Cadillac V-Series.R

The Cadillac V-Series.R (formerly referred as the Cadillac V Le Mans Daytona hypercar, or V-LMDh) is a hybrid prototype Cadillac race car currently fielded in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class and the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) Hypercar division. It replaced the Cadillac DPi-V.R prototype in international sports car racing at the start of the 2023 racing season.

The V-Series.R made its competition debut in the 2023 24 Hours of Daytona under the V-LMDh nameplate. It is currently the only vehicle in the GTP class that is naturally aspirated.

Overview

In August 2021, Cadillac announced intent to compete in the then-newly formed GTP class in IMSA and enter the FIA WEC Hypercar class with an LMDh-spec race car. Dallara was named as the chassis supplier while Action Express Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing would field the race car beginning with the 2023 campaign. The new race car also marked Caddy’s return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans after a nearly twenty year hiatus.

In June 2022, Cadillac released a series of renderings showing what the forthcoming race car would look like, which it referred to under as the “Project GTP Hypercar” at the time. The luxury marque also confirmed that the race car would utilize a hybrid powertrain paired with a naturally aspirated V8 as opposed, the only of its kind in its competitive class. Testing of the race car commenced in late 2022 at Sebring and Road Atlanta.

The Cadillac V-Series.R has arguably the most recognizable engine note on the IMSA and FIA WEC circuit because it is natrually aspirated instead of turbocharged like the other entries in the division. When leaving the pits, the V-Series.R hypercar has a distinct electric whine as it relies on its electric motors for propulsion from a standstill. After that, the whine abruptly deepens into a gut-rattling roar as the naturally aspirated ICE engine kicks in to take over as the race car thunders down Pit Road.

Powertrain

Development

In developing the Cadillac V-Series.R, Cadillac and its designers collaborated with key partners including:

• Chassis builder Dallara
• Wayne Taylor Racing and Action Express Racing
• Earnhardt-Childress Racing (ECR) Engines

Motorsports

The Cadillac V-Series.R was first used in competition during the 2023 24 Hours of Daytona. Three entries were fielded in this race, finishing third and fourth in the IMSA GTP class, while the third entry posted a fifth-place finish in the FIA WEC Hypercar class. The race car earned its first victory at Sebring in March 2023 when Alexander Sims, Pipo Derani, and Jack Aitken drove the No. 31 V-Series.R to the FIA WEC division win. Its first GTP victory was earned at Monaco later that year with Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande behind the wheel of the No. 01 V-Series.R. That No. 01 V-Series.R team closed out the 2023 season in seventh place overall, while the No. 31 V-Series.R won its divisional championship.

The V-Series.R is also notable in that it represented the luxury marque’s return to competition in the 24 Hours of Le Mans after a nearly 20-year hiatus. The No. 311 V-Series.R, which was fielded by Action Express Racing, scored a podium finish in the Hypercar class in the 2023 running of endurance racing’s crown jewel.

Tom Blomqvist joined the FIA WEC program as part of the No. 31 V-Series.R team in 2024, replacing Sims. Van der Zande and Bourdais retained their positions as drivers of the No. 01 V-Series.R, adding Scott Dixon and Alex Palou to the roster for certain races. The No. 01 V-Series.R has one victory in 2024 in the Grand Prix of Long Beach, while the team boasts two runner-up results at Watkins Glen and Sebring. The No. 31 V-Series.R, meanwhile, has yet to find Victory Lane as of this writing.

The 2024 Le Mans race was much more difficult for the Caddy backed teams. The No. 311 V-Series.R finished 15^th in the Hypercar class, while the No. 2 Cadillac Racing machine finished seventh. The third entry, the No. 3 V-Series.R, suffered a punctured oil tank and had to retire early.

Drivers