Cadillac and JOTA, positive first contacts: “We are already on the same wavelength”

Barely the 2024 season of the World ChampionshipEndurance finished, that Team JOTA has abandoned the Porsche 963 to start working with Cadillac and the V-Series.R with its ferocious naturally aspirated V8. In 2025, the British structure changes dimension: from a simple customer team, it becomes the official operating team of the American manufacturer for the WEC. With this new status, the English team can benefit from private tests with the Detroit firm… and it does not deprive itself of them. In November and December, the new Cadillac – JOTA association carried out several days of shakedown and private tests, first on the Anneau du Rhin circuit and then at Paul-Ricard.

During its first days of testing, the Cadillac and Team JOTA teams were able to get to know each other and work together, with a productive and encouraging test according to Team Principal Bob Friend. "I think it was a good first test, and the relationship is going very well. We are learning to tame each other and we are already on the same wavelength, he confided. The feedback from the drivers seems to match up well with the current state of the car. There's a lot to learn, and the reason we brought so many people to the test is so we can get to know each other quickly."

Drivers in the continuity of Cadillac and JOTA

Earl Bamber, Sebastian Bourdais, Alex Lynn, Jenson Button, Norman Nato and Will Stevens all took to the track in the Cadillac V-Series.R at Paul Ricard for a three-day test. While the first three had driven the American LMDh before, the other three had not, who were first introduced to the V-Series.R and were able to compare it to the Porsche 963. All six of the team’s drivers have a background at either Cadillac or JOTA, and David Clark – the team’s principal and co-founder – hopes that this continuity will allow the team to quickly get up to speed and attack Qatar at full speed.

“Considering our collective track record in the World Endurance Championship, it is fitting that the first group of Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA drivers is comprised of such an impressive array of world championship-winning talent and experience, he underlinesCadillac’s motorsport pedigree speaks for itself, and with these six drivers, we will be in a strong position to challenge for race wins. Under the watchful eye of Pierre Fillon, President of the ACO (Automobile Club de l’Ouest), the WEC continues to go from strength to strength, and with more eyes than ever on our races and incredible talent behind the wheel, we have no doubt we will do well.” Before the curtain rises for the 2025 WEC season, at the 1812 km of Qatar (February 28), Cadillac and JOTA have planned another test session in Abu Dhabi, on the Yas Marina circuit at the end of January.

ALSO READ > Bamber: “Jota brings new energy to the Cadillac project”