Cadillac GTP / Hypercar: Fan favorite

[Adam43]

A thread for all the prototype Cadillac going ons! in WEC and IMSA, but I think the most appropriate subforum is N.A.

Just some general

Launch of the GTP: https://www.dailysportscar.com/2023/...ac-v-lmdh.html

WEC update for Spa: https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/...ineup-for-spa/

[Adam43]

What a silly thread? What's the point? er, I needed somewhere to put these.

Driver comparison's from WEC so far this year (er, you're in NA Sportscar - idiot).

Sebring:
Average Lap time

Rank	Car	Fastest	Top 10	Top 20	Top 40
1	Earl BAMBER (Cadillac 2)	1:48.607	1:49.107	1:49.305	1:49.546
2	Richard WESTBROOK (Cadillac 2)	1:49.466	1:49.772	1:50.063	1:50.584
3	Alex LYNN (Cadillac 2)	1:49.514	1:49.709	1:50.108	1:51.167

It's all Bamber. In terms of speed, consistency and just how long they put him in the car (which helps a little with this view).

Portimao:
Average Lap time

Rank	Car	Fastest	Top 10	Top 20	Top 40
1	Earl BAMBER (Cadillac 2)	1:33.077	1:33.755	1:34.002	1:34.318
2	Alex LYNN (Cadillac 2)	1:33.401	1:33.567	1:33.851	1:34.313
3	Richard WESTBROOK (Cadillac 2)	1:33.626	1:34.047	1:34.221	1:34.528

Bamber has the fastest lap and generally is quickest. Still gets the most laps.
But Lynn has the faster 3rd to 20th lap.

Spa:

Rank	Car	Fastest	Top 10	Top 20	Top 40
1	Richard WESTBROOK (Cadillac 2)	2:04.906	2:07.806	2:08.627	NA
2	Alex LYNN (Cadillac 2)	2:05.372	2:06.705	2:07.129	2:09.652
3	Renger VAN DER ZANDE (Cadillac 3)	2:06.727	2:07.660	2:08.203	2:25.463
4	Earl BAMBER (Cadillac 2)	2:06.891	2:07.212	2:07.599	2:08.897

Westbrook has the fastest lap (conditions? Bamber missed out?). Lynn has the edge over Bamber. Bamber gets a few more laps and did the early running. Only Van der Zande gets a go in the no.3 - crashes (is OK). His driving was in the worse conditions too.

I'm putting Bamber in for the crucial moments, but based on Portimao any of them can do the hard mileage in the no.2.

[Adam43]

Driver Comparison update! Le Mans practice and qualifying.

Average Lap time

Rank	Car	Fastest	Top 5	Top 10	Top 15	Laps
1	Sébastien BOURDAIS (Cadillac 3)	3:24.908	3:26.400	3:28.514	3:30.286	32
2	Earl BAMBER (Cadillac 2)	3:25.170	3:26.028	3:27.603	3:29.172	40
3	Luis Felipe DERANI (Cadillac 311)	3:27.960	3:29.388	3:30.082	3:30.919	38
4	Jack AITKEN (Cadillac 311)	3:28.277	3:29.151	3:29.909	3:30.612	35
5	Alexander SIMS (Cadillac 311)	3:28.603	3:29.158	3:29.758	3:30.529	31
6	Alex LYNN (Cadillac 2)	3:29.256	3:30.279	3:31.271	3:38.431	21
7	Scott DIXON (Cadillac 3)	3:29.445	3:30.259	3:30.972	3:31.826	38
8	Richard WESTBROOK (Cadillac 2)	3:29.948	3:30.542	3:31.008	3:31.633	31
9	Renger VAN DER ZANDE (Cadillac 3)	3:30.238	3:30.839	3:31.781	3:33.760	20

These will be more useful from the race. Lots more laps and actual competitive laps.

[Adam43]

Man, I feel for Seb. It was a good time. Which still appear in this list as deleted times aren't, er, deleted from this data set.

[Gerard C]

Originally Posted by Adam43

Man, I feel for Seb. It was a good time.

He safely parked his car. The red flag was very conservative but probably necessary. Sad for him and all the team. Still, Bamber is really fast.

[joeb]

Originally Posted by Adam43

Driver Comparison update! Le Mans practice and qualifying.

Average Lap time

These will be more useful from the race. Lots more laps and actual competitive laps.

Of course Seb and Earl have the fastest times because they were laying it out in qualifying. But overall I think they have a great driver lineup here, and if Renger has the slowest times at the end of the 24 I'd be surprised.

Originally Posted by Adam43

Man, I feel for Seb. It was a good time. Which still appear in this list as deleted times aren't, er, deleted from this data set.

I was gutted for him and the team. They put their car ahead of Toyota and just behind Ferrari only to have it go up in flames.

[PascaLM]

Any information about what went wrong on he #3 ?
I hope it was only a leakage and not the engine itself. I think that the V8 is unbreakable even pushed to 700 hp.

[Coach Ep]

this doesn't sound very hopeful:

***Sebastien Bourdais encountered fuel pressure problems prior to the No. 3 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V-Series.R coming to a stop on the Mulsanne Straight and catching fire. “I just lost fuel pressure, but from the engine side because it kept clearly just injecting fuel somewhere,” he told Sportscar365. “It flooded the car with fuel and it just blew up.”

***Bourdais added that the fire likely inflicted significant damage to the car: “It’s burnt bad, because you can’t get in the engine. You can’t put out the fire because you need to take the rear cell [off] to be able to take the engine deck off. You can’t get the fire out. It slowly burns the car.”

Btw, not the first time a Caddy is having a roasting LM experience, I remember this one like it was yesterday!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4_HeOza_Cg

[joeb]

Sounds like lots of electronics could be in need of replacing with that type of flame damage. Probably some seals and other components as well. At least today is a non-track day and they team can go over everything.

[Coach Ep]

I suspect Ganassi's boys & girls are basically building up a new car.

[justracing]

Originally Posted by Coach Ep

I suspect Ganassi's boys & girls are basically building up a new car.

Those guys are earning their keep in these temperatures, good luck to them. Evidently in took a full day to replace the fuel cell which they had a problem with previously, sounds very much like a connection leaking or coming loose.

[Gerard C]

“It flooded the car with fuel and it just blew up." Fire was everywhere it seems, even under the front axle: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/2FPAvxq2YY0
He's been doing very good and was lucky too.

[Coach Ep]

Originally Posted by Gerard C

“It flooded the car with fuel and it just blew up." Fire was everywhere it seems, even under the front axle: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/2FPAvxq2YY0
He's been doing very good and was lucky too.

On a side note: noticed the hybrid status indicator light was green so car was not electrically 'active' and basically okay to touch (although I'd still be very suspicious, especially after witnessing a Peugeot "Christmas light show" [red-green-off-red]in person @ Sebring this year. You should have seen Loic Duval jumping out of that car like a high jump athlete!).

[Coach Ep]

Good news! https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/...yperpole-fire/

[justracing]

Originally Posted by Coach Ep

Good news! https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/...yperpole-fire/

[Adam43]

Let’s go. I look forward to seeing some masterful helmsmanship from the drivers in that car.

[Gerard C]

Go Caddy, Earl and Seb'!

[justracing]

Originally Posted by Gerard C

Go Caddy, Earl and Seb'!

Don't they sound just fabulous

[joeb]

Having to add oil to the car at every pit stop cost them up to 15 seconds per stop and around 3 minutes by the end of the race - dropping them from the lead lap. Interesting they attribute this problem to the renewable fuel - same thing happened at Daytona.

https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/...no-2-cadillac/

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by joeb

Having to add oil to the car at every pit stop cost them up to 15 seconds per stop and around 3 minutes by the end of the race - dropping them from the lead lap. Interesting they attribute this problem to the renewable fuel - same thing happened at Daytona.

https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/...no-2-cadillac/

Very interesting. And good feedback and information for Caddy and Total.

[Coach Ep]

Originally Posted by joeb

Having to add oil to the car at every pit stop cost them up to 15 seconds per stop and around 3 minutes by the end of the race - dropping them from the lead lap. Interesting they attribute this problem to the renewable fuel - same thing happened at Daytona.

https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/...no-2-cadillac/

Interesting to hear, unfortunately I don't have access to the linked background story about the Rolex so I'm missing most if not all of the relevant info.

So as a true keyboard warrior who doesn't need any research: if Caddy was anticipating potential issues with the fuel why weren't they able to overcome them? Or, were they but not to the full extent?

[Gerard C]

Originally Posted by Coach Ep

if Caddy was anticipating potential issues with the fuel why weren't they able to overcome them? Or, were they but not to the full extent?

Good point.

[joeb]

Originally Posted by Coach Ep

Interesting to hear, unfortunately I don't have access to the linked background story about the Rolex so I'm missing most if not all of the relevant info.

So as a true keyboard warrior who doesn't need any research: if Caddy was anticipating potential issues with the fuel why weren't they able to overcome them? Or, were they but not to the full extent?

I would guess, it would take an entirely new engine to overcome them? and adding oil was their known antidote? But my question would be why didn't other teams suffer same fate? The article mentioned that Acura had similar issues at Daytona, which to me signifies some ancillary part, a seal, or something in the engine that is the culprit, but not all teams use the same?

[Gerard C]

Originally Posted by joeb

The article mentioned that Acura had similar issues at Daytona, which to me signifies some ancillary part, a seal, or something in the engine that is the culprit, but not all teams use the same?

You mean pistons, rings, mounting tolerances or treatments? You'll never know I fear. Back to Coach Ep remarks, they could have done something to top up quicker. The Ferarris seemed to smoke a lot after a pit stop (rear right side) but may be they've found a more sophisticated system to complete the oil level. I remember Audi having fixed that years ago. I dont know if they're allowed to have an inboard oil reservoir tho. I guess they're not.

[RL17]

Originally Posted by joeb

Having to add oil to the car at every pit stop cost them up to 15 seconds per stop and around 3 minutes by the end of the race - dropping them from the lead lap. Interesting they attribute this problem to the renewable fuel - same thing happened at Daytona.

https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/...no-2-cadillac/

No 2 had total pit time just over 2 mins 5 sec or so more than Toyota 8 and less than Ferrari 51 (with its 2 reboots)

But Caddy had a 3min 12 sec and 3 min 54 sec or so pitstop in there too - so the oil couldn’t have cost them 15sec a stop (which my maths or math would be 2 laps and outright victory rather than putting them on same lap). They were only a lap and approx 2.15 down (both 51 and 2 slowed on final lap compared to No 8)