Cadillac Racing will be hoping to put their struggles behind them as the World Endurance Championship returns for the Lone Star Le Mans.
The American team have been racing in the WEC since 2016 when they ran under the name Ford Chip Ganassi Racing, running both a UK and a US team.
After leaving the sport following the 2018/19 season, the team returned in 2023 and rebranded to Cadillac Racing. That year, they would finish the manufacturers’ championship in fourth, having finished third at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The 2024 season has not gone so smoothly for the American outfit, and speaking with the WEC website, General Motors Sports Car Program Manager Laura Wontrop-Klauser discussed what has been a ‘challenging year’ for the team.
Laura Wontrop-Klauser discusses ‘challenging’ 2024 season for Cadillac
Like 2023, Cadillac are running just one car in the WEC this season. Drivers Earl Bamber and former Formula E driver Alex Lynn have stayed with the team and competed in every race this season.
Former Formula 1 and IndyCar driver Sebastien Bourdais raced alongside the duo in the season opener in Qatar, but the team were disqualified for breaching technical regulations.
Cadillac finished seventh in the Hypercar class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with IndyCar championship leader Alex Palou joining Bamber and Lynn for the event. After five races, the team sit seventh in the manufacturers’ championship with 14 points.
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It can be argued that one reason for their struggles is the fact that they have only one V-Series R to analyse data, whereas other teams like Ferrari, who have three cars, or Porsche, who have five, can look across multiple machines to adjust set-ups to maximise performance.
And while Wontrop-Klauser acknowledges that this has made things ‘tricky’ for the team in a ‘challenging’ year, she also sees the pros of running one car.
She said: “It’s always tricky when you just have a sample size of one. We all have the same amount of time on track at each event. The only way you can get more time is by having more cars, because you can use your time across more vehicles. From that perspective, that does make it challenging.
“But it does allow us to focus. We don’t get too distracted or concerned about making a test plan for a bunch of vehicles. We can take our simulator learnings, take the best pieces of that and work with that on that one car.
“Every year, it’s getting more challenging. Everyone is showing up, bringing their A game, pushing themselves even further. It’s an extremely competitive class, which is what makes it so exciting. We are racing against the best.”
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The WEC heads to Texas for the Lone Star Le Mans this weekend
The WEC returns to racing action with the Lone Star Le Mans at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas over the weekend.
Several teams have been hit with significant adjustments under the Balance of Performance as the series continues to aim for a level playing field. Toyota have been hit the hardest following their dominant victory in Sao Paulo.
The Japanese manufacturer are only four points behind rivals Porsche, who have also lost out to the BoP in Austin, and will be hoping for another strong result despite the changes made to their machines under the regulations.
The race in Texas is followed two weeks later by the Six Hours of Fuji before the season finale with the Eight Hours of Bahrain.