DETROIT (April 14, 2026) – After two races that lasted 36 hours total (the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring), Cadilliac Racing now heads to Long Beach, California for a 100-minute sprint race.
It’s like a runner competing in a marathon, a half marathon and then doing a 100-meter dash.
But it is still competition, and it’s race three of the IMSA season as both Action Express Racing and Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing are looking for wins and points for the season-long championship.
Last year, the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R finished fourth with Jack Aitken, Earl Bamber, while Cadillac Wayne Taylor finished sixth (No. 10 Ricky Tayor and Filipe Albuquerque) and seventh (No. 40 Jordan Taylor, Louis Deletraz).
Bamber will be overseas competing in the World Endurance Championship Six Hours of Imola for Cadillac Hertz Team Jota, so it will be Aitken and Fredrick Vesti in the No. 31, while the No. 10 and No. 40 cars have the same drivers as last year.
All three teams are looking for a win or a podium in the historic Long Beach Grand Prix. The No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R has had four consecutive podium finishes including two wins coming last fall at Indianapolis and Road Atlanta. They finished second in the Rolex 24 at Daytona and then third last month at Sebring.
Brothers Jordan and Ricky Taylor won the 2017 IMSA race from the pole – one in the streak of five consecutive victories to start the season that culminated in the manufacturer and drivers’ championships. Current teammate Filipe Albuquerque co-drove to victory in the 2018 and 2019 races in the Cadillac DPi-V.R.
In April 2024, Cadillac Racing finished 1-2, with the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R edging the pole-sitting No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R by 0.564 of a second. Opting not to change Michelin tires during the lone service stop and mandatory driver change, the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R drove to the front of the field and led the final 34 laps.
The 1-2 finish was the third for Cadillac Racing’s prototype program at Long Beach, which includes victories in 2022, 2021, 2019, 2018 and 2017. There was no race in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In total, Cadillac Racing has nine victories at Long Beach.
Sports car racing returned to the oceanside community in 2006 after a 15-year absence, with Ron Fellows driving the No. 16 Cadillac CTS-V to the victory in the Speed World Challenge GT race.
Also at Long Beach, Andy Pilgrim won the 2012 Pirelli World Challenge GT race in the No. 8 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe that led to the series’ manufacturer title and 1-2 in the driver championship (Johnny O’Connell and Pilgrim) for the brand. O’Connell drove the No. 3 Cadillac CTS-V to victory in the 2014 GT race on the way to earning his third consecutive drivers’ title and the third successive manufacturer title for Cadillac.
What they’re saying:
No. 10 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R
Filipe Albuquerque: “I have great memories at Long Beach with Cadillac. My two wins at Long Beach from the first three years I drove there are with Cadillac. Cadillac has been running really well; it draws strong speed and pace. I am motivated with our Cadillac WTR team and with Ricky Taylor. I think we are doing a good job and besides the end results that we are getting, the pace is there and we have evolved a lot from last year. So, let’s hope that we have a breakthrough in Long Beach.”
Ricky Taylor: “We get back to our normal race weekend routine at Long Beach, focusing on the small details to execute the whole weekend as well as we can. Everything in Long Beach is important, starting from Practice 1. Everything has to be right from practice through the race. No flat spots in practice, good qual prep, good qualifying, perfect pit stop/driver change. There is no room for any errors if we are going to win this race.”
No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R
Jack Aitken: “It’s always a favorite in the calendar for me, because street circuits are just that bit more thrilling than normal tracks. We’ve generally gone well there in the past, but we will be pushing hard to keep our podium streak going. That means a good qualifying and a good stop here.”
Frederik Vesti: “Ever since I was notified of Long Beach, I’ve been extremely excited. It’s a very, very cool historical racetrack with barriers all around. It’s an awesome location. It’ll be my first time in LA. I’ve driven this track for at least eight years on the simulator so to try it out in real life with the Action Express Whelen Cadillac 31 will be very very special. And doing my second sprint race in IMSA is still a challenge and something that we will need to see and work on, obviously it’s 100 minutes and it’s a very intense race with the tight GT traffic as well. So yeah I’m looking very much forward to the challenge and hopefully we can make Earl (Bamber) proud across the world and make Cadillac proud as well. I went to Belgium with Jack to do a bike race 100-mile bike race called Tour of Flanders, which was good fun. A bit of a relaxing weekend if you can see that about 100-mile race.”
No. 40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R
Louis Deletraz: “I’m really excited for Long Beach, it’s always a great event. It’s very short, only two days. Friday is always very busy with all of the practices and qualifying. Obviously, it’s a different approach from Daytona and Sebring where we were fast but in endurance races you need to survive the first hours and race towards the end, but here at Long Beach it’s a full sprint. You want to be up front and stay up front. It’s really a full push. I think a crucial aspect of the weekend will be pure pace and racing hard. It’s street race, the surface is different and bumpy – the walls are everywhere and doesn’t forgive mistakes. So, it’s always exciting and I’m sure Cadillac will do great; it’s always strong on street tracks and bumpy tracks. I’m looking forward to driving the V-Series.R around the streets of California.”
Jordan Taylor: “The Cadillac V-Series.R always seems to suit street courses well. Over the past few years, it has always been strong at Long Beach and Detroit. We’ve made some big gains on setup and systems since this time last year, so I’m excited to see how we go this weekend.”
Cadillac Racing Long Beach results 2017-2025
2025: Fourth (No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R) start seventh – Jack Aitken, Earl Bamber
Sixth (No. 10 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R) start eighth – Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque
Seventh (No. 40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R) start 10th – Jordan Taylor, Louis Deletraz2024: Overall winner (No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R) start third – Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande
Second (No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R) start first – Pipo Derani, Jack Aitken2023: Fifth (No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R) start seventh – Pipo Derani, Alexander Sims
Eighth (No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R) start third – Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande2022: Overall winner (No. 01 V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R) start first – Renger van der Zande, Sebastien Bourdais
Second (No. 02 Cadillac Accessories Cadillac DPi-V.R) start second – Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn
Third (No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R) start fifth – Tristan Vautier, Richard Westbrook
Fifth (No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R) start fourth – Pipo Derani, Tristan Nunez2021: Overall winner (No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R) start first – Pipo Derani, Felipe Nasr
Second (No. 01 Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R) start second – Renger van der Zande, Kevin Magnussen
Third (No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R) start third – Tristan Vautier, Loic Duval2019: Overall winner (No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R) start fourth – Filipe Albuquerque, Joao Barbosa
Fifth (No. 84 JDC-Miller MotorSports Cadillac DPi-V.R) start seventh – Stephen Simpson, Simon Trummer
Sixth (No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R) start second – Pipo Derani, Felipe Nasr
Seventh (No. 50 Juncos Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R) start ninth – Kyle Kaiser, Will Owen
10th (No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R) start 10th – Renger van der Zande, Jordan Taylor2018: Overall winner (No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R) start fifth — Filipe Albuquerque, Joao Barbosa
Third (No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R) start sixth – Renger van der Zande, Jordan Taylor
Seventh (No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R) start second – Felipe Nasr, Eric Curran2017: Overall winner (No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R) start first – Jordan Taylor, Ricky Taylor
29th overall, seventh in class (No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R) start second – Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi
32nd overall, eighth in class (No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R) start fifth – Eric Curran, Dane CameronAbout General Motors
General Motors (NYSE:GM) is driving the future of transportation, leveraging advanced technology to build safer, smarter, and lower emission cars, trucks, and SUVs. GM’s Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC brands offer a broad portfolio of innovative gasoline-powered vehicles and the industry’s widest range of EVs, as we move to an all-electric future.
GM Motorsports, including the Cadillac Formula 1® Team develops and proves advanced technologies in the most demanding environments, accelerating innovation in performance, safety, efficiency, and electrification for its production vehicles. Cadillac Racing is one of the leading manufacturers in the IMSA and FIA World Endurance Championships (WEC). Chevrolet competes in single seaters in the US IndyCar series, and in NASCAR with multiple team partners and drivers. Corvette customer teams compete in GT series across the globe including IMSA and WEC. Learn more at GM.com.
