Lynn: Cadillac ‘Rolling into COTA With Lots of Momentum’

Photo: Fabrizio Boldoni/DPPI

Alex Lynn says Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA is rolling into the FIA World Endurance Championship round at Circuit of The Americas “with a lot of momentum” as the team hopes to build on its breakthrough victory last time out in Brazil.

Lynn, Norman Nato and Will Stevens captured Cadillac’s maiden WEC victory during the 6 Hours of São Paulo in July, which made it just the fifth manufacturer in the Hypercar era to take an overall world championship victory after Alpine, Toyota, Ferrari and Porsche.

Now, the American brand heads to its home race at COTA, where it secured its best result of the season last year when Lynn and Earl Bamber finished fourth.

Lynn outlined that Cadillac will seek to “solidify” its Sao Paulo breakthrough in Austin as the brand also seeks to close the 55-point deficit to Ferrari in the Hypercar manufacturers’ standings.

“When you look through the manufacturers that have won races in the World Endurance Championship in this Hypercar era, there aren’t many, and we are now one of them,” Lynn said.

“So I think that puts us now in this category of the team that wants to fight for wins every weekend, to try and fight to win the championship, and everything that comes with that.

“This is a team that wants to deliver the biggest results possible on the biggest stage. We roll into COTA, which is our home race with a lot of momentum.

“And we expect to perform, honestly. We expect to be competitive and to solidify what we’ve done and come there with the aim of doing well.”

Looking back at the Brazil triumph, Lynn described it as a case of “when, not if” after Cadillac had come close to a breakthrough result on previous occasions.

“I think from within the team, we were never worried,” he said.

“I’d say probably say the same thing when you drive the car. You know the potential it has, you know what it can do.

“[It was] more of a frustration that we hadn’t shown everybody what it could do and what we could do.

“But I don’t think there was ever a moment where I doubted what was going to happen one day. It was just a question of when, not if.”

Going to COTA, however, the Briton admitted that he was no under illusion about the challenge of capturing a potential second victory.

“Winning a race in the World Endurance Championship is extremely tough, as we all know,” he said.

“So to do it again, you’re going to need a similar level of effort. But that’s why we enjoy going racing and getting up early in the morning to do it. It’s what we enjoy.”

Bamber: COTA Characteristics Suit Cadillac’s Strengths

Bamber, who shares the sister car with Sebastien Bourdais and Jenson Button, expects Cadillac to be able to put in a strong showing at COTA as the Texas circuit plays to the strengths of the Dallara-chassised V-Series.R.

“Our car’s architecture, with the downforce that it has, really suits COTA,” said the New Zealander.

“Obviously we run in IMSA a lot so it actually handles the bumps really well and we did a lot of development in America.

“It’s very good at stop-start corners as well. It was a track that really suits the car’s style and architectural layout.

“That is also why you see varying results in the WEC because some tracks are suiting the car’s layout or its strengths and weaknesses. I think the next couple races have typically been quite good for us.

“I think everyone forgets that even though we started in 2023, we are still quite a young program compared to some of the older programs like Toyota.

“So we continue to learn week in, week out against some of those teams.”

Source: Sports Car 365