Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA has had a really tough start to the year in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
The British team made the switch from Porsche to Cadillac in the Hypercar category, and after showing promising pace at times, they have come short of any big results during the first two rounds.
Racing24-7.net caught up with Earl Bamber, to have a talk about his start of the year, in both the FIA WEC and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, where he is racing for Action Express Racing.
You already got plenty of miles in the Cadillac this year, being involved in both championships. It’s been promising, at times speed wise, but the results wise it’s not really.
“Yeah, unfortunately at Daytona, we had a technical issue – we had a small technical issue in Sebring as well, so that was a bit of a shame. In Long Beach, I think we excuted really well, from where we started in 7th. And obviously here, we were leading in Qatar, with some really good strategy. So I think the programme is building momentum, but at the same time, we are up against some really stern competition. Definitely in America, Porsche has made a good step forward with their evos, and stuff like that. So we playing catch up, but we are definitely not standing still in the background – everybody is working. The big one (Le Mans, Ed) is coming up soon, but I feel here preparation wise, and also with the Action Express guys, getting to that race as well, we are all building in the right direction, and I hope that we sorta time the momentum, to the right moment.”
You have been with Cadillac for three years, so you have a lot of knowledge to add to the JOTA programme too, I guess?
“Yeah, it’s been a really good working collaboration with the Action Express guys and the JOTA guys. Obviously driving both has helped, and I think they have done an incredible job with the new car. The way that everyone is working together, with just building up knowledge and information faster than we have done in the past. So I’m hoping with four cars at Le Mans, this will really be our strength this year.”
Yeah, because this a big knowledge base from the past two years, mixed up with some new setups…?
“Yes, some new ideas, different angles. Obviously, they (JOTA, having previously run Porsche, Ed.) have been running different cars, so again there is a lot of really good guys out there. I think even here this weekend, we need to execute, and that is the hard thing in these races – if you have one small mistake, the race is done, and you can’t really recover. We hope that we can just execute a really good solid race, and get some points.”
Photo: JJ Media
You also got a new teammate in IMSA, Frederik Vesti. Getting him up to speed in a Hypercar…
“Oh, it didn’t take much to get him up to speed! He is super quick, and I think we see that from his FP1 outings also with Mercedes (in Formula 1, ed.). He didn’t get a low fuel run, but he was mighty strong. He has been doing fantastic, and he is going to be doing the Lagura Seca race, while we are here at Spa. He will get his first sprint race outing in IMSA.”
And that is somewhat of a crazy track for a rookie…
“Well, he tested there already.”
But going down the Corkscrew for the first time…
“Yeah it’s a bit disorientating, lets say,” Bamber finishes off with a big smile.
Earl Bamber is sharing the Cadillac V-Series.R #38 with Jenson Button and Sebastien Bourdais in the FIA WEC.
Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA will be trying to repeat last years overall win with the Porsche 963, at this weekends 6 Hours of Spa Francorchamps, which starts on Saturday afternoon at 14.00 CET.
