WEC – ITW Earl Bamber (Cadillac Racing) : "We’ve got the true test at Spa"

Fourth at the 1000 miles of Sebring and then at the 6 Hours of Portimão, Cadillac Racing has made a convincing debut in the World Endurance Championship. And even if the podium is still out of reach for the American team, Earl is very optimistic about what's next.

"Really looking forward to Spa," he said. "It’s one of my favorite tracks in Europe and I’ve spent a lot of time there. I think we’re making strides as a team. We’re learning the WEC and I think we’ll continue to improve. Two cars will be a challenge for Chip Ganassi Racing, but it’s all in preparation to bring three for Le Mans. Obviously for us, being year one, it’s all about Le Mans mainly because it’s our first season. We’ve got the true test at Spa. They say Spa is the closest representation with the downforce level ahead of Le Mans."

Ten days ago, in Portugal, the winner of the 2015 and 2017 Le Mans 24 Hours spoke to Endurance-Info.

How would you rate Cadillac Racing's start to the WEC season?

To be honest, I think our pace (In Sebring. Ndlr) was quite normal compared to what we saw. We were a bit slower than the Toyotas, and we saw that again in Portimao. And Ferrari made quite a big step. But I feel we were sort of like the fifth best car and we finished fourth. We had sort of the potential to be third without the penalty in Sebring.

You missed the podium at Sebring by just ten seconds...

Exactly. A podium would have been like a win for us. I think we've still got some stuff that we need to work on. Full Course Yellow speed is a big topic for us which we're working through and that's part of joining the WEC. Cadillac has been doing the American stuff for years, so it's a learning process. But the team operation is doing a great job. The car is also good. We're pushing forward, we'll learn, we'll make mistakes. Now we've got Spa and then, obviously, the big one. This is the main target for our first WEC season.

Where do you really think you need to improve ?

Probably the Full Course Yellow speed. We lost quite a lot of time in that. And that's just of how much can you push the limit. I think we're a bit conservative with our first race. Then yeah it's just the basic things : pit stops, us drivers as well coming back to the WEC. And we need to learn about the the double stinting and stuff like that. I think our car has a very good strength for the double stint.

Were you happy with the tire degradation, even regarding Toyota ?

Toyota is a bit in its own world right now. But compared to the others, we saw we could fight with Ferrari and Porsche so we are pretty happy. We’ve made a good step forward and I think we’ve made a step closer toward the Toyotas. On pure pace and longevity.

Is it the same running team than the one you had last year ?

No it is a completely new one. That's why we also need to learn to work together. We've still got lots of low-hanging fruit that we can keep improving.

Isn't it difficult with one car when your opponents all have two?

It's been quite tough (Portimao), but we've definitely utilized a lot the the simulator of Dallara that's helped us to prepare for this weekend. But obviously it is a lot easier when you've got two cars to test both compounds and stuff like that. You can get through a lot more stuff quicker. But it is what we've got and we're managing to do quite a good job I think considering of a single car.

Do you think that the collaboration Cadillac – Ganassi is an asset for you ?

At the end of the day, you're supposed to only have 22 people in the team. I think the crew limit's good. But the strength of what Cadillac's done is they've put together a really good racing team. Everyone from GM is also on the same mindset to to win these races and are pushing. With a smaller organization it's a lot easier to be more flexible.

Will you also share the informations with the Action Express Car in Le Mans ?

We're all put together and it's and it's like one team. I mean at the end of the day we're there to win for Cadillac, or to get on the podium for Cadillac. And it doesn't matter which one, and we're all going to have to help each other to do it.

Do you think the 24 Hours of Le Mans circuit is suitable for your car?

I've got no idea honestly.

Have you already started preparing for Le Mans on the simulator?

Not really. I mean I did stuff one year ago but not recently.

Did Cadillac give you the choice between IMSA and WEC?

No. They just chose me to come over here, so it sort of worked out how we were the teammates and stuff like that. But I'm really enjoying to be back in this paddock. I think it's great to see the progression of the WEC with so many big teams. It's really stepped up even since 2017 so it's really great to see. We're about to see like a real golden era of motorsport into sports car racing with so many Hhypercars... I think we're going to see 20 cars next year ...When we saw 17 GTE Pro cars at Le Mans a few years ago, we thought : ''This is amazing''. And now we're going to have that at a factory level for the overall victory, so it's going to be something really special.