Cadillac Racing completed a successful endurance and performance test this week at Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimao, ahead of the V-Series.R’s debut at the Le Mans 24 Hours next month.
In Portugal, five of its six Le Mans drivers took part, with the full-season WEC trio of Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn and Richard Westbrook joined by Renger van der Zande and Scott Dixon who will drive the #3 guest-entered machine in France.
Sebastien Bourdais, the third driver for the #3 at Le Mans, was unable to travel to the test as he was working on a complementary development programme at the Dallara simulator facility in Indianapolis.
“These couple of days have been crucial in our preparation for Le Mans,” said Bamber. “I feel we’ve made some good steps forward. It’s been our first proper test as a European WEC team, and it was great to come back to a track that we’ve already raced at, know the areas that we could focus on and work on.
“I feel now we’re very well prepared for Le Mans coming up so quick,” Bamber added. “It’s fantastic to see how much Cadillac Racing is pushing, Chip Ganassi Racing is pushing. It’s really formed a strong team and I’m excited for the 24 hours.”
Action Express Racing, which will run a third V-Series.R in the Hypercar class at Le Mans, has also been out testing ahead of the 24 Hours. Its new #311 Whelen Engineering-liveried chassis has turned laps at both VIR and Road America since the team took delivery of the car.
Look who decided to stop by yesterday evening 👀 @AX_Racing / @FIAWEC / @24hoursoflemans pic.twitter.com/hD1K7hQ3Zv
— VIRginia International Raceway (@VIRNow) April 20, 2023
The most recent test, at Road America in Wisconsin, saw Pipo Derani, Alexander Sims and Jack Aitken take part. The team lost a day of running time due to snow, but DSC understands that the team completed a faultless run on Day 2 once the conditions improved.
Yesterday the weather didn’t cooperate here at Road America. Today we might be able to play ❄️☺️ pic.twitter.com/hnZbOq6Xyf
— Pipo Derani (@PipoDerani) May 2, 2023
Like Bourdais, Derani and Aitken also have sessions scheduled in the Dallara simulator. They will travel to the facility next week.
Cadillac Racing and Action Express are not the only Hypercar teams that have been out testing or have testing planned post-Spa.
HERTZ Team JOTA is set to run at Paul Ricard with its new 963 next week, Peugeot will run at Magny Cours and Ferrari AF Corse, Porsche Penske Motorsport and Vanwall (as well as AF Corse GTE Am crews) have been sharing the Autodromo Nazionale Monza this week.
Featured image courtesy of Jakob Ebrey Photography
