Lynn: Breakthrough Cadillac Win “Just the Start”

Photo: Drew Gibson/Cadillac

Alex Lynn believes Cadillac’s breakthrough first FIA World Endurance Championship win is “just the start” in its new fruitful partnership with Team JOTA.

Lynn and co-drivers Will Stevens and Norman Nato delivered the American luxury automaker’s long-awaited first world championship win in Sunday’s 6 Hours of Sao Paulo, in what ended up being a dominant 1-2 finish for the British Hertz Team JOTA squad.

While having started from pole, the No. 12 Cadillac V-Series overcame an early race drive-through penalty for a tire pressure infringement to go off-sequence in strategy that resulted in Lynn only getting two fresh right-side Michelin tires when he climbed aboard the car for the middle stint.

The JOTA squad was forced to change all four tires on Stevens’ first full-service stop due to the fear of getting another tire pressure penalty according to team co-owner Sam Hignett.

“Obviously we were at a tire disadvantage and also a strategy disadvantage from having had the drive-through and having to change all four tires,” said Lynn.

“The main race was with the sister car and the No. 5 [Porsche]. At that point I knew I had to try and build a big buffer to Jenson [Button] before I handed the car over to Norman.

“That was really my main focus. I was full attack to try and build that buffer knowing we had less new tires at the end. But to be honest it didn’t seem to make much difference.”

Nato took the car to the checkered flag, finishing nearly one-minute clear of the sister No. 38 Cadillac of Sebastien Bourdais.

“I don’t think we expected to be as good as we were,” Lynn told Sportscar365. “Honestly, driving the car, it was sensational.

“Even speaking to my teammates when we got out of the car, we were both like, ‘It’s really good.’ We knew it was good in practice, but that good? Honestly no.”

For Lynn, who has been a long-standing Cadillac factory driver, the win came as a validation of nearly three years of hard work, which initially began with Chip Gansssi Racing before shifting over to JOTA for this year.

“I think for me personally, when you win a race after year number three racing this car and and year number four of driving it. I first drove it in the summer of 2022,” he said.

“To see it’s evolution from that to become a race winner in the World Endurance Championship has been a really big one, a really big transition.

“Honestly, seeing what this car has become in the hands of JOTA and what the program has become as well, I’m extremely grateful to be a part of it and honored to finally win a race in the WEC for Cadillac.

“This is just the beginning. I think the sky is the limit for this car and this partnership.”

Lynn spoke highly of the JOTA squad, which made the switch from running customer Porsche 963s to become Cadillac’s factory WEC squad this year, and scored the brand’s long-awaited first world championship win in only its fifth race with the car.

“I have to say that JOTA has made a lot of improvements,” he said. “Every time I jump into it, it’s like, ‘Bloody hell, this is good.’

“It’s just the start, but it’s surprising how many steps we can make so quickly as a team. What comes with a team like JOTA is the execution and the engineering powerhouse they are, we seem to be just getting better and better.

“Le Mans is the [next] one. The car is at it’s best at Le Mans, usually. We had a very good race, but not a Ferrari-type race this year. But honestly feeling what I feel within the cockpit, I don’t see why we can’t be trying to fight for the win next year as well.”

Hignett Expected Win in First Year With Cadillac

A beaming Hignett said the landmark victory and 1-2 finish came as a complete team effort.

“It’s fantastic,” he said. “These three guys, the three guys in the 38 car, they did an amazing job. These guys are just the tip of the iceberg.

“It’s the team here, it’s the team back at JOTA, it’s the hundreds of people across GM, Cadillac and Dallara that make this happen.

“This wasn’t a perfect race. We spent a lot of time in Free Practice session working on tire deg, which is where our real advantage was in this race, the last ten of 15 laps of a double stint.

“That’s where these guys were able to pull a big-time gap on the 5 [car].”

When asked by Sportscar365 if he expected to win in the first year of the program, Hignett said it was a “super important” target to hit.

“We certainly expected to win in the first year,” he said.

“This is 11 years and 11 wins in WEC [for JOTA], so it was super important to get that duck off our back and get that one.

“The expectations were always to win in the first year and go for the championship in years two and three.”

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