Cadillac V-LMDh

The Cadillac V-Series.R, originally named the Cadillac V-LMDh, is a sports prototype racing car designed by Cadillac and built by Dallara. It is designed to the Le Mans Daytona h regulations, and debuted in the IMSA SportsCar Championship at the season opening 24 Hours of Daytona. The car is also contesting the FIA World Endurance Championship from 2023 onwards. The engine's 5.5-liter engine displacement is the largest displacement of any of Le Mans Hypercar and LMDh sports prototypes currently in competition.

As of November 2024, the V-Series.R has four wins to its name and achieved 11 podium finishes. It took the Teams', Drivers' and Manufacturers' Championships of the 2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship season, the first of those completed with Action Express Racing.

Background

On August 24, 2021, Cadillac announced they would participate in IMSA's new GTP class and join the FIA World Endurance Championship's Hypercar class in 2023 using an LMDh-compliant racing design. It was also confirmed on the same day that Dallara was chosen as the chassis supplier for their LMDh contender, and that Action Express Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing would campaign the car in the 2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship season as well as contest the 24 Hours of Le Mans.Cadillac released renders of the car on June 9, 2022. It was also announced that the car would use a hybrid powertrain, consisting of a 5.5-liter 90° naturally-aspirated V8 internal combustion engine and standardized hybrid drivetrain components provided by Williams Advanced Engineering, Bosch and Xtrac, and that Chip Ganassi Racing would campaign one car in the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship season.

The first shakedown was completed in July 2022. This was followed by testing at Sebring International Raceway and Road Atlanta, where the car covered nearly .

In October 2022, General Motors' sportscar racing program manager Laura Klauser noted that both teams were working together to get the three cars ready on time for the 2023 24 Hours of Daytona. Chip Ganassi Racing would enter two cars for Daytona before splitting both cars to enter the IMSA and WEC seasons on full-time basis respectively. Action Express Racing would only campaign one car for the entire IMSA schedule.

Competition history

2023

Cadillac revealed that the V-Series.R would under three different primary colors: yellow, blue, and red, each color taken directly from Cadillac's logo. For the 2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship, Chip Ganassi Racing ran the yellow and blue cars under the numbers #01 and #02 respectively competing as the factory Cadillac Racing squad, and Action Express Racing ran the red car under the number #31 competing as Whelen Engineering Racing. The blue car also competed in the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship as the sole full-time V-Series.R racing under the number #2.
The V-Series.R made both its global debut and its IMSA SportsCar Championship debut at the 2023 24 Hours of Daytona alongside three other debutants from Acura, BMW, and Porsche as part of the new Le Mans Hypercar and LMDh regulations that were implemented for the 2023 season onwards. Cadillac were frontrunners for a majority of the race in the early stages, but later struggled to keep pace with Acura's ARX-06 race cars towards the end with the leading #01 Cadillac falling to 3rd overall, still securing a podium at the finish.

The V-Series.R took its first victory in any series at the second round in the 2023 12 Hours of Sebring courtesy of Action Express Racing, despite having to bounce back from an early collision with an LMP3 car. That same weekend, the V-Series.R completed its FIA World Endurance Championship debut, taking home 4th overall, just 10 seconds behind the #50 Ferrari 499P in 3rd. Following the race, Alex Lynn found the results "a fantastic start." Cadillac took home another 4th place finish in the next round at the 2023 6 Hours of Portimão.

An additional V-Series.R was fielded by Cadillac at the 2023 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps under the number #3 for the purposes of preparation for the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans later that year. Unfortunately, the car did not see the finish as Renger van der Zande suffered a heavy high-speed collision at Raidillon. He emerged unharmed, and it was later revealed that the car had a suspected power steering failure.

Cadillac's return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans that year marked their first appearance in the endurance race in 21 years, having last competed in the 2002 edition of the race with the Northstar LMP project. All three V-Series.Rs from both IMSA and WEC campaigns participated in the event. The full-season #2 car took a surprising 3rd overall in the race and ran relatively trouble-free, finishing a lap down behind the #51 Ferrari and the #8 Toyota. After the race, Richard Westbrook stated that the podium was a great start to the program.

In IMSA competition, the V-Series.R proceeded to score another win at the 2023 Motul Course de Monterey and two additional podiums at the 2023 Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen and the 2023 Petit Le Mans, the latter race proving to be a crucial score, as Cadillac and Action Express Racing took home all of the titles after a season-long title fight with Acura and their teams Wayne Taylor Racing and Meyer Shank Racing. In the FIA WEC, Cadillac's drivers finished in fifth with 72 points in the Drivers' Championship and fourth in the Manufacturers' Championship with a tally of 79 points.

2024

Cadillac started their 2024 calendar year strong with the V-Series.R, qualifying on pole position with Action Express Racing at the 2024 24 Hours of Daytona with a track record lap set by Pipo Derani. Action Express Racing spent the length of the race up front and were later in contention for the overall victory against Porsche in the final hour, but ultimately fell to 2nd, only 2.112 seconds behind the race-winning #7 Porsche 963. Cadillac's season start in WEC was less than ideal, receiving a disqualification for a technical breach, a 10th place finish, and a retirement via a high-speed crash in the first three rounds.

In their IMSA campaign, Chip Ganassi Racing's #01 car remained consistent enough to contest for 2nd in the GTP standings against the #6 Porsche, eventually finishing the season in 3rd only five points behind. The defending champion V-Series.R from Action Express Racing concluded their season 4th overall. In total, the Cadillac teams secured eight podiums, two fastest laps, four pole positions, and two wins (both by Chip Ganassi Racing), the most notable coming at the 2024 Petit Le Mans. Cadillac's WEC campaign was largely uneventful, though they were able to score a pole position at the 2024 6 Hours of Fuji.

2025

Chip Ganassi Racing departed from Cadillac ahead of the 2025 calendar year, with Wayne Taylor Racing and Jota Sport taking over Cadillac's factory IMSA and WEC operations respectively. In Jota's first race with the V-Series.R, they spent most of the early running contending for the win, but quickly dropped from the lead after both cars suffered damage after colliding with each other during a virtual safety car period. Wayne Taylor Racing's first podium with the V-Series.R came at the 2025 Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic. At the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans, both of Jota's V-Series.Rs secured a front row lockout in Hyperpole qualifying courtesy of Alex Lynn and Earl Bamber, marking Cadillac's first ever pole position at Le Mans.

Racing results

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

(key) Races in bold indicates pole position. Races in ''italics'' indicates fastest lap.

Complete IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup results

(key) Races in bold indicates pole position. Races in ''italics'' indicates fastest lap.

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

(key) Races in bold indicates pole position. Races in ''italics'' indicates fastest lap.

* Championship ongoing.

** Not eligible for championship points.

Gallery

File:2023 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R No.3 (DSC09785).jpg, The wreckage of the No. 3 at the 2023 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.
File:Ganassi Cadillac WGI23 04.jpg, The No. 01 car at the 2023 Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen.
File:2023 Cadillac V-LMDh Daytona.jpg, The No. 02 car at the 2023 24 Hours of Daytona.
File:2023 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R No.2 (DSC06956).jpg, The No. 2 Car at the 2023 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps
File:Cadillac V-Series.R Hybrid - Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande & Scott Dixon at Dunlop Chicane at the 2023 Le Mans (53368694588).jpg, The No. 3 car at the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans.
File:24H Le Mans 2025 Nr. 12.jpg, The No. 12 car at the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans.
File:Cadillac n31 Daytona2023 (cropped).jpg, The No. 31 car at the 2023 24 Hours of Daytona.
File:24H Le Mans 2025 Nr. 38.jpg, The No. 38 car at the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans.
File:24H Le Mans 2025 Nr. 101.jpg, The No. 101 car at the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans.
File:Cadillac V-Series.R Hybrid - Luis Felipe Derani, Alexander Sims & Jack Aitken at Dunlop Chicane at the 2023 Le Mans (53367597542).jpg, The No. 311 car entered by Action Express Racing at the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans.

References

{{WEC cars 2025

Dallara racing cars
V-LMDh
Cadillac in motorsport
Hybrid electric cars
Sports prototypes
Le Mans Daytona h cars
Cars introduced in 2022