Cadillac enters '24 IMSA season with stout lineup
Cadillac Racing will seek to successfully defend its IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship titles in 2024 with a successful and savvy driver lineup.
📷 Courtesy of Cadillac Racing. Laura Wontrop Klauser
The hybrid No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R and No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R (Here at Watkins Glen 2023, 📷 © Luc Warnotte) start their second season of Grand Touring Prototype competition at the 62nd Rolex 24 At Daytona in late January. The nine-race schedule includes five endurance rounds and a return to Detroit.
Cadillac swept top honors for the 2023 IMSA season, earning its fourth Manufacturer Championship and fifth IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup title in the prototype classification since 2017.
“Rolex 24 in 2023 for Cadillac Racing was an incredible event,” said Laura Wontrop Klauser, GM sports car racing program manager. “It proved the reliability of our vehicles and how strong they could be. Since then, we’ve been figuring out how to take that solid package and get the most possible performance out of it.
"We are excited to come back to Daytona in January 2024 and see how much of a leap we’ve made over a year in improving the vehicle.”
📷 © Luc Warnotte at Rolex 24 at Daytona 2023. #01 Cadillac V-Series.R
Continuity and experience highlight the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R entry, with Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande returning for their third season as teammates. Six-time INDYCAR champion Scott Dixon returns for the Rolex 24 and additional endurance races.
The trio drove to third place in the 2023 season-opening Rolex 24 and closed with a runner-up finish in the Petit Le Mans. Combined, the three drivers have eight overall or class Rolex 24 victories. They also teamed up for a fourth-place overall finish in the centenary 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Bourdais and van der Zande co-drove the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R to victory at Laguna Seca, raising their win total to four over the past two seasons. Van der Zande has 19 IMSA victories, including nine with Cadillac Racing, and Bourdais has 11 IMSA wins.
“We had some success racing the Cadillac V-Series.R across the 2023 IMSA season but we are expecting even more in 2024. We are happy that Sebastien, Renger and Scott will again be in the 01 next year and that we can build on our learnings together,” said Mike O’Gara, director of operations for Chip Ganassi Racing which fields the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R in IMSA and the No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
“We have proven that the car has reliability, as both of our Cadillacs finished every lap of the 2023 Rolex 24 at Daytona. We led a lot of laps in many races last year, but not always the ones that counted. We are using the off-season to regroup and hit the reset button, so we can attack 2024 together.”
📷 © Luc Warnotte at 12 Hours of Sebring 2023. Winning #31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R.
The IMSA GTP championship-winning No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R enters 2024 with Pipo Derani and Jack Aitken as its full-season drivers and bolstered by 2022 IMSA DPi champion Tom Blomqvist joining for endurance races.
Blomqvist drove to the Rolex 24 overall victory in 2023 and ’22. Derani, the 2023 and 2021 IMSA prototype champion, teamed with Aitken and Alexander Sims to win at Sebring International Raceway en route to securing the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup Driver and Team Championship and the IMSA GTP Driver/Team Championship.
“We are expecting the 2024 Rolex 24 to be the most competitive 24-hour race ever run in Daytona,” said Gary Nelson, team manager for Action Express Racing which fields the car. “After a steep learning curve in 2023, all teams now have a year under their belts with the hybrid GTP class. We know everybody is working hard to find small gains. We celebrated our 2023 championship for about one day, then it was back to work for Action Express.
“When they wave the checkered flag after 24 hours of racing in Daytona, we will get our report card. We believe the ‘homework’ we are doing during this off-season will get us a great chance to end up at the head of the class.”
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📷 © Luc Warnotte at Sebring. Same lineups for Cadillac in IMSA and WEC for 2024.
📷 © Luc Warnotte at The Glen 2023. #31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R
📷 © Luc Warnotte at Sebring. 12 Hours of Sebring GTP race
