Cadillac has announced that Connor Zilisch will test its V-Series.R GTP during next week’s IMSA Sanctioned Test at the Daytona International Speedway.
As reported by DSC yesterday, the 19-year-old will get behind the wheel of Action Express Racing’s Whelen-sponsored #31 Cadillac, which won the final two races of the 2025 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at Indianapolis and Petit Le Mans.
“Hopefully, we’re going to make the most of it and see if this can lead to more opportunities for me in the Cadillac because it would be super cool for me to race at the highest levels of endurance racing,” Zilisch said. “That’s always been a dream of mine.”
The young man touted as NASCAR’s most exciting prospect of this generation will be joined at the test by the nine drivers already announced for Cadillac’s 2026 IMSA roster.
Notably, these include Colton Herta, who, like Zilisch, will drive the V-Series.R for the very first time.
The 25-year-old will race the #40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing entry in the 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring, and Petit Le Mans next year alongside his upcoming FIA Formula 2 programme with Hitech TGR and his duties as Reserve Driver for the Cadillac Formula 1 Team.
Herta will share the #40 V-Series.R with Jordan Taylor and Louis Delétraz, whilst Filipe Albuquerque, Ricky Taylor, and Will Stevens will again team up in the sister #10 Cadillac.
“I am looking forward to unlocking more speed in our car,” Albuquerque commented, as WTR begins its second year back in the Cadillac fold. “We made huge steps in 2025, and I want to keep searching. I want more, I want my first win back with Cadillac, I want to be fighting for the title.”
Jack Aitken, Earl Bamber, and Frederik Vesti will join Zilisch in the #31 Cadillac Whelen V-Series.R.
The test is set to be the first public outing for the 2026-spec V-Series.R, which features a revised aerodynamic package after the American marque utilised one of its five development ‘jokers’.
This follows the use of its first joker ahead of the 2025 season, when Cadillac updated its control system electronics package.
The IMSA Sanctioned Test will be held from 14th to 16th November 2025, with the GTP cars running during the opening two days across five different sessions.
Feature image © Jack Webster / dailysportscar.com
