Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA Hypercars miss out on Hyperpole at COTA
AUSTIN, Texas (Sept. 6, 2025) – Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA’s pole run in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) ended at two impressive races.
With a persistent drizzle creating tricky conditions for the 18-car Hypercar field on the already challenging 5.513-kilometer (3.426-mile), 20-turn Circuit of the Americas course, the No. 38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R qualified 16th and the No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R driven by Alex Lynn qualified 17th for Sunday’s six-hour Lone Star Le Mans.
Lynn had earned the pole the past two races and teamed with Norman Nato and Will Stevens to secure Cadillac Racing’s maiden WEC victory in mid-July at Interlagos. The No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R had also advanced to the 10-car Hyperpole in each of the previous five races, qualifying four times in the top five.
Still, Cadillac enters the sixth of eight rounds of WEC competition in second place in the Manufacturers Championship and the No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R roster is third in the Drivers Championship standings. A solid points day for both entries to remain in the title hunt is the objective.
The 12-minute qualifying was declared wet by Race Control and lap times were well off the pace of the three free practice sessions on a dry, hot racing surface as all the Hypercars left pit lane on Michelin slicks. The No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R paced the field in the initial free practice session Friday at 1 minute, 53.584 seconds.
Lynn brought the No. 12 entry to pit lane for rain tires with 5:40 left in the session and Bamber followed two laps later. But both drivers ran out of time to record a lap quick enough to crack the top 10 and move on to Hyperpole.
The No. 83 Ferrari 499P registered a best lap of 1:57.655 in the shootout to earn the pole.
Notes: The No. 12 hybrid racecar has scored points in every race, including fifth, fourth and first the past three outings. … The No. 38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R, which recorded the runner-up finish in Brazil with Bamber, Sebastien Bourdais and Jenson Button behind the wheel, has advanced to Hyperpole in four of the six races. … The race marks the 50th in the WEC for Lynn, whose birthday is September 17. … In 2024, Cadillac Racing’s lone Hypercar entry qualified third and finished a season-high fourth at COTA. … Bamber is a two-time winner at COTA (IMSA GTLM in 2016 and WEC LMP1 in 2017).
The race will be telecast in the U.S. on MotorTrend, the MAX app, FIA WEC app and broadcast on Radio Le Mans. Additionally, streaming from the cockpit of the Nos. 12 and 38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.Rs will be available HERE.
What they’re saying
Dieter Gass, team principal: “Not a great session for us. The conditions were right between wet and dry tires. We know that compared to the opposition we struggle with tire warming, therefore we decided to commit to wets at one point in the session. Unfortunately, from that point onwards, the track seemed to improve slightly, which favored slick tires and put us down to the bottom of the classification. Not our day.”
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