Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA aims second race victory

WECHyperCar

Nov 5

Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA aims second race victory and a fourth pole this season at Bahrain.

World Manufacturers’ Championship standing

Cadillac goes to Bahrain ranking third in the manufacturers’ standings – 61 points behind Ferrari and 22 points behind Porsche. For the eight-hour race in Sakhir, 66 points are still up for grabs with a double (38 points for victory and 27 for P2) and an additional point for pole position. Mathematically, it is still possible for Cadillac to win the title but that would require a serious failure from Ferrari not scoring at least 5 points with the two 499P. A second place is more realistic a would be bonus for Cadillac ahead of next season.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Spa-Francorchamps. Both Cadillac Hertz Team Jota.

“I think we’ve established some strong bases for next year and looking forward to closing on a high on a difficult track in Bahrain,” said Sebastien Bourdais, who will sharing driving duties with Earl Bamber and Jenson Button.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Imola. Cadillac V-Series.R #38 (left) and sister #12 (right)

World Drivers’ Championship standing

In the drivers’ championship, the #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R of Alex Lynn, Norman Nato and Will Stevens is fourth 34 points behind the front-running #51 Ferrari AF Corse, 13 points out of third and 21 points behind second in the Drivers’ Championship. The #12 entry is the only Hypercar to score points in all seven races, highlighted by the program’s maiden WEC victory in July at Interlagos.

Cadillac #12 — 📷 © Luc Warnotte at Lone Star Le Mans. Cadillac Hertz Team Jota #12

Alex Lynn: “Looking forward to going to Bahrain. It’s a great circuit and I’m expecting to fight for a great result. We’ve been on extremely good form, especially when it comes to qualifying with three pole positions in the last four races and four poles in the last nine races. I think we have good pace in our car and looking to end the year on a high. If we can pick up a trophy, that would be a lovely way to end the year, which has on the whole been a fantastic 2025 with so many milestones reached. It’s been a landmark year with so many amazing memories. And I’m looking forward to 2026; it comes around so fast.”

Norman Nato: “Especially in the position we are in, we're going to fight for some good position in the manufacturer championship and driver championship, where we can do top three with both, if not better. So, it's exciting. It's crazy already to say that it's the last race of the season. It's been so fast. All the work that has been done like from a year ago now because this is when, basically, last year we started to drive the car for the first time and to try to develop everything. Still a long way to go to achieve the goals we want to achieve, but we can be quite proud of what everyone has done this season. We want to finish on a high and we will push to win the race, if possible, and if not, to finish as high as possible in both championships.”

Will Stevens: “There’s a lot for grabs for us in both the drivers and constructors’ championships. We're fighting for P2 in the constructors and can get in the top three and the Drivers Championship. So, there's a lot in play for us and a race we have confidence as a team going into because we're generally quite strong there as a team. It's quite a different track to a lot of others, very high degradation on tires. It requires quite a different philosophy to be strong there, but something we know what we need to do to achieve a good result. We've been strong at all the races this year. I think we have a good understanding now of where we need to be and what we need to do with the car to be competitive. So just excited for it, a longer race, more at play, and let’s hope we can finish this season on a high.”

Last race for Jenson Button with #38

The 8 Hours of Bahrain will be 2009 Formula One world champion’s final endurance race. Jenson Button has announced his retirement from professional racing. Button started competing in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) for Hertz Team Jota since 2024. Button wants to spend more time with his young children and will continue to race his own classic cars in future events.

Together with Earl Bamber and Sébastien Bourdais driving the Cadillac Hertz Team Jota #38, their best result this season so far was a P2 at São Paulo for the Rolex 6 Hours of São Paulo.

#38 Cadillac — 📷 © Courtesy of FIA WAC. Cadillac Hertz Team Jota #38 best result this season so far was a P2 at the Rolex 6 Hours of São Paulo.

Jenson Button: “I think when you look at this year and what Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA have achieved in such a short time, it’s impressive. When we first had the Cadillac, it’s obviously a big transitional period going from one car to another. It takes time. The way that we’ve improved the car through the season with obviously the 1-2 in Brazil, we have to be positive coming here and looking for a great result. Working with JOTA, it’s been a real lovely atmosphere within the team, a real family atmosphere even though we’re a works team it still has that family vibe. And this is such a competitive championship. The cars look cool, they sound amazing and there are some bloody amazing drivers racing in this championship, so it always makes for good racing.”

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Lone Star Le Mans. Cadillac Hertz Team Jota #38

Earl Bamber: “JOTA and Cadillac have done a fantastic job. We had the goal of getting one podium this year and got the win and second. And we’ve smashed it out of the park with all the front row lockouts. The 38 side of the garage is really strong. I felt we had one of the strongest cars in Fuji as well. Just a little bit of bad luck. Going to Bahrain, I said to the JOTA guys, ‘we need some of your Bahrain magic sauce.’ So, hopefully, they can sprinkle a bit on and we'll be a jet.”

Sebastien Bourdais: “It’s been an interesting one. Lots of speed at times, especially in qualifying, not always transforming into results but a very valuable first season in the collaboration between JOTA and Cadillac. I think we’ve established some strong bases for next year and looking forward to closing on a high on a difficult track in Bahrain. It’s critical to manage tire degradation and the track has been challenging to Cadillac in the past. We were also concerned about tire deg in Interlagos and it ended up being our strongest weekend, so we’ll approach the weekend with an open mind and hopefully we can hit the ground running and have a great weekend.” Source: Cadillac Racing

The programme.

Thursday, November 6

4:15 a.m. - FIA WEC Free Practice 1 (12:15 p.m.–1:45 p.m. local time)

9:00 p.m. - FIA WEC Free Practice 2 (5:00 p.m.–6:30 p.m. local time)

Friday, November 7

4:00 a.m. - FIA WEC Free Practice 3 (12 p.m.–1 p.m. local time)

8:00 a.m. - FIA WEC LMGT3 Qualifying - 8:20 a.m. - FIA WEC LMGT3 Hyperpole (from 4.00 p.m. local time)

8:40 a.m. - FIA WEC Hypercar Qualifying - 9:00 a.m. - FIA WEC Hypercar Hyperpole (from 4.40 p.m. local time)

Saturday, November 8

6:00 a.m. - 8 Hours of BahrainThursday (2 p.m.-10 p.m. local time)