As of November 2024, the V-Series.R has four wins to its name and achieved 11 podiums finishes and took the Teams, Drivers' and Manufacturers' Championships of the 2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship season.
Cadillac released renders of the car on June 9, 2022. It was also announced that the car would use a hybrid powertrain, consisting of a 90° Naturally-Aspirated V8 internal combustion engine and standardized hybrid drivetrain components provided by Williams Advanced Engineering, Bosch and Xtrac, and that Chip Ganassi Racing would campaign one car in the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship season.[13][14][15]
On October 2022, General Motors' sportscar racing program manager Laura Klauser noted that CGR and AXR are working together to get the three cars ready on time for the 2023 24 Hours of Daytona. CGR will enter two cars for Daytona before splitting both cars to enter IMSA and World Endurance Championship seasons on full-time basis respectively. AXR will only campaign one car for the entire IMSA schedule.[20]
On February 27, 2023, Cadillac confirmed that they will enter three cars for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The No. 2 cars (Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn, and Richard Westbrook) received automatic entry as they are competing full-time in the WEC. The No. 01 car (Bourdais, Van der Zande, and Dixon) which competes in IMSA SCC in full-time will enter as the No. 03 car. The No. 31 AXR (Pipo Derani, Alexander Sims, and Jack Aitken) which also runs full-time in the IMSA SCC will enter as the No. 311 car.[21]
Competiton history
2023
IMSA SportsCar Championship
In preparations for the season-opening 24 Hours of Daytona, Cadillac revealed that the V-Series.R will run under three different colors. The number 01 and the 02 cars entered by Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) under the Cadillac Racing banner features gold and blue colors respectively. The No. 31 entered by Whelen Engineering Racing is painted red.[22] Bourdais (#01), Lynn (#02), and Derani (#31) were the drivers for the qualifying session. Bourdais would go on to take fourth and his teammate Lynn in fifth, with Derani in sixth.[23]
The No. 01 car held the lead of the race during the early morning stages of the 24 Hours of Daytona
During the second stint of the race, the No. 01 and the No. 02 cars were attempting to take the lead from Colin Braun of the Meyer Shank Racing in the Acura ARX-06. The former car successfully took the lead and held on to it by the end of the third hour.[24] Disaster struck during the fifth hour when Dixon got rear-ended by the No. 13 AWA LMP3 who could not swerve in time to avoid making contact, forcing an unscheduled stop for the No. 01 car.[25] As the night stages comes around in the eighth hour, Cadillac found themselves running 1–2 with the No. 31 car in the lead for the first time before the No. 02 took over as the former car pitted.[26] During the 14th hour, the AXR had to deal with left-rear suspension issue that halted their No. 31 car for 30 minutes. Aitken rejoined the race 17 laps behind the leader. The No. 01 took the lead of the race shortly before the 16th hour.[27] In the early morning stages, the No. 01 continued to lead with the No. 02 car in third during the 19th hour.[28] After a series of incidents near the end, with 27 minutes remaining on the clock, both No. 01 and the 02 cars cannot keep up with the Acuras during the restart. In the end, only the No. 01 car finished on the podium with sister cars No. 02 and No. 31 in fourth and fifth respectively.[29]
The V-Series.R took its maiden victory at the second round in Sebring courtesy of the No. 31, despite having to bounce back from an early collision with an LMP3 car. The No. 01 car caught fire during the ninth hour and forced to pit from the lead, eventually finishing seventh.[30]
During the qualifying session in Long Beach, Bourdais put the No. 01 car in third with the No. 31 at the hands of Sims in seventh.[31] Bourdais lost control over his No. 01 car on the brakes and crashed into the barrier going into the first corner, ending the No. 01 car's race on the spot. The No. 31 car became the sole surviving Cadillac and briefly took second before it needed to pit, dropping to sixth in the GTP class a result. The No. 31 car eventually crossed the line in fifth.[32]
In Monterey, No. 31's fourth place outqualified the No. 01 car which will be starting from sixth.[33] In the main race however, No. 01 Cadillac Racing by CGR took their first (and eventually their only) victory of the year with the No. 31 finishing third, earning Cadillac's first double podium finish of the season.[34] This would turn out to be the last victory for the V-Series.R in 2023.
Qualifying for the Six Hours of The Glen was abandoned due to a pile-up of LMP2 and LMP3 cars caused by wet conditions, forcing the GTP class to start according to their championship order, meaning that the No. 31 will be starting from second and the No. 01 from fourth.[35] In the race's third hour, No. 31 took the lead of the race from the No. 6 Porsche after running a different pit strategy. The No. 01 car at the hands of Bourdais spun during an overtake attempt on a GTD car and gets contact by the BMW M Hybrid V8 of Connor De Phillippi, sending the No. 01 Cadillac into the wall. The race directors instructed the car to pit and change tires after failing to abide to tire pressure requirements.[36] In the revised classification, the No. 31 car was promoted to second behind the No. 25 BMW following the disqualification of the No. 6 Porsche. The No. 01 car finished the race in fifth.[37]
At the Chevrolet Grand Prix, both Cadillacs locked-out the second row with the No. 31 in third.[38] Cadillac was on course for good points haul before Van der Zande crashed the car heavily with three minutes remaining on the clock. The No. 31 car also endured a tough afternoon finishing seventh.[39]
Cadillac dominated the practice sessions of the IMSA SportsCar Weekend in Road America, translating it into pole position for the No. 31 car and the No. 01 in third.[40] Unfortunately, both cars cannot convert their high positions into victory after the No. 31 car was sent to the back of the grid an accident during the morning warmup and Sims spun the car around at some point. The No. 01 also missed out on the podium with a fourth-place finish.[41] The result dropped the No. 31 AXR into second in the Teams' Championship standings.
In the penultimate round, the IMSA Battle on the Bricks in Indianapolis, the No. 31 could only muster eighth, out-qualified by the No. 01 car who would be starting from fourth.[42] In the opening stages, Bourdais spun the No. 01 car after a daring overtake attempt on three cars in one go, but was saved thanks to a safety car condition en route to seventh-place finish. The No. 31 recovered from their low starting position to finish the race in fourth having led the race at some point before being overtaken by the Porsches and an Acura.[43] The No. 31 car took the lead of the GTP Drivers' Championship again with only three points separating them with the No. 10 Acura and five points with the third-placed No. 6 Porsche.
The No. 31 car took home the GTP Teams' Championship title and Cadillac took the GTP Manufacturers' Championship title in the season finale
In the season finale Petit Le Mans in Road Atlanta, both championships are up for grabs. Bourdais took second under the rainy and damp qualifying session behind the No. 10 Acura. Derani went off track during his final qualifying attempt, resulting in eighth-place start.[44] The 10-hour gruelling battle allowed the No. 01 car to finish the race in second behind the Acura. Elsewhere, No. 31's sixth-place finish was enough to seal both GTP championships for both Cadillac and Action Express Racing, earning the V-Series.R's its first titles.[45]
FIA World Endurance Championship
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (November 2024)
Cadillac entered only one full-time V-Series.R for the 2023 WEC season. The car completed its pre-season run where they went fastest in Session 2 of the Prologue at the hands of Earl Bamber.[46]
The No. 02 Cadillac finished fourth in its WEC debut at the 1000 Miles of Sebring
The car officially made its debut at the 1000 Km of Sebring, also serving as the team and the manufacturer's home race. During the practice session, a Porsche 911 RSR belonging to Proton Competition crashed into the car. While Cadillac was able to continue to the next sessions, the Porsche was forced to withdraw due to extensive damage collected from the coliision.[47] The V-Series.R took fifth in its maiden WEC qualifying session with Alex Lynn beating two Porsche 963s belonging to Penske Motorsport.[48] After nine hours of racing, the No. 02 Cadillac took fourth on its WEC debut finishing just 10 seconds behind the No. 50 Ferrari 499P in third. Following the race, Lynn found the results "a fantastic start."[49]
In the 6 Hours of Portimão, Cadillac took eighth-place start, almost 2.5 seconds behind the pole-sitting No. 8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid. Lynn remained confident the car has what it takes to finish in the top 5 or possibly a podium if they can execute the race well.[50] The team took fourth once more during the race.[51]
Cadillac fielded two cars for the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps featuring the drivers from its IMSA SCC lineup: Sébastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande, and Jack Aitken (replacing the unavailable Scott Dixon) for the No. 3 car in preparations for Le Mans.[52] Bamber and Bourdais piloted their cars to take fourth and fifth respectively in qualifying.[53] During the second hour, the No. 3 car at the hands of Van der Zande was defending from the attack of the Ferrari before he suddenly crashed heavily to the barriers in Raidillon, one of the fastest points in Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. Van der Zande emerge from the battered car unharmed, and it was later revealed that the car had a suspected power steering failure.[54] The No. 2 managed to finish the race and took fifth at the end.[55]
Cadillac fielded three cars for Le Mans. The No. 2 car took the manufacturer's first Le Mans podium, 21 years after their maiden appearance.
Dixon returned to Cadillac reuniting with his No. 3 co-drivers Bourdais and Van der Zande for Le Mans.[56] Aitken was transferred to No. 311 AXR car, reuniting him with Sims and Derani for AXR's debut Le Mans race.[57]
Racing results
Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results
(key) Races in bold indicates pole position. Races in italics indicates fastest lap.
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