Action Express Racing “would welcome” chance to race new Cadillac at Le Mans
Action Express Racing’s team director Gary Nelson has said he’d welcome the chance to race the Cadillac LMDh prototype at the Le Mans 24 Hours.
It was announced today that Action Express Racing (AXR) and Chip Ganassi Racing, currently running Cadillac DPi-V.Rs, will both campaign the next-gen Cadillacs in the IMSA SportsCar Championship in 2023.
The Denver-based team has a successful history with General Motors, winning three straight IMSA championships as well as a Daytona 24 Hours and Sebring 12 Hours with the Corvette DP. Since the Cadillac DPi-V.R was introduced for 2017, AXR have added another Daytona 24 Hours victory, another Sebring 12hr win and another championship.
AXR – and Ganassi – will continue to run the DPi-V.R in 2022 before switching to Cadillac’s as-yet unnamed replacement for the start of the 2023 season.
“We are excited to continue our relationship with Cadillac and to run one of its all-new LMDh cars starting in 2023,” said Nelson. “The new LMDh platform is drawing a lot of interest from manufacturers around the world.
“The grid at the Rolex 24 in 2023 is going to be quite a sight with a lot of new machinery vying for the overall win.
“We have had a lot of success with the brand since 2017 and we look forward to many more wins and championships in the future.”
#31 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi: Felipe Nasr, Pipo Derani, #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-05 Acura DPi: Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque, #55 Mazda Motorsports Mazda DPi: Oliver Jarvis, Harry Tincknell, #01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac DPi: Renger van der Zande, Kevin Magnussen
Photo by: IMSA
With Prototype rule sets for IMSA and the World Endurance Championship converging in 2023, the prospects of Cadillac returning to Le Mans have grown, and Nelson admitted he’d love to be part of the famous marque’s next attempt at France’s round-the-clock classic.
“I just returned from Le Mans.” Nelson said. “I sensed the same passion among the competitors in Le Mans that I feel each time we compete in the biggest events here in the USA.
“If the opportunity presents itself, it would be a new challenge for our team. We would welcome the opportunity to field a car in that race.”
AXR’s #31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac has notched up two wins, four podiums and three poles this season, while its drivers Pipo Derani and Felipe Nasr are second in the drivers’ championship.
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