Sebastien Bourdais has been confirmed for his third FIA WEC Hypercar outing of the season, placed in joining Cadillac Racing’s Hypercar line-up for the 8 Hours of Bahrain on Nov. 2.
The Frenchman, who won IMSA’s Petit Le Mans season finale last weekend, will share the No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R with Earl Bamber and Alex Lynn next month, adding to his WEC appearances with the team at Qatar and Le Mans earlier in the season.
“It’s good to get back in the car with Alex and Earl,” said Bourdais, who competed with Cadillac Racing full time in the Ganassi-run V-Series.R in IMSA’s GTP class. “We started off the season really well [in Qatar] and while we ultimately didn’t get the result because of circumstances [a post-race disqualification], the car was very competitive in the race and we certainly deserved a good finish.
“Unfortunately, it’s been a bit of a tough season in terms of results — there has always been something getting in the way — but performance-wise, it seems like the car is in a really good window. It’s pretty light, good on power and competitive, so there is definitely something to play for and if we could send it off on a high, that would be pretty cool.”
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Bourdais, who has four Champ Car titles on his resume, has previous experience at the Bahrain International Circuit to draw from via previous starts in both Formula 1 and WEC’s LMP2 category.
“Bahrain is a really big challenge,” he said. “It’s an extremely abrasive racetrack. Tire degradation is very high and using the tire the right way to make it function without making it slide is critical. You have to do it with setup, dampers, traction control, you name it, but we’ll try to find some recipes that work and hopefully, we’ll wind up in a good spot.”
The Frenchman’s return to the grid is one of a number of changes to the 36-car entry for the eight-hour finale. Elsewhere in the top class, Alpine Endurance Team has mixed up its crews following Nicolas Lapierre’s appointment as sporting director, with Paul Loup Chatin back in the No. 35 A424 prototype to race with Ferdinand Habsburg and Jules Gounon after skipping Fuji, and Charles Milesi moving across to the No. 36.
In LMGT3, Danish youngster Conrad Laursen, who will fight for the European Le Mans Series LMGT3 title this weekend in Portimao, replaces Clemens Schmid aboard Akkodis ASP Team’s No. 78 Lexus RC F LMGT3.
There is also a double substitution in the No. 88 Proton Competition Mustang. Mikkel Pedersen and Christian Ried make way for 2018 European Le Mans Series LMGTE champion Giorgio Roda — returning to WEC for the first time since Le Mans back in June – and countryman Giammarco Levorato, himself a multiple ELMS race winner.
Iron Lynx’s Lamborghini Huracan will have factory driver Matteo Cairoli taking over from Franck Perera, making for an all-Italian line-up in the No. 60. It will be Cairoli’s first WEC start since Le Mans, where he formed part of the Lamborghini Iron Lynx Hypercar driver crew for its two-car effort.
Click here for the full entry list for the Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain.