Cadillac Targets 2025 Le Mans Triumph with Four V-Series.R Entries
Cadillac is set to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans this June, fielding four V-Series.R racecars supported by teams and drivers with a track record of winning championships.
The Automobile Club de l’Ouest (Club ACO) has invited Cadillac Racing to participate, following their involvement with three Hypercars in the previous two race editions. This year's event, scheduled for 14 and 15 June, commemorates the 75th anniversary of Cadillac's debut at the Circuit de la Sarthe.
John Roth, Vice President of Global Cadillac, said, “We are delighted to see Cadillac Racing back at Le Mans, contending for the top position in the Hypercar category with four vehicles. Having achieved our inaugural podium in 2023 and a top ten finish last year, we are eager to build on this momentum and highlight the technology, performance, and innovation of the V-Series.R in our 2025 line-up.”
Cadillac Racing boasts a team of drivers renowned for their victories at Le Mans and their successes in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
The Nos. 12 and 38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.Rs have secured their spots by competing throughout the WEC season. This marks JOTA Sport's debut year in the WEC Hypercar class as a factory team. The team's drivers include Jenson Button, Earl Bamber, Sebastien Bourdais, Alex Lynn, Norman Nato, and Will Stevens.
The No. 101 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R, which regularly competes in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship's Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class, will make its Le Mans debut. Ricky Taylor is the primary driver, and additional drivers have yet to be announced.
The No. 311 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R, another full-season IMSA GTP entry by Action Express Racing, returns to Le Mans for its third consecutive year. Jack Aitken will be the primary driver, and further announcements are pending.
In the inaugural season of the WEC Hypercar competition in 2023, Cadillac Racing's entries finished third and fourth. In 2024, they improved their qualifications to second and third places, achieving a best finish of seventh. The Nos. 12 and 38 Hertz Team JOTA entries secured eighth and ninth places, among other manufacturers.
Before entering the Hypercar class independently in 2023, JOTA Sport had secured ten podium finishes at Le Mans in the LMP2 class, including second and third places in 2017.
The Cadillac V-Series.R has a bespoke 5.5L DOHC V-8 engine developed by GM’s Performance and Racing Propulsion team in Pontiac, Michigan. The racecar, a collaboration between Cadillac Design, Cadillac Racing, and chassis designer Dallara, draws from the Project GTP Hypercar introduced in June 2022. It features iconic Cadillac design elements like vertical lighting and floating blades.
The first Cadillacs to compete at Le Mans were driven by Briggs Cunningham, Miles, and Sam Collier in 1950, powered by a 5.4-litre OHV V-8 engine. The Collier brothers piloted the No. 3 "Petit Pataud" to a tenth-place finish, while Cunningham and Phil Walters drove the No. 2 "Le Monstre" to eleventh. That year, Sydney Allard and Tom Cole Jr. secured third place overall in a Cadillac-powered Allard J2.
Since then, Cadillac returned to the Le Mans circuit in 2000, 2001, and 2002 with the 4.0-litre turbocharged V8-powered Northstar LMP.