Bourdais will still drive Cadillac in IMSA in 2024

Cadillac continues its participation in the 2024 IMSA US endurance season with strong experience gained in 2023

After participating this year in two major endurance championships, the IMSA Championship in the United States and also the WEC World Championship (World Endurance Championship) Broadly speaking, starting over is the goal of Cadillac Racing’s second year.

Therefore, Cadillac Racing will seek to successfully defend its IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship titles for 2024, by replenishing its high-performance and highly experienced drivers.

Thus, the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R lined up with Chip Ganassi and Whelen’s car with the No. 31 Cadillac V-Series.RN will begin its second season of competition in the Grand Touring Prototype class during the 62nd edition of the Rolex 24 at Daytona at the end of January. .

The nine-race US schedule includes five endurance rounds (Daytona-Sebring-Wertkins Glen-Indianapolis and Petit Le Mans) And back to Detroit.

Recall that Cadillac took home honors in the 2023 IMSA season, winning its fourth Manufacturers’ Championship and its fifth IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup title in the prototype classification since 2017.

Laura Weintraub Clauser, head of the sports car racing program at General Motors, Cadillac’s parent company, said:

“The 2023 Rolex 24 At Daytona debut for the Cadillac Racing team was a fantastic event. This demonstrated the reliability and solidity of our cars. Since then, we have been looking at how to use this powerful package to get the most out of it.”

It continues and specifies:

“We are excited to return to Daytona in January 2024 and see the huge step forward we have made in one year in improving our car. »

Continuity and experience shine the spotlight on the Cadillac V-Series.RN°01, with French duo Sébastien Bourdais and Dutchman Renger van der Zande returning for their third season as teammates.

They will be backed by Scott Dixon, the always fast New Zealander and six-time INDYCAR champion, once again at the Rolex 24 and the other four IMSA endurance races.

The trio finished third at the 2023 season-opening Rolex 24 in Florida, and finished second at Petit Le Mans in Atlanta. Together, the three drivers have eight general classification victories.

They also teamed up in the WEC World Championship to celebrate the centenary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 11.

Bourdais and Van der Zande co-piloted the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R to victory at Laguna Seca, bringing their total to four victories over the past two seasons.

Van der Zande has 19 IMSA victories, including nine with Cadillac Racing, and Bourdais has 11 IMSA victories.

Mike O’Gara, COO of Chip Ganassi Racing, the American team that races the Cadillac V-Series.RN°01 in IMSA and the Cadillac V-Series.RN°2 in the FIA ​​WEC World Endurance Championship, said:

“We have had some success with the Cadillac V-Series.R throughout the 2023 IMSA season, but we expect even more in 2024. We are happy to have Sebastian, Ranger and Scott back in 2023 next year and to be able to build on the foundation of 2023 and thus continue to learn together.”

He adds again:

“We’ve proven the car is reliable, with two Cadillacs completing their first race in the 2023 Rolex 24 at Daytona. We then ran a lot of laps in a lot of races last year, but not always the ones that counted. We’re taking advantage of the off-season To strengthen ourselves even further and hit the reset button harder, so that we can attack 2024 together, more competitively.

On the other hand, the Whelen Cadillac V-Series.RN°31, victorious in the IMSA GTP Championship, will continue in 2024 with Brazilian Pippo Derani and American Jack Aitken as primary drivers for the entire season, supported by IMSA DPi 2022 champion, Briton Tom Blomqvist – The MSR (Meyer Shank Racing) team is absent in 2024 in IMSA as they focus on Indycar – And who will join the duo in the five endurance races? (Daytona-Sebring-Watkins Glen-Indianapolis-Petit Le Mans).

Remember, Blomqvist won the overall victory for the Rolex 24 at Daytona in 2023 and 2022. Derani, the 2023 and 2021 IMSA Prototype Champion, teamed with Aitken and Alexander Sims, to victory at Sebring International Raceway, cruising on his way to winning the IMSA Michelin Drivers’ and Teams’ Championships and the IMSA GTP Drivers/Teams’ Championship as well.

Gary Nelson, team principal for Action Express Racing, which uses the car in Whelen colours, said:

“We expect the 2024 Rolex 24 to be the most competitive 24 Hours race ever at Daytona. After a learning season in 2023, all teams now have a full year with the hybrid GTP class. We know everyone is working hard for small wins “We celebrated our 2023 championship success for about a day, then quickly got back to work with the entire Action Express team.” “When they wave the checkered flag after 24 hours of racing at Daytona, we will be honored,” he concludes without batting an eyelid. We believe that “the homework we do during this season will give us a great opportunity to finish at the top of the prototype class.”

Peter Griswold

Photos: teams