The Cadillac V-LMDh race car will have its competition debut later in January at the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Ahead of the event, the brand debuts the colorful paint schemes for the three machines that will be competing around the world.
All three have a black tail with the V Series emblem on the fin that runs between the cockpit and the rear wing. In front, they are blue, gold, and red, respectively. These are the colors of the V badge.
Gallery: Cadillac V-LMDh Race Car Liveries
Specifically, the gold #01 Cadillac Racing and red #31 Whelen Engineering V-LMDh race cars will compete in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in the United States. The blue #2 Cadillac Racing machine will take part in the FIA World Endurance Championship at events around the globe.
"Cadillac is ready to compete against the very best in North America and internationally — including one of the world’s toughest races, the 24 Hours of Le Mans," said Global Vice President of Cadillac Rory Harvey.
The V-LMDh packs a 5.5-liter naturally aspirated V8 that has the internal designation LMC55R. There's also the common hybrid system that all cars in this class have to use. The setup makes 670 horsepower (500 kilowatts), which is the maximum possible under the rules. The engine routes power through a seven-speed sequential gearbox. The chassis comes from Dallara.
The cars competing against Cadillac pack forced induction rather than using a naturally aspirated engine. For example, Porsche uses a twin-turbo 4.6-liter V8. BMW has a twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8. Acura opts for a 2.4-liter twin-turbo V6 that revs to 10,000 rpm. Lamborghini will also use a twin-turbo V8.
Cadillac moves into the new LMDh class after having lots of previous success in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. It won the series in 2021, 2018, and 2017. It also tallied wins in the Rolex 24 at Daytona in 2020, 2019, 2018, and 2017
Cadillac recently announced an entry in Formula One with partner Andretti Global. This will be separate from the endurance racing program. "From our perspective, it will complement what we do in this series. We don’t see it impacting this series in any way," Harvey told our colleagues at Motorsport.
