Sebastien Bourdais believes Cadillac has an opportunity to battle for victory within the 2026 Le Mans 24 Hours – in contrast to final yr – courtesy of improved prime pace.
Cadillac achieved a 1-2 in Hyperpole final yr with each of its Jota entries, however Bourdais had displayed uncommon pessimism following that efficiency.
The veteran feared the V-Sequence.R was going to battle in race circumstances as a consequence of its lack of straightline pace, and the result proved him proper because the podium eluded the American constructor.
A yr later, Bourdais’ outlook is way more optimistic. “Our package deal seems aggressive with its up to date aero, which has almost certainly put us again in a window the place we will battle,” the Frenchman, who shares the #38 automotive with Jack Aitken and Earl Bamber, commented shortly earlier than Free Apply 1.
“Le Mans is Le Mans, you by no means know what’s going to occur, however feeling like you’ve got an opportunity to battle is fairly pleasing already. I feel many individuals didn’t consider what I used to be saying final yr, however so far as I’m involved, I’ve a way more optimistic outlook – ‘Proper, now we should always have the means to battle’.
Sebastien Bourdais, Cadillac Hertz Crew Jota
Picture by: Rainier Ehrhardt
“I’ve mentioned it 250 occasions, our automotive was very quick [in 2025] however was attaining the lap time within the Porsche curves. You’ll be able to’t win Le Mans with a automotive that will get the lap time within the Porsche curves once they’re traffic-free as soon as each 15 laps. We have been unable to overhaul, we obtained handed, we couldn’t clear visitors on straights like others, we have been sliding on a regular basis, it was inevitable.
“You’ll be able to’t win Le Mans with out Vmax, it’s inconceivable. This yr, clearly, our automotive’s package deal appears to be extra aligned with the others and due to this fact ought to give us an opportunity to battle. However that’s all you may ask for in a BoP championship the place one doesn’t dictate what you do with aero or with engines – solely when everybody has an opportunity does the method work.”
Race tempo evaluation indicated that Cadillac was second-fastest from Toyota on the Take a look at Day, however the Japanese producer instructed a few of its rivals could also be sandbagging, and Bourdais himself doesn’t consider the pecking order to be so simple.
“We’re within the combine,” the Le Mans native reckoned. “Clearly, Toyota could be very, very robust. I completely don’t anticipate Ferrari to not be within the combine, there can be extra gamers than this. You’ll be able to see some are struggling a bit, however total, performance-wise, I really feel prefer it could possibly be the tightest Le Mans – which is nice as a result of that is the purpose of the method, fairly merely.
“BMW can be up there. They didn’t present something on the Take a look at Day, however they are going to be up there. We all know the info, there’s no purpose for them to not be.”
Cadillac ended up topping FP1 by a whopping 1.7 seconds – with the same old caveat that free follow outcomes should be taken with a grain of salt.
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