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Cadillac finishes second at Laguna Seca; Action Express scores sixth straight podium finish

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Media Resources: Images | Media Advances | Cadillac Newsroom
MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA (May 3, 2026) – Cadillac Racing came so close to a victory in the Monterey Sportscar Championship at Laguna Seca Raceway, but Earl Bamber and the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R were passed on the final lap by Laurin Heinrich and the No. 5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Porsche 963 and finished .758 of second behind them.  The pass was made in Turn 5 of the 11-turn, 2.238-mile historic road course as both cars were on the best strategy after the final pit stop.  Bamber’s teammate, Jack Aitken, started second and took the lead on lap 20 from the pole-winning car driven by Louis Delétraz, driver of the No. 40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R. He held the top spot for the next 25 laps when pit strategy took place.  Tom Bloomquist, driver of the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing car held the lead from lap 90-107, but was forced to pit for fuel and that gave the lead to Bamber who held the lead until the final lap.  Despite the tough loss on the last lap, it was the sixth straight podium for the No. 31 Cadillac V-Series.R. They had two wins coming last fall at Indianapolis and Road Atlanta then the team finished second in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, third in March at Sebring, second two weeks ago at Long Beach and then second today. 
Cadillac Racing has recorded 11 podium finishes at Laguna Seca, including victory in 2023, since joining IMSA prototype competition in 2017. They also have 108 podiums (24 GTP, 84 DPi) since joining IMSA prototype competition in 2017. Deletraz and Jordan Taylor, drivers of the No. 40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R, finished 10th, while Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor, driver of the No. 10 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R, finished 33rdoverall after an incident with the No. 66 GTD car early in the race. The team repaired the rear of the car and Albuquerque went back out for a few minutes and then the team determined the car could not continue.  The next IMSA GTP event is the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear on May 30. The 100-minute race starts at 4 pm EDT and will be broadcast on NBC and streamed on Peacock. IMSA Radio will stream live audio coverage on XM 206, Channel 996 on the SiriusXM app and IMSA.com.
What they’re saying:
No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R Jack Aitken: “Day overall was another really good day. I mean, we’ve got yet another podium to add to the streak, so that’s six in a row now is really something that’s quite amazing in IMSA racing, where it’s so competitive. I mean, again, you know, about that we’re all gutted to finish second just shows the level that we’re on right now. And it is a shame that we couldn’t get that first one of the year, but it just, you know, the momentum we’re building is really, really cool. I mean, it’s coming real soon.” Earl Bamber: “No, I mean, it was a really good dog fight. You know, we had a great car all day. Our guys did an amazing strategy. But we just didn’t have enough rear tires at the end of the race. And, you know, the Porsche, Laurin (Heinrich) came at a huge rate of knots through the field. So yeah, that was, you know, none of us could really pass and he could just manage to cut through and once he finally got me, I saw how much grip he had. 
So, yeah, I think if you’re not going to finish first, you finish second, but it’s obviously better to, you know, not get passed on the last lap, but it was a great fight and, you know, it was nearly done, but, you know, that’s what it is.”
Cadillac finishes second at Laguna Seca; Action Express scores sixth straight podium finish
Media Resources: Images | Media Advances | Cadillac Newsroom
MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA (May 3, 2026) – Cadillac Racing came so close to a victory in the Monterey Sportscar Championship at Laguna Seca Raceway, but Earl Bamber and the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R were passed on the final lap by Laurin Heinrich and the No. 5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Porsche 963 and finished .758 of second behind them.  The pass was made in Turn 5 of the 11-turn, 2.238-mile historic road course as both cars were on the best strategy after the final pit stop.  Bamber’s teammate, Jack Aitken, started second and took the lead on lap 20 from the pole-winning car driven by Louis Delétraz, driver of the No. 40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R. He held the top spot for the next 25 laps when pit strategy took place.  Tom Bloomquist, driver of the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing car held the lead from lap 90-107, but was forced to pit for fuel and that gave the lead to Bamber who held the lead until the final lap.  Despite the tough loss on the last lap, it was the sixth straight podium for the No. 31 Cadillac V-Series.R. They had two wins coming last fall at Indianapolis and Road Atlanta then the team finished second in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, third in March at Sebring, second two weeks ago at Long Beach and then second today. 
Cadillac Racing has recorded 11 podium finishes at Laguna Seca, including victory in 2023, since joining IMSA prototype competition in 2017. They also have 108 podiums (24 GTP, 84 DPi) since joining IMSA prototype competition in 2017. Deletraz and Jordan Taylor, drivers of the No. 40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R, finished 10th, while Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor, driver of the No. 10 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R, finished 33rdoverall after an incident with the No. 66 GTD car early in the race. The team repaired the rear of the car and Albuquerque went back out for a few minutes and then the team determined the car could not continue.  The next IMSA GTP event is the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear on May 30. The 100-minute race starts at 4 pm EDT and will be broadcast on NBC and streamed on Peacock. IMSA Radio will stream live audio coverage on XM 206, Channel 996 on the SiriusXM app and IMSA.com.
What they’re saying:
No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R Jack Aitken: “Day overall was another really good day. I mean, we’ve got yet another podium to add to the streak, so that’s six in a row now is really something that’s quite amazing in IMSA racing, where it’s so competitive. I mean, again, you know, about that we’re all gutted to finish second just shows the level that we’re on right now. And it is a shame that we couldn’t get that first one of the year, but it just, you know, the momentum we’re building is really, really cool. I mean, it’s coming real soon.” Earl Bamber: “No, I mean, it was a really good dog fight. You know, we had a great car all day. Our guys did an amazing strategy. But we just didn’t have enough rear tires at the end of the race. And, you know, the Porsche, Laurin (Heinrich) came at a huge rate of knots through the field. So yeah, that was, you know, none of us could really pass and he could just manage to cut through and once he finally got me, I saw how much grip he had. 
So, yeah, I think if you’re not going to finish first, you finish second, but it’s obviously better to, you know, not get passed on the last lap, but it was a great fight and, you know, it was nearly done, but, you know, that’s what it is.”
No. 40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R Louis Deletraz: “Thank you to Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing. We were at a very strong pace this weekend, throughout both practices and then taking the pole. The race was extremely disappointing finishing 10th. It’s definitely not what we came for. I think we have a lot to look at and work for the next time to be better. We want to be better.” Jordan Taylor: “Quite a frustrating day. We just were on the back foot all day after that first pit stop. The one positive we can take away from this weekend is that we had a fast car. We will focus on Detroit.”No. 10 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R Filipe Albuquerque: “Well, I think when one thing goes wrong, the rest is easy to go wrong as well. We started on a back foot, not good feeling with the car balance. We tried to fight back. We still did well in practice, but already bending and then qualifying was hard. The race starts, was not that bad, but that the two cars in front of me crashed, took me to the gravel. We kept going, and then just passing a GT, he crashed into me when I was completely side by side. The contact, wheel to wheel, was just enough to bend my rear triangle, bent the car and caused a rear puncture. So, nothing goes right this weekend. We just need to forget to eliminate this weekend and move on to Detroit” Ricky Taylor: “A really hard weekend from the start. It’s been a hard year. I feel like we’ve shown pace at times, but this weekend was just hard from the very beginning. 
So I think, you know, we’ll forget it quickly. This one will be one we’ll forget. And Detroit, we have a little unfinished business from last year. 
We were fast, and we’ve had good results there. We had two podiums in a row. It’s the home race for Cadillac, and, I think that’ll be a great way to rebound for the season.”

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