Cadillac V-Series.R in IMSA and WEC

WECIMSAHyperCar

May 8

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Daytona: the three Cadillac V-Series.R concluded with a third, fourth and fifth place.

Most GTP/Hypercars fans love to hear the new Cadillac V-Series.R powered by a 5.5-liter V-8 normally aspirated engine developed by GM’s Performance and Racing propulsion team.

After a strong debut at the 24 hours of Daytona where the three Cadillacs ended third, fourth and fifth, Cadillac Racing is leading the IMSA Manufacturers’ Championship. Alexander Sims and Pipo Derani are second in the Drivers’ Championship just one point behind the Porsche #6 team. In WEC, the #2 Cadillac is fourth just two points behind Porsche in the Manufacturers’ Championship.

IMSA

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Daytona. Cadillac Racing #01 third , Cadillac Racing #02 fourth and Whelen Engineering Cadillac #31 fifth.

Rolex 24 At Daytona

The gold #01 Cadillac V-Series.R earned a podium finish in the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona in January and #02 registered a P4 finish just behind the sister car. Both Chip Ganassi Racing's Cadillacs completed the full 24-hour endurance race on the lead lap, with Sebastien Bourdais, Scott Dixon and Renger van der Zande (#01 Cadillac) combined to lead 198 laps while Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn and Richard Westbrook led the field for 29 laps in the #02.

Pipo Derani, Alexander Sims and Jack Aitken with #31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac persevered after a pre-dawn incident involving a GTD that necessitated a 25-minute trip to the garage finishing fifth. The incident was the lone substantial setback for the new Cadillac prototypes.

After the race, Richard Westbrook said: “What a journey for us to get to this point. To run flawlessly for 24 hours in the debut of the Cadillac LMDh is something we can all be proud of. Obviously, there is initial disappointment because we just missed out on the podium and had the potential to win. But listen, we just have so much to be proud of, and to get the car home without any issues is just a testament to the team, Cadillac, and everyone involved. We are only going one way and that is forward.” Source: Cadillac Racing

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Sebring. First victory for Cadillac with #31 Whelen Engineering driven by Aitken, Derani and Sims.

12 Hours of Sebring

At the 12 Hours of Sebring, both Cadillac V-Series.R started from the front row with the #31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R, co-driven by Pipo Derani, Alexander Sims and Jack Aitken, starting from the pole and claiming the victory in the second round of the IMSA championship. It was Cadillac’s third consecutive win in Sebring.

"Everybody says you never quit, but all the way through the end there was belief," said Mitchum, who celebrated Action Express Racing's 29th victory. "We had our issues, we had a good car all weekend and you have to be there at the end, and we were. I could not be more proud to get Cadillac's first GTP win in IMSA." Source: Cadillac Racing

Renger van der Zande with #01 Cadillac V-Series.R recorded the fastest lap of the race (1:48.311) before the Chip Ganassi Racing racecar was retired due to a fuel distribution system issue.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Sebring. First victory for Cadillac with #31 Whelen Engineering driven by Aitken, Derani and Sims.

Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach

At Long Beach, Pipo Derani and Alexander Sims co-drove #31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac to a fifth-place finish despite an alternate strategy decided in the sixth lap that finally didn’t play out as the top four cars made one stop in the race. Last year winners Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande were forced to retirement of the #01 Cadillac V-Series.R. after being involved in the first lap incident. The team was classified eighth in the GTP class.

The points earned by the #01 car at Daytona combined with the ones earned by the #31 car at Sebring and Long Beach put Cadillac on top of the Manufacturers’ championship. Alexander Sims and Pipo Derani are second in the drivers’ championship, just one point behind the Porsche #6 team.

WEC

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Spa-Francorchamps. Both Cadillac Racing on top of Raidillon.

After a fourth-place finish in the Rolex 24 At Daytona in January, the #2 Cadillac V-Series.R has placed a consistent fourth, fourth and fifth through the first three rounds of the World Endurance Championship demonstrating speed and reliability before the return of Cadillac at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Sebring. Alex Lynn, Earl Bamber and Richard Westbrook ended fourth with #2 Cadillac V-Series.R.

1000 Miles of Sebring

At the 1000 Miles of Sebring, the #2 Cadillac V-Series.R ran as high as third on multiple occasions to the twin Toyota LMH entries. At the end of the 8 hours race, Alex Lynn, Earl Bamber and Richard Westbrook ended fourth, 10.127 sec. from the podium of the WEC opener.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Portimao. Alex Lynn, Earl Bamber and Richard Westbrook ended fourth with #2 Cadillac V-Series.R.

6 Hours of Portimao

At Portimao, the #2 Cadillac V-Series.R was forced into an off-sequence strategy early in the race as Westbrook flat-spotted the front tires when held up by another Hypercar entering pit lane. That prevented the team from running the planned double stints with the tires, ending fourth, one lap behind the third-place Porsche. During the race, Bamber set the fifth fastest lap for his #2 Cadillac behind the Toyotas and Ferraris.

6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Spa-Francorchamps. Aitken, Bourdais and van der Zande had an accident after running P2.

At Spa-Francorchamps, the #3 Cadillac V-Series.R, which was making its WEC debut as a warm-up for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, qualified a solid fifth in the Hypercar field with Sebastien Bourdais behind the wheel.

Cadillac Racing decided to split the cars’ tire strategies. #2 took wets and #3 went for slicks.

A strong start for the #3 Cadillac V-Series.R came to an abrupt end with 4 hours, 30 minutes left when the Cadillac driven by Renger van der Zande came off the right-hand curbing hard through the high-speed Eau Rouge corner, spun and slid up the track into the barrier.

After the accident, Renger van der Zande said: “It’s a tribute to the team how we were running P2 there with the right tire choice. The laps time were really good, we were cruising into the race and making sure we were taking care of the car and everything. But something went wrong in Eau Rouge and that was the end of our day. We’re still investigating to figure out what happened, but I am super lucky to be in a safe Cadillac because that was almost out of a movie scene. Jumping out of that car is a miracle and I’m quite proud that Cadillac builds such strong cars. We’ll bounce back and continue our development as a team.” Source: Cadillac Racing

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Spa-Francorchamps. Alex Lynn, Earl Bamber and Richard Westbrook ended fifth with #2 Cadillac V-Series.R.

The #2 Cadillac continued to turn consistent lap times but was never able to make up for the delay accumulated at the start of the race with the rain tires and their change well before the scheduled pit stop. Alex Lynn, Earl Bamber and Richard Westbrook ended fifth, one lap behind the winning Toyota.

Cadillac Racing entered the #3 Cadillac V-Series.R as a warmup for next month’s centenary 24 Hours of Le Mans, where it will be joined by the #2 Hypercar and the #311 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R. The Action Express Racing-prepared car claimed the pole for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s Twelve Hours of Sebring and went on to post Cadillac’s 28th prototype victory since 2017 and its third in a row at Sebring International Raceway with Pipo Derani, Alexander Sims and Aitken sharing the wheel.