Cadillac Teases Its LMDh Race Car at Daytona One Last Time Before Its First Race

While Cadillac did field a team in the IMSA championship starting in 2017, it has not raced in the FIA World Endurance Championship for 20 years, so entering the 24 Hours of Le Mans, among other famous events, will mark the American brand's return to endurance competitions on the global stage.

Thanks to the new LMDh regulations, the same racing car is permitted in both the IMSA championship and the FIA World Endurance Championship. Cadillac's proposal is called V-LMDh, at least for now, and the idea for the brand is something to link it to its V-Series, which is its performance division for the brand.

Previously, Cadillac dubbed its LMDh racer "Project GTP Hypercar," so we are slowly moving in the correct direction that will also make the name definitive, not just its design or testing sessions.

Fans of the brand will be happy to know that it was designed in the firm's studio, and it was developed in the Cadillac Racing Department, so it is not a rebranded effort, although the specialists at Dallara were also involved in the development process.

Cadillac fitted its latest prototype race car with a 5.5-liter V8 motor with a DOHC design, described as an all-new unit. Since the brand will eventually move to an all-electric line-up, it is not clear if that V8 will ever get the chance to sit in a production vehicle.

It is, after all, an engine developed for racing, and innovation from this field usually trickles down to production vehicles in time, but this may be different for combustion engines involved in motorsport going forward. Styling cues from exciting models were picked up by the race car.

We already know that Cadillac will send Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn, and Richard Westbrook to the 2023 Le Mans 24-hour race in one of these prototypes. Bamber won twice at Le Mans, and Lynn won the LMGTE Pro Class in 2020. Westbrook had a podium finish at the 2022 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in his class.

In the IMSA Championship, Cadillac has enrolled Sebastien Bourdais, Renger Van Der Zande, Alexander Sims, and Pipo Derani. The first event that will be entered with this all-new race car from Cadillac is the Rolex 24 at Daytona, which takes place on January 26, 2023.

Meanwhile, the 2023 World Endurance Championship will start with the Official Prologue at Sebring on March 11-12, 2023, followed by the first race of the season, also at Sebring, on March 17, for the “Super Sebring” weekend.