No. 12 Hypercar battles back to finish 10th in tightly contested WEC race at Imola
IMOLA, Italy (April 20, 2025) – In an up and down 6 Hours of Imola, the No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R finished in the points for the second consecutive race to start the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season.
The No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R, which started ninth at the hands of Will Stevens, crossed the finish line in 10th place with Norman Nato behind the wheel in the tightly contested race on the demanding 4.909-kilometer (3.050-mile), 21-turn Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit.
The No. 38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R, with Earl Bamber, Sebastien Bourdais and Jenson Button sharing time in the seat, finished 16th after qualifying 15th.
Both Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA entries were tagged with drive-through penalties in the first half of the race along with the No. 38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R being forced off course only five minutes into the contest, which stymied their early progression.
Still, with expert fuel and tire strategy and quick work by the pit crew on each service stop, the cars powered by the 5.5-liter DOHC V-8 Cadillac engine held their own in the second half.
Nato, spelling Alex Lynn with 2 hours, 16 minutes left, climbed as high as sixth with 30 minutes remaining. He exited pit lane following a splash of fuel on Lap 200 of 212 with 18:30 left in 11th place and moved into the top 10 nine minutes later. Nato closed to 2.4 seconds of the ninth-place Peugeot but ran out of time to make a move.
Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA crew members shined a day earlier, too, as they were tasked with reviewing damage, repairing and preparing the No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R for qualifications in short order following a shunt into the tire barrier at Rivazza 1 in Free Practice 3.
Lynn, who has advanced to Hyperpole 12 of the 14 times he has driven in qualifications since Cadillac Racing entered FIA WEC competition in 2023, placed fifth in qualifying and posted a lap of 1 minute, 30.448 seconds – the quickest lap for Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA over the weekend – in Hyperpole. The No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R has advanced to Hyperpole in both rounds this season.
All 18 Hypercars were running at the finish in the 95th FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) round since its inaugural 2012 season. The pole-sitting No. 51 Ferrari AF Corse won the race.
The race marked the WEC’s return to Europe for the first time since last June’s 24 Hours of Le Mans and the series’ second trip to the circuit established in 1953 as a Ferrari test facility.
Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA turns its attention to securing podiums May 8-10 at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium in the third round of the WEC campaign. Hertz Team JOTA is the defending winner of the six-hour race on the fast and hilly 7.004-kilometer (4.352-mile) road circuit, becoming the first privateer to win a WEC race.
What they’re saying
No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R
Alex Lynn: “Overall, another grueling visit to Imola for the Cadillac team, which is a shame because it’s a great track, one I enjoy, but globally we wanted more. We qualified ninth and finished 10th. That, unfortunately, is about all we wrote. We know we have some track coming up that suit our car a lot more and our package, so we look forward to that and as always work extremely hard to get better.”
Norman Nato: “A bit of a tough weekend. We knew it was going to be difficult for us. We tried our best; we’re still learning about the car and with a new team. Lot of experience taken and we want to move forward and to get points at Spa and Le Mans. I’d say it was important to make it to the end. Not in the position we wanted, but we learned a lot and want to come back stronger.”
Will Stevens: “Obviously, a tough day in the office. We just struggled for pace the whole race. On our side, even on what’s a tough day, we still scored some points, which on days like today you need to try and score what you can at least we got that. We need to make improvements before Spa, which should suit us more than this track.”
No. 38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R
Earl Bamber: “Pretty tough day. We were hoping for a lot more speed in the car. The Peugeot turning down on us in the end didn’t impact our race too much. We lost nearly another two laps, so tough day for us and hopefully we can regroup to Spa where we had a strong car last year.”
Sebastien Bourdais: “Tough and disappointing weekend for the 38. It started with qualifying being completely ruined by the 6 car and then the race. Obviously, starting where we were was never going to be easy. Earl did a good job at the start and it started to look good and then there was that contact that spun Earl out and then we got a penalty and the gap gets big. Tire deg was clearly a big issue.”
Jenson Button: “It’s been a difficult weekend. Qualifying was tough for us just finding a balance, but also the race. Hopefully, there are some learnings to take out of it. The 12 got more out of it today, so good for them grabbing a point. Lots of info to take onboard and hopefully come out in Spa swinging and be stronger.”
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