Cadillac Racing: Good Run At Laguna Seca, Disaster at Spa: Video

Much like its General Motors cousins in the Corvette Racing stable, Cadillac Racing posted mixed results at Spa-Francorchamps and Laguna Seca during the IMSA and FIA WEC events the weekend of May 11^th and 12^th, 2024.

It looked like the No. 31 Cadillac V-Series.R of Jack Aitken and Pipo Derani had the IMSA win in the bag at Laguna Seca. With just under 12 minutes left in the two-hour-40-minute race, though, the No. 6 Porsche, then under the control of Nick Tandy, blew past the No. 31 Caddy, which was being driven by Aitken at the time. Aitken found himself on the wrong end of a pair of GTD racers, slowing him down and allowing Tandy the opening he needed to sweep into the lead. The Porsche didn’t look back and left Aitken in the dust, winning by almost six seconds.

Meanwhile, the No. 01 V-Series.R, tag-teamed by Renger van der Zande and Sebastien Bourdais, finished fifth overall. The result was somewhat disappointing for the Caddy crew, which led early but lost the ability to pace the leaders as the race wore on.

It was a vastly different story for the FIA WEC Cadillac Racing crew at Spa. The No. 2 V-Series.R, driven by Earl Bamber at the time, made contact with the Porsche of Sean Gelael. Bamber slapped the wall after being struck as the No. 2 V-Series.R was whipped around and nearly flipped in front of the field before coming to a rest in the middle of the track. The race car was absolutely destroyed, and Bamber and Gelael were transported to the infield care center for evaluation. Both were released after examination.

“I’m super sad; this team deserved a good result today. We had a fast car yesterday and today. I can’t hide my disappointment, but I’m thankful that Earl is ok. Genuinely, that’s the main thing, and we will regroup after this,” Earl’s teammate, Alex Lynn, said after the incident.

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