Bamber: Podium Finish “Always on the Cards” for Cadillac

Photo: Richard Prince/Cadillac

Earl Bamber believes a podium finish is “always on the cards” for Chip Ganassi Racing as the factory Cadillac Racing squad continues to make operational gains in its first season of the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Bamber and co-drivers Alex Lynn and Richard Westbrook enter this weekend’s penultimate round of the season at Fuji Speedway sitting fifth in the world drivers’ championship and looking to close out the season with a return to the podium following its third place result at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

“I think if we have a good, clean race, we can achieve a podium. It’s always on the cards for us,” Bamber told Sportscar365.

“We managed to do it in Le Mans. We didn’t do it in Monza but we made a big step operationally.

“If you have a look in the garage, the way the guys are working, the crew, everything like that, we’re making gains week by week.

“Obviously Monza was really disappointing for us because we operated better than Le Mans where we got a podium but we didn’t show it in the results.

“But that’s how tough it is here. If you just have one bad stop or something slightly go wrong, then you’re down the field.

“It’s so competitive that you can’t just drive back to the front.”

Bamber believes adapting to new tracks throughout the season has come as a benefit to the Stephen Mitas-led crew, which was assembled at the beginning of the year, effectively as a brand-new team.

“I think it’s actually easier for us because it’s what we’ve been doing all year,” he said.

“We never tested at Portimao, Spa or Monza and stuff like that so for us, this weekend, doing Session 1 and working it all out, coming to today, it’s probably more of a normal weekend for us compared to some of the others that it’s their first time here.

“I think we’re getting into the game and the window and feel quite confident for this afternoon. I think we should be in that same window, ahead of the Porsches but between the Toyotas and Ferraris, I would judge at the moment.”

He added: “I’d be disappointed if we were outside of the top-five and a podium is always on the cards. You need something else to happen to one of the front four, and then if we do our perfect race, we should be in the mix.”

While all the other factory Hypercar outfits operate as two-car teams, Bamber said Cadillac’s single-team approach for its first WEC campaign has paid off at moments.

The No. 2 Cadillac was joined by the manufacturer’s two IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship entries at Le Mans, with the sister CGR entry also taking on the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, which marked the only two races run as a multi-car operation.

“It was good at Le Mans but it was a lot at Le Mans,” Bamber said. “With three cars, it was a lot for everyone. It definitely had its benefits but I think what we’re doing right now, first year in WEC, it’s a little bit like what Corvette did (in 2022).

“I think with where we are in the project, it’s probably the right size. We’re still learning and we’re still growing.

“Sure it’s always a benefit to have two cars and do two different things but there’s also disadvantages of that so I think for the moment it’s working quite nicely for us.

“We can just hone in and focus. We know what we need to have the car in its window to be operating well, so we just need to tune it into that.

“We managed to do one of our first tests of the year with our WEC crew at COTA. We’ve still got more and more gains. But everyone else is also closing in so.

“The competition is getting much closer. I think it bodes well for 2024, with how close this championship is and then you’ve got Lamborghini, BMW and Alpine joining. It’s shaping up pretty cool.

“It’s high level stuff.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John