Cadillac V-LMDh Le Mans Hypercar Liveries Revealed

Jan. 12, 2023 9:00 AM ET by Sebastian Cenizo Motorsport / 2 Comments

Cadillac's three entrants in endurance racing will look splendid competing against the world's best.

Cadillac has revealed the liveries of its entrants in the World Endurance Championship for 2023, and as you'd expect, they beautifully incorporate the primary colors of the V-Series logo. Car No. 01 features gold, car No. 02 is blue, and car No. 31 is red. We really liked the all-black scheme seen at the reveal of the Project GTP racer more than six months ago, but we have to admit that these bold colors look just as attractive, if not more so.

Cadillac Racing will campaign the No. 01 vehicle in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under its own banner, while No. 31 will be run by Whelen Engineering. Car No. 02 will be run by Cadillac Racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

"From an aesthetic point of view, the LMDh regulations allowed us to create a vision for the car that is clearly Cadillac," said Chris Mikalauskas, lead exterior creative designer at Cadillac. "And that's really exciting for fans and for people who are true enthusiasts; every car is unique." The cars will make their competition debut at the Rolex 24 at Daytona this month, where they will take on the likes of Acura, Lamborghini, Porsche, and others.

In their fight against the rest of the endurance racing world, each example of the V-LMDh racer will be powered by an all-new, in-house-developed, LMC55R dual overhead cam naturally aspirated V8 rated at up to 670 horsepower. A seven-speed sequential gearbox and the LMDh common hybrid system also feature.

Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn, and Richard Westbrook will pilot the No.2 car in the FIA WEC series, which this year includes the hundredth edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, as well as the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Cadillac says that the race number is an homage to the first Cadillac entry at Le Mans in 1950 - Briggs Cunningham's "Le Monstre," a car that is arguably one of the ugliest to ever race at the iconic circuit.

Sebastien Bourdais and Render van der Zande will compete in the No. 01 car in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The third member of their driving team at the Rolex 24 at Daytona will be a man who has won the event four times and is also a six-time IndyCar champion, Scott Dixon.

Pipo Derani, Alexander Sims, and Jack Aitken will helm car No. 31 in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

There's no reason to expect that Cadillac will not achieve good results early on. The brand has won the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship three times (2017, 2018, 2021), the Rolex 24 at Daytona four consecutive times (2017-2020), and the Michelin North American Endurance Cup four consecutive times over the same period (2017-2020). It has also won five Manufacturer and five Driver Championships in the Pirelli World Challenge since 2005.

As you may know, Cadillac is also fighting for a place on the Formula 1 grid with Andretti, and following the release of the Escalade-V, the luxury marque is expanding its performance endeavors at a remarkable rate.

Should Cadillac find success again, we hope to see something special in celebration. The company is already taking on Rolls-Royce and Bentley with the Celestiq; why not take on Ferrari and Lamborghini with a roadgoing hypercar?

Cadillac V-LMDh Le Mans Hypercar Liveries Revealed

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Cadillac V-LMDh Le Mans Hypercar Liveries Revealed

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