Race Preview: 8 Hours of Bahrain

The 2023 World Endurance Championship season will culminate this weekend with an eight-hour race in Sakhir, Bahrain, 16 months after Earl Bamber took the initial drive of the newly developed hybrid Cadillac prototype.

Building on months of development and a celebrated podium finish at Le Mans, the Cadillac crew is gearing up to score significant points and finish their foundational season in the series on a high note.

Bamber, Alex Lynn and Richard Westbrook have accumulated 72 points entering the season finale, which ranks fifth in the Hypercar standings. The field will vie for a total of 39 available points in the race.

36 total entries, including 12 in Hypercar, will tackle the 15-turn, 3.363-mile circuit that is known for its variety, possessing long straightaways, tight corners and a handful of elevation changes.

The No. 2 Cadillac team will look to tap into the success they experienced at the start of the season, which included top-five finishes at Sebring, Portimão and Spa-Francorchamps ahead of their P3 drive in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

As a reminder, you can ride along with the Chip Ganassi Racing drivers and view the entire race from the cockpit of the No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R.

Be sure to mark your calendars for the 8 Hours of Bahrain with the race officially getting underway on Saturday, November 4, at 7:00 a.m. ET.

Earl Bamber: “I’m looking forward to the race in Bahrain. We’ve definitely had our ups and downs. The highlight of the year, so far, has been the third place at Le Mans, though we’ve shown at every race this year that we have the potential to be on the podium. Now looking to Bahrain, I think our Cadillac will really suit the circuit and we shoot for the podium like we always do. It’s been an amazing 16 months with simulation and then bringing the car online in July of 2022, Daytona the first-ever race, Le Mans and now, all of a sudden, the season is nearly finished. It was great to see the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac win the GTP championship and Cadillac win the Manufacturer Championship. It is an awesome achievement for the whole project.”

Alex Lynn: “Season finale for us in the WEC and Bahrain is a great event. I’m looking forward to getting back to racing in our Cadillac. I think we have a good result in us to finish this season and I’m just excited to driving in the World Endurance Championship again in our Cadillac. The car has come such a long way and we’re looking to have a strong result to bounce into 2024. It’s been an exciting first season for the Cadillac team in the WEC, with the highlight being the podium finish at Le Mans. We’ll look to finish on a high.”

Richard Westbrook: “I’m really looking forward to Bahrain. It’s a track that I know well; where I kind of started my international sports car career in the Porsche Super Cup with a win, so I have good memories. It’s going to be a grueling race in the heat as we all know from Formula One recently racing in the region. It’s going to be the same for closed cockpit racing in the WEC. It’s always difficult to know whether your car is going to suit a particular track because every track we’ve been on this year has been new for our car. But I really do feel Bahrain will be good for the Cadillac. It has lots of slow speed corners which require good traction. That’s a strong point of the car. It’s very hard on the tires, which is a strong point with how kind the Cadillac is on the Michelin tires. There is reason to be optimistic. We’ve had an up and down year – probably more up than down – but the last couple of results have been tough. We’re looking to get back on track to where we were at the beginning of the year and come away with a strong finish like we did at Le Mans.”