Bourdais Rejoins Cadillac for Bahrain Season Finale

Sebastien Bourdais will rejoin Cadillac Racing for next month’s FIA World Endurance Championship season finale in Bahrain.

The French driver, who raced for the Chip Ganassi-run Cadillac squad in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship full-time this year, will partner Alex Lynn and Earl Bamber aboard the No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R for the eight-hour finale on Nov. 2.

Bourdais reprises the role he played in the Qatar 1812km season opener, where the No. 2 Cadillac was disqualified for a technical infringement having finished fourth on the road.

Sportscar365 understands that Renger van der Zande was originally set to join Lynn and Bamber in Bahrain, but this was ultimately scuppered by the Dutchman leaving Cadillac in favor of the Meyer Shank Racing Acura team in IMSA.

“It’s good to get back in the car with Alex and Earl,” said Bourdais. “We started off the season really well and while we ultimately didn’t get the result because of circumstances, the car was very competitive in the race and we certainly deserved a good finish.

“Unfortunately, it’s been a bit of a tough season in terms of results – there has always been something getting in the way – but performance-wise, it seems like the car is in a really good window.

“It’s pretty light, good on power and competitive, so there is definitely something to play for and if we could send it off on a high, that would be pretty cool.”

The entry list for the Bahrain season-closer features 36 cars split evenly across the Hypercar and LMGT3 classes, with a number of other notable driver changes compared to the previous round at Fuji.

Alpine has reshuffled its lineups in the wake of Nicolas Lapierre’s decision to retire from active competition in the immediate aftermath of the Fuji race, with Charles Milesi joining the No. 36 A424 crew alongside Mick Schumacher and Matthieu Vaxiviere.

The team’s reserve driver Jules Gounon, who was confirmed to be participating in Bahrain upon the news of Lapierre’s retirement, will join the returning Paul-Loup Chatin and Ferdinand Habsburg in the sister No. 35 Alpine.

In the LMGT3 class, there are changes to the roster for the No. 88 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3 as Giorgio Roda returns as the designated Bronze-rated driver for the first time since the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in place of team boss Christian Ried.

Roda is joined by his fellow Italian racer Giammarco Levorato, who replaces Mikkel Pedersen for the season finale.

Elsewhere, Franck Perera will not participate in Bahrain aboard the No. 60 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2, with Matteo Cairoli taking his place alongside Claudio Schiavoni and Matteo Cressoni.

Additionally, Akkodis ASP welcomes Conrad Laursen in the No. 78 Lexus RC F GT3 in place of Clemens Schmid, as announced last week.