Jenson Button will stay with Jota in the World Endurance Championship as it becomes an official Cadillac team for next season. The world champion of Formula 1 In 2009, he will retain his seat within the British team to drive one of the two LMDh Series.V which will line up in the Hypercar category.
This Thursday, November 14, it was announced that the English will compete in its second full year in the WEC. Will Stevens And Norman NATO they will join him despite Jota abandoning the Porsche 963s he had been using as a satellite team until now.
Earl Bamber And Alex LynnFor their part, they will continue with Cadillac in Jota, as well as in the World Endurance Championship.after two years of competing with General Motors' Hypercar brand alongside Chip Ganassi Racing.
Sébastien BourdaisOn the other hand, he also leaves Ganassi, a team of which he was a regular, competing in full campaigns in IMSA since 2022 after finishing his career in IndyCar. The Frenchman goes to the World CupI raced alongside Bamber and Lynn at WEC events in Qatar and Bahrain to open and close the 2024 season. This will be his first full-time schedule outside of North America since his season and a half with Toro Rosso F1 in 2008 and 2009.
Cadillac Racing Driver Lineup
Photo by: Richard Prince
Thus, Bourdais will not continue with Cadillac in the GTP class of IMSA next year, but will remain in the category after signing a deal with Tower Motorsport to race in LMP2. However, Cadillac and Jota have not yet revealed the driver combinations for their two WEC cars, which They will keep the numbers #12 and #38 that they used with Porsche.
Bamber will also compete for Cadillac in IMSA next year with Action Express Racing, but Jota's World Championship program is expected to take priority when the two championships collide.for the Spa and Laguna Seca races in May and for the 24 Hours of Le Mansin case the American team participates in the legendary event for the third year in a row.
Button was expected to stay with Jota, having revealed at the start of the season that he saw his Hypercar adventure as a two-year stay. However, he had refused to confirm his plans and whether he would continue to compete. The Briton said the following: “I am delighted to continue my adventure with Hertz team Jota as part of their new partnership, with a brand as iconic as Cadillac.“.
“Racing with Jota this season has been a privilege, as they are a team full of endurance success and I have admired them for a long time. These achievements and hard work have now led to this exciting new chapter, in partnership with Cadillac, a brand that has already impressed with what he has achieved so far in WEC and IMSA.
“The driver lineup is impressive: we bring our collective experience of working with the Cadillac platform and the experience of doing so with Jota. “We have all the ingredients to have a great season,” he continued.
The director of Jota, David Clarksaid: “Cadillac's racing record speaks for itself, and with these six drivers, we will be in a strong position to compete for race victories.Bourdais, 45, said he was “grateful to be part of this new adventure,” adding: “I know the car and the people at GM, so it's great to be able to continue there.”
Will Stevens, winner of the No. 12 Jota Porsche in the round of 16 WEC last May at Spa, will continue a relationship that began in 2016. The Briton has been an integral part of the team since winning the LMP2 title in 2022. “I have made no secret of my intention to be with Jota on the long term, and in doing so, with Cadillac, it's even more special,” he said.
The American brand increases its participation in the WEC this season based on the new rule which requires factory teams to participate with two cars in Hypercar. Ganassi has only fielded one vehicle in 2023 and 2024: its two-car IMSA assault in 2022 was split in two at the start of the Hypercar era, with one car competing in the World Championship and another in America from the North.
In March, the team also present in IndyCar unilaterally announced that its relationship with Cadillac would end at the end of this year. Ganassi had Bamber and Lynn pair up in the WEC six-hour races, but Jota had always intended to stick with three drivers alongside Cadillac.
Team boss Sam Hignett stressed the importance of competing with the same crew as at Le Mans in all WEC events. Jota will test his V-Series.R at the Ring of the Rhine circuit, near the German border in northern France, next week.
