Cadillac, Chip Ganassi Racing Return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans
WEC
DETROIT
(Feb.
27, 2023) – Cadillac and Chip Ganassi Racing will return to the 24 Hours of Le
Mans this June with the newly named Cadillac V-Series.Rs to compete for the
overall win in the Hypercar class.
“We are thrilled to return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the full Cadillac
Racing team,” said Global Vice President of Cadillac Rory Harvey. “Over the
last 20 years Cadillac Racing has built a legacy of winning on the track and we
feel very privileged to return to Le Mans during this exciting new electrified
era in racing.”
The Cadillac/Chip
Ganassi Racing lineup
• The No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R received an automatic entry based on its
full-season participation in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Earl Bamber,
Alex Lynn and Richard Westbrook are the drivers.
• The No. 3 Cadillac V-Series.R is a full-season IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar
Championship entrant in the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class, where it races
as the No. 01. Sébastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande and Scott Dixon will be
the drivers.
“Cadillac is excited to build on its racing legacy by competing against the
very best internationally and at one of the world’s toughest races,” said GM
sports car racing program manager Laura Wontrop Klauser. “We’re proud to be
representing the United States and the Cadillac V-Series.R is a great
continuation of our racing heritage.”
The hybrid Cadillac V-Series.R cars made their competition debut Jan. 28-29 in
the 61st Rolex 24 At Daytona, with the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R earning a
podium finish. The No. 02 Cadillac V-Series.R placed fourth and the No. 31
Cadillac V-Series.R finished fifth.
The No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R will make its WEC debut in the Hypercar class
March 17 in the 1000 Miles of Sebring at Sebring International Raceway in
Florida.
“We are all looking forward to Cadillac returning to Le Mans and challenging
for the overall victory. It has been decades since an American manufacturer has
achieved this and we will be strongly pushing to achieve our goal,” said
Bamber, overall winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2015 and 2017.
All-new
race car for global competition
The guiding principles for convergence of the top categories of endurance
racing in IMSA and the WEC were announced in 2020. Design and development of
the new Cadillac race car began immediately.
The Cadillac V-Series.R design — codeveloped by Cadillac Design, Cadillac
Racing and chassis constructor Dallara — was informed by the Project GTP
Hypercar that was unveiled in June 2022. The race car incorporates distinctive
Cadillac design elements, such as vertical lighting and floating blades.
The Cadillac V-Series.R features an all-new Cadillac 5.5L DOHC V-8 engine
developed by GM’s Performance and Racing Propulsion team based in Pontiac,
Michigan. The spec energy recovery system was developed by Bosch, Williams
Advanced Engineering (now WAE) and Xtrac.
The Cadillac V-Series.R began on-track development in July 2022 and logged more
than 12,500 miles (20,000 kilometers) on racetracks in the U.S. leading into
the 2023 Rolex 24 At Daytona.
“It’s been special to be a part of this from the beginning,” Bamber added. “We
started this journey nearly two years ago testing in the simulator. It’s been
an awesome journey and the adventure is only just beginning. It’s going to be
incredible all the way up to Le Mans.”
Cadillac history at Le
Mans
The first Cadillacs raced at Le Mans were entered by privateers Briggs
Cunningham and Miles and Sam Collier in 1950. Both Series 61 coupes cars were
powered by the Cadillac 5.4-liter OHV V-8 engine.
Miles and Sam Collier co-drove the No. 3 “Petit Pataud” to a 10th-place overall
finish. Briggs Cunningham shared the wheel of the No. 2 “Le Monstre” with Phil
Walters and finished 11th overall despite an early off-course incident.
That same year, Sydney Allard and Tom Cole Jr. finished third overall in the
Cadillac-powered Allard J2.
Most recently, Cadillac competed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2000, 2001 and
2002 with its 4.0-liter turbocharged V8-powered Northstar LMP.
In 2000, Franck Lagorce, Butch Leitzinger and Andy Wallace drove the Team
Cadillac No. 1 Cadillac Northstar LMP to a 21st-place overall finish, while
Wayne Taylor, Max Angelelli and Eric van de Poele finished 22nd in the No. 2
sister car.
In 2001, Taylor, Angelelli and Christophe Tinseau co-drove the Cadillac
Northstar LMP01 to a 15th-place finish. A second LMP01, co-driven by Eric
Bernard, Emmanuel Collard and Marc Goossens, retired from the race with a
mechanical issue.
In 2002, two Cadillac LMP02 cars were entered. Angelelli, Tinseau and Taylor
co-drove to a ninth-place overall finish. A second Cadillac LMP02, co-driven by
Bernard, Collard and JJ Lehto, finished 12th.
Source: Chip Ganassi Racing