona in our No.93 Acura ARX-06 and there's a long race ahead of us. We'll stay calm, stay cool, and go from here.”