Cadillac returns to Le Mans with eyes on endurance classic

There are big automobile races throughout the world, but one race matters more than anything to Cadillac Racing – the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The 94th edition will take place on June 13-14 at the Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, France, and Cadillac Racing is bringing three cars and nine of the most experienced drivers in the world to the legendary endurance race.

Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA will lead the manufacturer’s charge with its two entries for the FIA World Endurance Championship: the No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R driven by Will Stevens, Norman Nato and Louis Deletraz, plus the No. 38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R driven by Le Mans native Sebastien Bourdais, Earl Bamber and Jack Aitken.

They will be joined by IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship team Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing, which will field the No. 101 V-Series.R driven by Ricky Taylor, Jordan Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque.

Cadillac Racing returns to Le Mans after last year’s edition, when it became the first American manufacturer since 1967 to sweep the front row at Le Mans.

The pole was the first for Cadillac at Le Mans, coming 75 years after its first Le Mans appearance in 1950 with a pair of Cadillac Coupe DeVille Series 61s, one mostly stock and another modified with a low-profile aluminum body nicknamed “Le Monstre.”

This year the program is targeting a competitive showing to show the strength of Cadillac Racing. To assist in the preparations, Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA tested in mid-May at the high-speed Silverstone Circuit in preparation for Le Mans.

For 2026, the aero configuration has been upgraded to improve competitiveness in race traffic. The most visually apparent is the rear wing height being much lower than the 2025 Cadillac V-Series.R. Also new for this year is a brake package that aligns suppliers and technology to what is on the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing road car.

Albuquerque (2020 LMP2), Bamber (2015 and 2017 overall), Bourdais (2016 LMGTE Pro), Stevens (2022 LMP2 and 2017 LMGTE Am) and Taylor (2015 GTE Pro) have all won at Le Mans in their careers, but they along with their Cadillac teammates are determined to put Cadillac Racing in contention at Le Mans.

Cadillac returns to Le Mans
Jeromy Moore, Chief Engineer - Cadillac LMDh
An interview with Jeromy Moore, Chief Engineer - Cadillac LMDh:

What are the key differences between this year's Cadillac and last years?

“For this year we redesigned the aero package to improve our ability to follow cars closely with less loss of downforce than the previous aero package. We also changed brake supplier which aligns with what is used on our CT5-V Blackwing road cars.”

How has it been specifically aero-tweaked for Le Mans?

“Le Mans is a very drag-sensitive track with the long straights and high top speeds, but also downforce is important in the high-speed Porsche Curves. We can’t make specific bodywork configurations track to track so what we take to Le Mans is what we use throughout the rest of the WEC season. We will optimize the performance of the car for Le Mans with specific mechanical setups to position the car to make it as fast in the straights as possible yet maintain the cornering speeds required to be competitive through the Porsche Curves and other high-speed corners of the track.”

How does the Le Mans-specific aero of the car influence the outcome of other races?

“As we have just one aero configuration for the whole season what we choose affects all tracks. We targeted to have an aero config that can be competitive at all tracks but of course Le Mans has a high priority. Generally, the homologation window set by the FIA/ ACO/ IMSA is quite small such that there are no big compromises from one track to the next but as the competition is tight it is down to these small details.”

Where will the benefit transpire most? Lap times? Sheer top speed? Fuel consumption? Tyre deg?

“We should be more competitive in traffic and so lap times should be improved from last year as we have traffic every lap there. We hope to be more competitive in top speeds also.”

How does the fact that Le Mans is run on public roads, with a higher abrasiveness, influence race strategies?

“Le Mans is one of the ‘kinder’ circuits to the tires due to the long straights and less high energy corners per km to other tracks. Cars can generally run up to three stints on tires whereas some other circuits a double-stint is tricky.”

Can a sim take in all the factors which make Le Mans so unique?

“It is hard to fully simulate what we get during the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The track changes throughout the event with grip building up as the road is cleaned and rubber is put down from the cars. The simulator is a vital tool for preparation but nothing can match testing and racing on the real circuit.”

How many hours of sim did the drivers/engineers put in all together to prepare for this year's LM?

“Generally, we test in the sim before and after each event throughout the year to keep improving our correlation of the model and our understanding of the car and tires. Leading into Le Mans we have been in the simulator for four days working on setups and driver preparation. As on track testing is limited by regulation virtual testing has never been more important.