Cadillac Whelen driver Jack Aitken secured his first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship title during qualifying for tomorrow’s Motul Petit Le Mans, and now with the championship out of reach, Aitken said that he and his co-drivers of the #31 Cadillac V-Series.R can ‘properly’ race tomorrow during the Motul Petit Le Mans.
“What can I say? It’s been a long year, and it feels like we’ve got it done slightly early – which is a bit surreal after such a hard battle,” said Aitken, whose fourth-place qualifying run on Friday was enough for him to effectively clinch the GTP title over Porsche Penske Motorsport’s Laurin Heinrich.
With a 151-point gap and only 150 points available to gain from first to last, all Aitken and the #31 Cadillac Whelen team need to do is start the race to officially clinch the championship. Cadillac and Action Express have already clinched the GTP Manufacturers’ and Teams’ championships for 2026.
It’s the second set of GTP championships in four years for the Action Express Racing-run Whelen Cadillac, and the first for Aitken, who made his IMSA debut in 2023 as the team’s Michelin Endurance Cup driver. Aitken was promoted to a full-time role in 2024, and this year, represents Cadillac Racing in both IMSA and the FIA World Endurance Championship (for Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA).
“I can only say a massive thank you to all the boys and girls here at Whelen Cadillac, and Cadillac put an awesome car out from the word go. We’ve had a lot of fun. And it means we can go out and race properly tomorrow,” he said.
As he got out of his car after Qualifying, Aitken went by and embraced several members of his team, many of whom have been here for several years.
“We’ve got such a nice culture here, the people are passionate about what they do,” he continued. “They want to come into work, make the car as fast as they can. As a driver, it actually puts a lot of pressure on you because you know you’ve got to come with your absolute A-game every time.
“And me, Earl (Bamber), and Fred (Vesti), I hope we did that.”
Aitken, Bamber, and Vesti will start from the second row of the grid tomorrow in what could be a rainy Petit Le Mans, in search of back-to-back victories in the IMSA season finale.
“We’re going to be terrorizing the traffic, flashing the headlights like crazy – we’re coming!” Aitken declared.
Images © Jack Webster / Dailysportscar.com
