Cadillac is gearing up for the racing debut of the V-LMDh at the 24 hours of Daytona later this month, unveiling a trio of liveries for its new endurance racer.
The three distinct examples of the V-LMDh feature gold, blue, and red liveries, inspired by the colors of the Cadillac V-Series emblem. The gold-themed No.1 car of Cadillac Racing and the red-themed No.31 car of Whelen Engineering will compete in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, while the blue-themed No.2 car of Cadillac Racing will be reserved for the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Read: Cadillac V-LMDh Racecar Sounds Wild During Testing
The gold No.1 car will be driven by Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande, and Scott Dixon. Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn, and Richard Westbrook will sit behind the wheel of the blue No.2 car. Finally, the red no.31 car will be driven by Pipo Derani, Alexander Sims, and Jack Aitken.
The Rolex 24 at Daytona is scheduled for January 28-29. Following the season opener, the blue No.2 car will compete at the 1,000 Miles of Sebring on March 17, with the gold No.1 and red No.31 cars participating in the 12 Hours of Sebring on March 18.
Cadillac’s third-generation prototype race car – codenamed Project GTP Hypercar – was developed by Cadillac Racing, Cadillac Design, and Dallara. It comes fitted with a new in-house developed naturally-aspirated 5.5-liter V8 engine, paired with the standardized LDMh hybrid system and a seven-speed sequential gearbox. The combined power output of the hybrid powertrain is capped at 670 hp, as dictated by the regulations.
Between July and December 2022, the endurance racer logged 12,000 miles (19,000 km) of testing on different tracks in order to be ready for its racing debut. Rory Harvey, Global Vice President of Cadillac said that the automaker is “ready to compete against the very best in North America and internationally – including one of the world’s toughest races, the 24 Hours of Le Mans“.
Cadillac has won the Rolex 24 at Daytona four times in a row (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020) and has three IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship titles (2017, 2018, 2021) under its belt creating high expectations from the new racer.
