Cadillac Racing has announced that Sebastien Bourdais will join the team’s full-season FIA World Endurance Championship pairing of Earl Bamber and Alex Lynn in the No. 2 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R for the season opener at Qatar on March 2.
Bourdais, who competes with the Chip Ganassi Racing-run Cadillac Racing team as a full-season driver in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, is set to be the first of multiple guesting drivers for the WEC effort drawn from the Ganassi stable. The opening in the car alongside Bamber and Lynn follows the departure of Richard Westbrook from the lineup at the end of last season.
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While the announcement confirming Bourdais for Qatar gives no further specific details on which races will see a third driver, RACER believes that in most, if not all of the 6-hour events, the car will compete with just Lynn and Bamber.
Renger van der Zande is also confirmed as part of Ganassi’s plans for the WEC this season, although there is no indication of where the team’s other IMSA full-season driver will race. Neither Imola nor Spa will be possible due to clashes with his IMSA role.
Beyond that, the team’s announcement referred to “Bourdais, van der Zande and select CGT teammates” being involved in the WEC.
Ganassi’s pair of IndyCar champions, Alex Palou and Scott Dixon, were both part of the Cadillac driving team at the Rolex 24 last month. Asked at Daytona whether he would be making additional outings for Cadillac this season, Palou responded that he would like to “compete in as many races as possible” but admitted that any further races would be subject to his priority commitments with his IndyCar race and test schedule.
“When a team is fortunate enough to have such a strong stable of drivers to pull from, it just makes sense to utilize the talent when you have the opportunity,” said CGR director of operations Mike O’Gara. “Chip Ganassi Racing proved that in Daytona when we put Alex Palou in the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R. Putting Sebastien Bourdais in the No. 2 for the Qatar events is going to give him a chance to refamiliarize himself with the WEC rules and regulations.
“It is also going to allow us to strengthen the bond between the U.S.-based IMSA team and the Germany-based WEC team. We know it is going to strengthen both programs and better prepare us for our 2024 attack on the 24 Hours of Le Mans.”