24 Hours of Le Mans 2024. Third in 2023, for No. 2 Cadillac, appetite comes when driving.

The 2024 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans has already started! And to find out everything about what promises to be a very competitive race, until the weigh-in that starts on Friday June 7, Ouest-France invites you to discover the 62 entries in the Le Mans classic. Hypercar, LMP2, GT3, discover every car, every team and crew, and our predictions for the next edition.

In 2023, Cadillac was able to properly celebrate its return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans after a 21-year absence. The American manufacturer, by creating the LMDh, found a good compromise and above all a reliable machine that allowed the Trio Bamber – Lynn – Westbrook to find a place on the platform of the century edition behind Ferrari and Toyota but ahead of Porsche or even. Peugeot.

Despite this great success, as the second car, of Bourdais, Van der Zende and Dixon, took 4th place.^e Instead, Cadillac decided to review the design by entering only one car in the world endurance championship (FIAWEC). On the other hand, in Sarthe, Cadillac will come with three V-Series R and two.

The American company also announced that it will no longer cooperate with Chip Ganassi Racing at the end of the 2024 season.

Cadillac V-Series-R

The Cadillac was created in 2022 and is based on an Italian-designed chassis from Dallara. In terms of the engine, Cadillac relies on a 5.5 liter V-eight inline cylinder capable of producing around 680 horsepower. The V Series R has a battery designed by Williams Advanced Engineering allowing it to recover 50 horsepower. In scale, it shows 1030 kg.

View full screen

According to Cadillac Racing officials, the car did not receive any updates during the off-season. “We’re looking at the things we want to do, but we want to make sure that if we make a change to the car, it’s well thought out, we’re following the approval process and that we’re not doing it in a rush. announced Laura Wontrop Klauser’s, manager of sports programs at General Motors. We had to make last minute decisions and sacrifices to make this happen. Fortunately, we now have a package that has proven to perform well at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. »

Qatar sanctions

In 2024, Cadillac will enter only one vehicle in FIAWEC. And the first match in Qatar during the first round ended with the disqualification of the car handed to Lynn, Bourdais and Bamber.

In question: the physical work did not match the one presented at the time of approval. The commissioners considered that there was no apparent fraud on the part of Cadillac or the chassis designer. On the other hand, there is truth “Violation of technical rules (…) should be punished by disqualification. »

In qualifying, No. 2 Cadillac took a convincing 7^e place. In the race, before disqualification, the trio Lynn – Bamber – Bourdais had taken 4th place.

Les pilots : Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn, Alex Palou

Two-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, under Porsche colors in 2015 and 2017, as New Zealand driver Earl Bamber; experienced driver in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Alex Lynn who has the distinction of competing in the Le Mans classic in LM GTE as well as LM P2 and Hypercar, in 2023, with Cadillac where he finished third. in this same car; Cadillac, however, decided to review its staff structure.

Richard Westbook, a wise old man (age 48, 12 participations in the 24 Hours of Le Mans), left for JDC-Miller MotorSports to drive a Porsche 963 in the IMSA championship. He leaves his place to Alex Palou who claims two IndyCar championship titles (2021, 2023) but who has never competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, only the two-hour circuit at Daytona twice.

Our opinion on Cadillac No. 2: 16/20

In 2023, Cadillac 2 showed that it had a way to enter the battle for victory in Hypercar. The arrival of Alex Palou adds an unknown factor to this equation. The Barcelona player was not behind the wheel in Qatar, nor at Imola where Bamber and Lynn drove as a duo. He will also not be present at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, the final stage before the Le Mans classic as he will be selected for the Indianapolis road GP by Chip Ganassi Racing. This absence can be detrimental in terms of proportions and car settings even if Palou’s quality is guaranteed.