By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio
Cadillac Racing’s four-car Hypercar contingent combined to record 251 laps during the opening Test Day leading into this weekend’s 93rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
A pair of three-hour sessions on Sunday provided the initial opportunity for drivers and crews from the 21 Hypercar entries to match strengths around the famed, 8.467-mile/13.626-kilometer Circuit de la Sarthe in France.
Toyota topped the time sheet at 3-minutes, 26.246-seconds in the No. 9 GR010 HYBRID wheeled by Brendon Hartley of New Zealand. The reigning Manufacturers’ World Champion, Toyota is chasing its sixth overall win at Le Mans and first victory of the 2025 season.
The factory Cadillac Racing teams were led by the No. 38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R in third with a top lap of 3-minutes, 28.491-seconds. The No. 311 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R recorded the fifth-best lap (3:28.923) overall during the free practice.
The No. 38 Cadillac shared by Earl Bamber of New Zealand, Sebastien Bourdais of France and Jenson Button of Great Britain is a full-season FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) competitor. The No. 38 Cadillac placed sixth in the most recent race at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.
“I think it was good to get all four Cadillacs out running,” Bamber said. “We all had a good, clean session. For me, it was refamiliarization. I had done a lot of preparation work from the sims and good to finally be back at Le Mans. We have a bit of work to do and we’ll keep chipping away, but it’s certainly a solid start.”
Bourdais, a native of Le Mans and four-time INDYCAR champion, said he and his teammates worked through a pre-qualifying setup program for the twice-around-the-clock classic that will begin on Saturday, June 14. “I think we’re making progress and finding solutions for the little things that need to be addressed, so I think we’ll be alright,” Bourdais said.
Button, the Formula One World Driving Champion in 2009 with Brawn, noted the session was interrupted by a series of red and yellow flags and slow zones. “So, it’s difficult to actually get a lap,” Button said. “But in terms of understanding the car, I think we’ve gotten a lot of useful information. We’re happy with the car, especially high-speed corners. But there are still some areas that need improving, so we’re on it and hopefully we’ll have it all sorted for the official Test Day this week.”
The Hypercar field is scheduled to return to the course incorporating public roads for another three-hour free practice on June 11 before the evening qualifying practice. The top-15 by lap time in that session will advance to the June 12 Dual Hyperpole _ new for 2025 _ in which the top-10 in the 20-minute first stage move on to compete for pole in the 15-minute second stage. Cadillac Racing qualified second and third in 2024.
The No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R cracked the top-10 in the afternoon session with a best lap of 3:27.620. That car _ shared by Alex Lynn of Great Britain, Norman Nato of France and Will Stevens of Great Britain _also is a full-season FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) competitor. The No. 12 entry finished fifth at Spa-Francorchamps.
“We ticked-off a lot of our programs, which is great,” Lynn said. “The competitiveness of everyone is really tight. There are a lot of brands that are in great shape, and I would put us as one of them.”
While Ferrari and Toyota have been installed as pre-race favorites, the programs representing Cadillac, Alpine, Porsche and BMW appear capable of pulling off upsets. “There are 16, 17, 18 cars that easily have the possibility to win this race,” Urs Kuratle, Porsche’s director of factory LMDh Racing, told RACER.
“Next weekend is going to be a big battle to try to win this one,” Lynn said. “I think we learned what we did right the last couple of years. We tried a few new bits; some worked, some didn’t. We know the Cadillac suits this track nicely so we’ll try to put together the things we’ve known for the last couple of years.”
Meanwhile, the No. 101 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R _ making its Le Mans debut _ posted a best lap of 3:28.909. The No. 311 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R also improved with a lap of 3:28.097.
The No. 101 Cadillac driven by brothers/native Floridians Ricky and Jordan Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque of Portugal is a full-season IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship contender. Team-owner/father Wayne Taylor last competed at Le Mans in 2002 in the final year of Cadillac’s Northstar LMP project.
“Really cool to have our first session here at Le Mans behind us,” Ricky Taylor said. “We’re just taking it step-by-step, really focusing on making all the laps and getting miles underneath our belt. Next session we’ll start tuning on the car. We have not made any changes so far. We’re just focused on getting laps and trying to get some experience here and then build as we get closer to the race.”
Recall that Jordan Taylor celebrated a GTE Pro class win at Le Mans for the factory Corvette Racing team 10 years ago. His current teammates, Jordan said, basically maxed-out their first Le Mans experience in the No. 101 Cadillac.
“Obviously, we were just trying to log laps, and learn, and get data so we can kind of look at things over the session,” Jordan Taylor said. “It was nice to be passing cars rather than looking in your mirror the whole time. So that was a first. Since I’ve been in the Cadillac V-Series.R for a few races now, it felt more like just learning a new track. It was a good experience. We’ll look to keep evolving over the week.”
Albuquerque, who won in LMP2 at Le Mans for United Autosports in 2020, was impressed by the Cadillac Hypercar’s powerband. “Especially because the last 10 years I have been in LMP2,” Albuquerque said. “The track is so smooth. I think it’s even better this year with the new asphalt. It seems like a lot of time but when you go around this long track, it doesn’t really give you that many laps for each driver. Again, we’re just going through the homework, going through the check lists and not worried right now about lap time.”
The No. 311 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R driven by Jack Aitken of Great Britain, Felipe Drugovich of Brazil and Frederik Vesti of Denmark also is a full-season IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship entrant.
Aitken said the No. 311 Cadillac began with a baseline setup derived from previous years of running at Le Mans. “We know we have a strong car, so it was nice to jump straight-in and be looking at details rather than anything too big-picture,” Aitken said. “I’m looking forward to returning this week to get more time in the car.”
