Seventy-five years on from making its debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Cadillac is approaching the forthcoming 93rd edition of the legendary twice-round-the-clock contest (14-15 June) in ‘quietly confident’ mood.
The opening two rounds of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship campaign did not yield the results to match the potential displayed by the new Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA alliance, with its pair of V-Series.R Hypercars dramatically colliding while occupying the top two positions in the Qatar curtain-raiser, and then struggling to replicate that pace second time out at Imola.
In the most recent outing at Spa-Francorchamps, however, the #12 and #38 entries produced a strong performance to take the chequered flag respectively fifth and sixth, delivering a timely fillip to the Cadillac crew ahead of the biggest race of the season.
Back in 1950, the American manufacturer competed at La Sarthe for the first time, with a brace of privately-fielded Series 61 coupés powered by a 5.4-litre OHV V8 engine. One of the cars was so heavily-modified that it was dubbed ‘Le Monstre’ by the French press.
Fast forward to 2023, and the V-Series.R impressively reached the rostrum on its Le Mans bow, followed home in fourth place by the sister car, with Alex Lynn and Sébastien Bourdais subsequently qualifying second and third on the grid for the race last year. Hopes are high for another standout showing 12 months on.
“We have good knowledge of the Cadillac around this track,” reflected the Briton, “and if there’s one circuit that is a benchmark for JOTA, it’s Le Mans. I’ve raced against them many times in LMP2 and know how good they are there, so I have a lot of faith that we will hit the ground running. We’re going there with good experience and quietly confident of trying to put it all together.”
“I think Spa was a good rehearsal for the entire team,” added Bourdais, who will be very much the local hero next weekend having been born in Le Mans. “It wasn’t straightforward, but we dealt with the situations that were thrown at us. I felt like I got into a bit of a groove, and I think we got some decent direction as far as set-up is concerned.
“I’m looking forward to getting back on the awesome Le Mans track, and there will be an extensive programme on Test Day, with a lot to get done. If you manage to go through that day with a good rhythm, a good feel with the car and decent pace, you set yourself up well for the big one.”
The Test Day to which the Frenchman refers offers all competitors up to six hours of running split across two sessions on Sunday, 8 June – representing the first opportunity for drivers to stretch their legs around the demanding 13.626km Circuit de la Sarthe.
Preparations ramp up even more rapidly ahead of the main event, which will mark the 20th anniversary of JOTA Sport’s maiden appearance at Le Mans. Since then, the independent British outfit has tallied three class victories and seven further podium finishes, placing second and third overall in 2017 under the Jackie Chan DC Racing banner. In its first season as part of FIA WEC’s manufacturer ranks, the team is aiming to continue that stellar run.
“A lot of hard work has gone into the race already,” revealed #12 driver Will Stevens, who has competed for JOTA since 2022, when he triumphed at La Sarthe in the LMP2 category. “Le Mans as a whole seems like there’s a lot of track time, but it always ends up being a lot less than you think!
“Test Day is important for us to make sure we understand what the Cadillac wants and doesn’t want on that track, but we’re coming from a good foundation of what they’ve been using for the past few years. It’ll be about us learning as quickly as we can, because once you get to race week, there’s only one session before qualifying – but I feel we have good momentum in the team from Spa and we’re looking to build on that.”
“I’m looking forward to returning to Le Mans with JOTA in the Cadillac,” echoed countryman and stablemate Jenson Button, who pilots the #38 car. “The team has had great success there, and we’re quietly confident that the experience we collectively have at the track and with the car will benefit us. There’s always a great atmosphere, and working through our programme efficiently and effectively on Test Day will go a long way towards setting the car up for qualifying and the race. And then, we get down to business...”
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