Defending GTP race winner carries momentum into the IMSA season finale
DETROIT (Oct. 6, 2025) – Cadillac Racing looks to carry momentum from a 1-2 finish three weeks ago at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta this week and successfully defend its overall race victory in the Motul Petit Le Mans.
Adding IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup championships to the ledger are further ambitions of the three of Cadillac Racing Grand Touring Prototypes (GTP) entering the ninth and final round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.
“It’s special now looking towards Petit, the last race of the season, and Daytona ’26, we feel like we’re building really good momentum and a great foundation right now,” said Earl Bamber, who co-drove the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R with Jack Aitken and Frederik Vesti to Action Express Racing’s first victory of the season and 30th overall in IMSA.
The same lineup, which delivered the team’s 100th IMSA podium along with Cadillac’s 32nd IMSA prototype victory, will tackle the 2.54-mile, 12-turn road course in Brazelton, Georgia, where Aitken earned the pole in 2024 with a GTP track-record qualifying lap of 1 minute, 09.639 seconds (131.305 mph).
Cadillac, which has three Petit Le Mans poles and four victories since entering IMSA prototype competition in 2017, also holds the current track configuration race lap record of 1:10.917 set in 2023 and DPi track race lap record of 1:08.869 set in 2019.
The No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R leads all GTP entries with 478 laps led, including field highs at Watkins Glen and Indianapolis.
The No. 10 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R is the only GTP entry to have earned podium spots in three of the past four races, including runner-up at Indianapolis with a bold late-race strategy. Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque will welcome back endurance driver Will Stevens.
No. 40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R full-season drivers Jordan Taylor and Louis Deletraz will be joined by Norman Nato, who will be making his second Petit Le Mans start after driving a Nissan DPi in 2018, for the endurance round.
Bamber, Nato and Stevens are full-season Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA drivers in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) Hypercar class in which the team finished 1-2 in July at Interlagos and has claimed front row lockouts in qualifying in three of the past four races.
“It’s great for us just to be driving as much as we possibly can,” said Stevens, who contested the Daytona and Sebring rounds with Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing. “And obviously getting more experience, more knowledge of the car, doing multiple different tracks is always good also for the teams to have feedback and opinions from different drivers. So, I think it works super well to be able to do both programs.”
Cadillac Racing will attempt to claim its sixth IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup Manufacturer Championship in the fifth round of the championship-within-a-championship format that awards points in descending order of track position after four, eight and 10 hours of the race. Cadillac is three points out of second and five behind the front-runner. Cadillac secured the 2023 regular season and endurance manufacturer titles in 2023 in the Petit Le Mans – the first season of the GTP class.
The No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R is three points behind second and six points arrears of the leader in the team/driver endurance standings. Cadillac Racing has recorded five driver and three team titles in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup since 2017.
Peacock will stream flag-to-flag coverage for U.S. subscribers beginning at noon ET, while NBC will telecast the race live from noon-3 p.m. International feed streaming will be available on IMSA.TV. Live radio broadcast of the race will be available on IMSA.com, RadioLeMans.com and Sirius XM (XM206, Web/app 996).
What they’re saying
No. 10 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R
Ricky Taylor: “We did the majority of our testing in the beginning of the season to try and expedite our learning of this car. It was nice to have a test a bit later in the season where we could experiment with what we have learned over the first half of the season to try to make another jump. It will hopefully prove beneficial when we get to Petit Le Mans, where we have historically had a strong car there in the past. Petit Le Mans is such a difficult race. We have found ourselves fighting for the win many times in the past, but need to find the secret to winning the race in the end. Managing traffic and getting through the majority of the race is easier said than done. It is the race with the most dense traffic on the schedule.”
Filipe Albuquerque: “We are closing down on the performance of the car. We qualified third at Indianapolis and finished second. Overall, this year has been very hard for us, but we have three podiums so far. We want to finish the season on a high. Many people are fighting for the championship and a better place in the championship, but we go for the race result. That’s what we are aiming for. Hopefully, we will have strong pace again at Petit. We have nothing to lose in the championship and if we have a small chance at the win, we will take all the risks necessary for it.”
Will Stevens: “I think we had a really solid couple of days testing a few weeks ago, which hopefully will let us start off on a good basis when we get back for race week. I feel the team has really been gaining momentum, so we will all be pushing as hard as we can to finish the season off on a high. It’s going to be my first Petit Le Mans, but I have watched it numerous times and looked at plenty of onboards as I know it’s a chaotic race and it’s near impossible to get clear laps, so managing traffic well is going to be key to a good race.”
No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R
Jack Aitken: “We have good momentum from Indianapolis with the best result of the season. It’s nice to have gotten that under the belt. We would like to keep it going and have a strong end to the season. We still have a chance to win the Michelin Endurance Cup, so we’ll be focusing on those points as well as the overall race win. We had a really good run last year and earning pole was a nice moment for me as my first pole I IMSA. And, of course, I’ll try to do it again. It’s a track that we all enjoy as a team and it would be fantastic to go out with a second win for Cadillac.”
Earl Bamber: “It was amazing for the Whelen Cadillac to get a win at the Brickyard and we’ll try to close the season with two in a row. We need to try to win another one of the endurance classics. There’s been just a huge amount of hard work from everyone at Cadillac and the team (Action Express Racing. It’s special now looking toward Petit, the last race of the season, and Daytona, we feel like we’re building really good momentum and a great foundation right now. We’re looking forward to going back to Road Atlanta and giving it all we got.”
Frederick Vesti: “I joined this team at the beginning of the year with very high hopes, and the way they’ve welcomed me into this team made me feel welcome with Earl and Jack as my teammates. I’ve learned a lot, and to take the first win here in Indianapolis is just amazing. I’m just excited for the future.”
No. 40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R
Jordan Taylor: “It’s hard to believe the final race of the year is already here. It feels like it has flown by. Lots of weekends to look back on and think what could have been. I feel like we come into Petit with a lot left to prove. We had a great test here a few weeks ago. We haven’t had many proper test days with the Cadillac, so feel like any extra time we get with it is so valuable. So, to be able to come to a track that we already have some experience on is great for us. Petit is one that everyone wants to win as a standalone event. We have nothing to lose in the championship, so we will be taking all the risk needed to go for the race win and end the season on a high.”
Louis Deletraz: “I’m very excited to go to Petit Le Mans. Cadillac has been very competitive as we have shown at the last race. On the 40 car, we got a little unlucky but that is the perfect way to get redemption at the last race of the year. We will go all in to have a good result. Wayne Taylor Racing, Cadillac Racing and I are excited to be there. It’s such a historical event that everyone wants to win. There’s a lot to watch for and manage with all the traffic, but we will be ready to go for the win.”
Norman Nato: “I’m very pleased to be back at Petit eight years later after my first-ever and last IMSA race. The last race for the Cadillac cars was an incredible result, so we have the ambition as a team to finish the season on a high. I shared some test days with Jordan and Louis a month ago, which went really well. My job will obviously be to drive fast and help the guys to achieve our goal. I will have to adapt pretty quickly to this new environment, but I’m super excited and ready for this challenge.”
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