Cadillac Racing’s preparations for its Le Mans Hypercar debut are ramping up, with the team set to finish moving into its base in Germany next week and complete an endurance test after the 6 Hours of Spa weekend.
The Ganassi-run team will run a single V-Series.R at Portimao for multiple days after the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps later this month, with all six factory drivers from the IMSA and WEC programmes set to share the wheel.
There, the team is targeting a 24-hour test, which will serve as a final run before it competes at Le Mans with the V-Series.R for the first time in June. This is important to test the reliability of the car, though Cadillac feels it’s perhaps more valuable as a tool to help the team members get ready for Le Mans.
“We are using the test as a race sim to prepare both crews for Le Mans,” Cadillac Racing team manager Stephen Mitas told DSC. “Obviously the logistics of getting people here and then back for the race at Laguna is a challenge. But this circuit was available and fits our requirements.
“It’s race prep for us not in terms of preparing the vehicle, it’s about preparing the team. If you were doing race prep, you wouldn’t likely choose this circuit.”
It’s race prep for us not in terms of preparing the vehicle, it’s about preparing the team.
At the test the team will only run one car, though Mitas confirmed that Chip Ganassi Racing now has four cars at its disposal. It has two in Europe for its FIA WEC effort, which are both on site in Portimao this week, and two in the USA for its IMSA programme.
It makes sense from a logistical standpoint to have multiple chassis on either side of the Atlantic and allows Cadillac to dedicate each car to just one championship. There are enough differences between the IMSA-spec V-Series.R and the WEC-spec car, that Cadillac feels its best option is to build up separate cars rather than spend the time changing them over for the different championships multiple times a season.
“There’s a scrutineering loom which is different, TV stuff that’s different,” Mitas explained. “There are subtle differences, some straightforward, some less straightforward, but you definitely need a specific car build for WEC and Le Mans compared to IMSA. You can (keep converting the cars) but it’s a lot of work. Once you put all that stuff in the car you don’t want to be pulling it out unless you have to. Doing that a few times a year is undesirable.”
Action Express will do this too, and utilise a brand new V-Series.R for Le Mans, rather than the example it is currently campaigning in IMSA.
With this weekend’s six-hour race, Spa in two weeks’ time and then an endurance test all on the Cadillac Racing schedule before Le Mans, time at its new facility in Stuttgart will be limited until late June. But, once it has its base fully operational, Mitas says it will be very useful in helping the outfit get settled into life in the FIA WEC.
“We are transitioning to a programme that was based in the US, to a programme that has a second base in Europe,” he said. “Now as the FIA WEC transitions to Europe the cars also transition to Europe. We built up the second car for Spa at Dallara during the past couple of weeks and car #2 (used at Rolex and Sebring) was air freighted from the base in Indy to here in Portugal directly for this event.
We are transitioning to a programme that was based in the US, to a programme that has a second base in Europe
“From here (in Portugal) we go to our workshop where we will start work on the cars next week. Part of this includes finishing the build of the second car and fitting its race engine. It’s important. Between now and Le Mans, we have a few days in the shop before Spa, then we go testing, then a few days back in the shop, then we go to France. We have about two weeks in the shop between now and Le Mans.
“But, after Le Mans, things will become more established.”
As for the season so far, Mitas and the WEC-arm of the Cadillac Racing team came away from Rolex pleased to have made the finish, and encouraged with a fourth-place finish at Sebring.
“There are lots of details for us to work on,” he said, “if you told us or offered us fourth place before Sebring we would have been happy to take it. But getting that close to a podium and missing it by a handful of seconds left us wanting more.”
Going forward it’s clear that the team behind the scenes feel there is plenty more to come from this programme in the FIA WEC. The car, thus far, has proven to be reliable, which gives the team plenty of confidence ahead of Le Mans, and it will only get more competitive on pace as the season goes on and more data is gathered.
Opting to use a permanent base in Germany is a telling sign too of where this effort is going. Cadillac sees real value in competing in the FIA WEC and at Le Mans.
“The WEC is important to Cadillac,” Mitas explains, “IMSA is important. Cadillac is investing a lot of money here. Money talks. It’s a super exciting time. We’ve all got to do our jobs and the rest will come.”
