Cadillac confirms entry into Le Mans, WEC and IMSA

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Cadillac has confirmed it will join Porsche, Audi, BMW and Acura in producing an LMDh car to enter both WEC and IMSA

Cadillac

Cadillac has become the fifth manufacturer to join LMDh, intending to enter championships on both sides of the pond

Cadillac Pressroom

Author

James Elson

Cadillac has announced its long-expected LMDh programme, with the company stating it intends to enter Le Mans, WEC and IMSA, after a twenty year-plus absence at the top level at La Sarthe.

The Cadillac LMDh-V.R, which will be run by Chip Ganassi Racing and Action Express Racing, will be based on a Dallara chassis and created in conjunction with GM Design. The car’s first race will be at the 2023 24 Hours of Daytona.

Dallara and Cadillac’s parent company General Motors collaborated on its current IMSA challenger, the DPi-V.R, which won Daytona four times in a row between 2017 and 2020.

Cadillac becomes the fifth manufacturer to commit to LMDh along with Porsche, Audi, BMW and Acura.

A new engine will be developed to work with the spec hybrid system for LMDh, this being the first time GM will enter the top class at Le Mans since the Cadillac Northstar LMP car finished ninth at La Sarthe in 2002, it currently competes in WEC in the LMGTE PRO class with the Corvette Chevrolet C8.R, but will look to take on Toyota, Peugeot and Ferrari, as well as the above LMDh team in 2023 (aside from BMW which is not yet confirmed for WEC or Le Mans).

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“For nearly 20 years, Cadillac V-Series has brought winning technologies from the racetrack to our performance cars on the road,” said Rory Harvey, global vice president of Cadillac. “We look forward to continuing that heritage by competing in this exciting new chapter at the highest level of international motorsport.”

“We are looking forward to the new international prototype formula and running the Cadillac LMDh,” Chip Ganassi said. “We have had a great relationship across three different racing disciplines with GM and we are looking forward to developing the car with Cadillac and Dallara over the next year-and-a-half.”

“The IMSA LMDh category is looking to be very competitive with multiple manufacturers,” commented Gary Nelson, AXR team manager. “We’ve had a lot of success running the Cadillac DPi-V.R as one of the original teams since 2017, and we are looking forward to being a part of the next chapter of Cadillac Racing.”

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