Vesti Excited for “Intensity” of First IMSA Sprint Race

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

Frederik Vesti said he’s looking forward to the “intensity” of his first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship sprint race this weekend at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

The 23-year-old Dane, a runner-up in FIA Formula 2 competition, has been drafted into Action Express Racing’s Cadillac V-Series.R in place of Earl Bamber, who is on FIA World Endurance Championship duty this weekend at Spa-Francorchamps.

Vesti, who completed a season of the European Le Mans Series in LMP2 with Cool Racing, which included his debut in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2024, has been AXR’s third driver in its No. 31 Cadillac for the long-distance races this year.

“Honestly, I’m super excited for this weekend,” he told Sportscar365. “I do see it, as every other race weekend that I’ve done so far in IMSA.

“Obviously the challenge of GT cars and it’s still an endurance race with pit stops and tire and fuel management, probably some yellows as well.

“There will be a lot of things to challenge but ultimately it’s a race that’s a bit shorter than normal, from my side, but I’m super excited to feel the intensity of the sprint race weekend.

“We don’t have 24 or 12 hours to get to the front. We need to be there from the beginning.

“That’s quite exciting.”

Vesti, who tested at the California circuit several weeks ago, said Sunday’s two-hour and 40-minute race will even help him prepare for this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, where he’ll team up with Jack Aitken and Felipe Drugovich in the Whelen-sponsored Cadillac in the Hypercar ranks.

“First of all, seat time is very, very important, as a racing driver. It’s all we have to practice,” he said.

“Of course we have the simulator but in reality you learn so much more.

“Also the intensity of a track like this, in a sprint race, with all of the GT cars, there’s no doubt I’m going to learn a lot this weekend in terms of traffic management, which will be important at Le Mans as well, to not lose time.”

The Mercedes-Benz Formula 1 reserve driver said his switch to sports car racing has been a “huge change” in his career.

“The learning curve is still quite big, to be honest, even though I’ve done it for a year now, I still feel kinda new here, also in the car,” said Vesti.

“I’ve been quite quick, especially at Sebring, my pace was quite strong. But still at Sebring there were things to learn, traffic-wise, taking risks at the right time of the race, those kind of things.

“I’m really enjoying my time in endurance [racing] and I’m growing as a driver, which is my main motivation. It’s improvements and I’m seeking those improvements here and I’m really learning.”

While only getting his first laps in the Cadillac during last year’s end-of-season WEC rookie test in Bahrain, followed by outings with AXR in the Rolex 24 at Daytona and Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, Vesti still feels he has more to learn.

“For sure there’s more to come,” he said. “I think that’s natural when I’m only in my third race with this car against people that have done this for the last three years and many years before that in similar cars.

“For sure I’m still quite new in the Cadillac team and in the car but I feel very comfortable in this car since Day 1. I’m still getting up to speed with all of the systems in this car.

“There’s a serious amount of different things you can do as a driver to enhance the car.

“I’m still trying to optimize that all the time.

“But the car, for me, is in the direction of a Formula 2 car. It’s quite a heavy car; it does have a lot of downforce but you need to drive it in a very specific way and that reminds me a little bit of F2.”