The Cadillac Racing trio of V-Series.R machines kept it clean and drama-free during the GTD and GTP-exclusive IMSA clash at Long Beach on April 12th, 2025. The No. 10 V-Series.R secured a sixth-place finish, followed by its sibling, the No. 40 V-Series.R in seventh; the No. 31 Caddy machine, meanwhile, battled back to finish fourth when the 100-minute sprint was through.
Interestingly, the No. 31 Cadillac Racing team had some drama before the race even started. Jack Aitken and Earl Bamber were hit with a penalty for working on the car during qualifying, changing the tires during the session. Their lap times were initially scratched, but IMSA walked back on the penalty, stating that the penalty was improperly applied and subsequently rescinded.
After that, the race was fairly uneventful. After a bit of a messy start, Bamber took control of the No. 31 V-Series.R, staying right in the tire tracks of the No. 24 BMW, which was running third as the clock ticked down. He managed to narrow the delta to just 0.580 seconds with 20 minutes left, but he just ran out of time to make things happen, settling for a fourth-place result.
“I think the team did a fantastic job,” Bamber said. “Whenever you start here seventh and finish fourth, with a clean car or not a mark on it, I think that’s a pretty good day. I’m gutted for the team that we just missed a podium. I had one chance at it, but I thought he’d probably force me in the wall but he gave me the room, and he would have the inside for the next corner anyway.”
Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor tag-teamed the No. 10 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R, bringing their race car home without any damage. While there wasn’t any serious drama, both drivers expressed disappointment with their finish, saying that there’s some work to be done.
“Overall, I would say a hard weekend,” Albuquerque said. “We were not strong in qualifying and in the race we moved up, but based on the mistakes of the other guys. P6 is a surviving result for us. Not really happy about the performance. On our side, we just need to learn the car and be more competitive.”
The No. 40 Cadillac Racing duo of Louis Delétraz and Jordan Taylor earned their best finish so far this year. While seventh place certainly isn’t a poor result, they, too, were somewhat disappointed.
“Good points today. Not the result we want, but we had a clean race, no mistakes,” said Delétraz. “We kept learning and improving, so that’s a positive. We will take all that to Laguna Seca and go get some silver because it’s time for it.”
Comments
IMSA has a little problem on it’s hands. Things aren’t actually “even” when one team finishes 1-2 repeatedly, with little effort on track. Am I whining? No, at this point I’m simply pointing out the obvious.
IMSA’s problem is BOP racing is a joke. The only real competition is who can manipulate the BOP rules to their advantage. No road racing fans I know even give it a glance.
Wayne Taylor has said the current BOP rules have been unkind to Cadillac. If you’re driving around with an extra 25-30 kg than your competitors, it’s damn near impossible to keep up.