Cadillac confirms two-driver Hypercar line-up as Imola WEC entry list announced

Earl Bamber and Alex Lynn will drive the #2 Cadillac V-Series.R LMDh powered by Ganassi as a duo at this month’s Imola 6 Hours, the second round of the 2024 WEC.

The final confirmation of the plan which reduces the tendency to run three drivers in every race in Hypercar, as well as in LMP1 before it, came on Tuesday with the publication of the entry list for the Italian WEC round on 21 April.

Team founder Chip Ganassi revealed to Autosport at the Daytona 24 Hours IMSA SportsCar Championship season opener in January that he was interested in running the only two drivers in Cadillac Racing’s WEC entry in the short circuit.

He said a desire on the part of the team to “keep it simple”.

Stephan Mitas, head of the Germany-based Ganassi WEC operations team, further elaborated on the plan.

“Beyond the six-hour race there are performance benefits to be had,” he explained. “It is time to prepare more through free practice, and then in the course of the race, the two drivers are a performance advantage.”

#2 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R: Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn, Sebastien Bourdais

Photo by: Shameem Fahath

Officially, however, Cadillac had remained uncommitted to plans to run just two drivers in five six-hour races on the WEC schedule.

The General Motors brand said in an announcement that Sebastien Bourdais will join Bamber and Lynn in last month’s 1812Km Qatar 10-hour WEC curtain-raiser that the regular duo will be “completed” by the Frenchman and his IMSA team-mate for the whole season. , Renger van der Zande, as well as “select Chip Ganassi Championship teammates” throughout the season.

It added that the team “will confirm a third driver before certain endurance races”.

Laura Wontrop Klauser, head of road racing at Cadillac’s parent company General Motors, also said that the full line-up of drivers in the WEC V-Series.R will only be confirmed before each race.

Cadillac later announced that IndyCar star Alex Palou would join Bamber and Lynn in the vacant seat in the #2 car for the Le Mans 24 Hours WEC round in June.

Scott Dixon will join Bourdais and van der Zande in Ganassi’s additional entry for Le Mans as part of his continuing role with the team for long-distance IMSA racing.