| Transcript of Earl Bamber, driver of the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R |
| DETROIT (Sept. 9, 2026) – Earl Bamber, driver of the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R, was a guest on an IMSA media teleconference to discuss the upcoming TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks on September 20 from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Bamber will drive with Jack Aitken. Transcript of select questions: Earl you are the defending winner at Indianapolis and had have a great year. What are you looking forward to at Indianapolis? “Yeah, I mean, looking forward to, I guess, getting back into the battle of it. We had an amazing run on the podium nearly for one year straight with the IMSA calendar, so it’s been an amazing job by the by the Whelen Cadillac team. Obviously, the last race didn’t really go the way we’d planned it or expected it, but we were still in the fight to win the race at one stage at the end there and then obviously to be on the podium again. So yeah, looking forward to sort of more success like we had at Indy. Indy’s typically been always pretty strong track for the 31 car as well so looking forward to that. Jack (Aitken) and myself are also coming off the back of a really good weekend with second at the World Endurance Championship race at COTA. So there’s just really good momentum in the program at the moment and obviously the 31 didn’t win but the No. 10 car got its first win with Cadillac. So yeah, just really great momentum in the program.” |
| Are you excited to head to Indianapolis as you drive a Dallara chassis? Some others drive ORECA. “Yeah, I mean, typically we’ve been quite good on the mechanical grip side, so coming to a slower track like Indy is favorable. Obviously, we were quite strong there last year, but same as the other two, putting energy in the tires making sure we’ve got good degradation, but the whole race is going to be quite different with a 2-hour 40-minute session. Typically, we also heavily rely on the sim as well, so we’ll be in there on Tuesday and Wednesday, preparing everything we need and getting ready for the race.” After Road America, there was talk from the IMSA officials to really look after aggressive driving. Does that change anything for you? “Yeah, I’d say the same for us. We’ve sort of steered clear of the powers that be, so we don’t really need to change much on our side. But yeah it’ll be interesting to see the level of aggression of the field when it all rolls out on Sunday.” Earl, to follow up with you on that, I mean, because obviously it was the 31 and the 6 at Road America that was involved in that unfortunate late-race collision. Like we’ve known since that Estre has been put on probation and then we’ve also got the driver change. Porsche announced this morning with, with (Laurin) Heinrich in the 6 obviously going for it with your co-driver, Jack Aitken. I’m just kind of curious that dynamic, if you can kind of shed light on what you kind of anticipate in that fight with them, how different that fight could be compared to if Laurens (Vanthoor) was in the car?“It will be interesting to see the level of aggression. Kevin (Estre) has been doing those sorts of moves for a long time and getting away with it, and this year’s been a year that he hasn’t really got away with it at many of the races. So it will be interesting to see his approach, and it was a shame for the 31 guys and for Jack, because he just placed himself in a spot where he deserved racing room and just got driven off the track and straight it’s good that IMSA put a foot down to it but like I said, it’s going to be interesting just to see that whole title fight. It’s going to be aggressive between Laurin and the 6 car and us, because obviously, they need to make up some points, so it’s going to be spicy for sure at some stage.” |
| Would you say it’s a more conservative approach you have planned for the race, or is it kind of just business as usual based on how you guys have been executing for most of the season? “It’s going to be business as usual. I don’t think we really need to change a good thing. We’ve been executing some really good races. We had a good look at Road America. I don’t think we have the outright fastest car like we had at Detroit or Watkins Glen. But, like I said, we still put ourselves in a position to be in the top three there at the end of the race. So that’s what we’re going to try and do again. I think what’s been really working well is the sharing that goes along between the 10 and the 40, and then also the 12 and the 38 in WEC, and just trying to bring the whole program for up to the front has been a big help for everyone all around. Can you talk about your second-place finish at COTA in WEC? “You know, we’ve been very quick, and then, you know, Le Mans was obviously heartbreaking for everyone at Cadillac. Leading Le Mans for so many hours, it was still hard to get over. But, you know, to grab a second-place and sort of fight back from the strategy disadvantage. I think we’re up to 10th in the championship, and still scoring good points, and Fuji’s also a strong one for us as well, but, you know, it definitely helps myself and Jack a lot having the double program, and just being in those cars that much, and understanding the setup directions, and what’s going on, and bringing stuff from both programs continues to push us forward.” Earl, maybe if I could get you to analyze the final element of Cadillac’s successful year, and that would be the Evo upgrade to the V Series R. Can you maybe pinpoint why the car has been more consistent or effective this year? “Yeah when we were doing the EVO we were really targeting the race ability aspect and there was definitely achieved through being able to follow in traffic, and also, typically, we were quite a lot more draggy especially in the WEC compared to the other cars. So, you know, with that, we, we’ve got what we need on the straight, a bit less drag, and we’re able to follow close in the corners, which has just allowed us more opportunity to overtake in races at the right moments, and it’s also helped us with GT traffic, and that was sort of the main component. The other upgrade we did was changing brake manufacturer to Brembo, which is closer to what we run on the road car side as well, and that’s just made the whole thing a lot more consistent and easier to manage at the races as well. So it’s not about peak performance, but probably global consistency more than anything.” |
| Transcript of Earl Bamber, driver of the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R |
| DETROIT (Sept. 9, 2026) – Earl Bamber, driver of the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R, was a guest on an IMSA media teleconference to discuss the upcoming TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks on September 20 from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Bamber will drive with Jack Aitken. Transcript of select questions: Earl you are the defending winner at Indianapolis and had have a great year. What are you looking forward to at Indianapolis? “Yeah, I mean, looking forward to, I guess, getting back into the battle of it. We had an amazing run on the podium nearly for one year straight with the IMSA calendar, so it’s been an amazing job by the by the Whelen Cadillac team. Obviously, the last race didn’t really go the way we’d planned it or expected it, but we were still in the fight to win the race at one stage at the end there and then obviously to be on the podium again. So yeah, looking forward to sort of more success like we had at Indy. Indy’s typically been always pretty strong track for the 31 car as well so looking forward to that. Jack (Aitken) and myself are also coming off the back of a really good weekend with second at the World Endurance Championship race at COTA. So there’s just really good momentum in the program at the moment and obviously the 31 didn’t win but the No. 10 car got its first win with Cadillac. So yeah, just really great momentum in the program.” |
| Are you excited to head to Indianapolis as you drive a Dallara chassis? Some others drive ORECA. “Yeah, I mean, typically we’ve been quite good on the mechanical grip side, so coming to a slower track like Indy is favorable. Obviously, we were quite strong there last year, but same as the other two, putting energy in the tires making sure we’ve got good degradation, but the whole race is going to be quite different with a 2-hour 40-minute session. Typically, we also heavily rely on the sim as well, so we’ll be in there on Tuesday and Wednesday, preparing everything we need and getting ready for the race.” After Road America, there was talk from the IMSA officials to really look after aggressive driving. Does that change anything for you? “Yeah, I’d say the same for us. We’ve sort of steered clear of the powers that be, so we don’t really need to change much on our side. But yeah it’ll be interesting to see the level of aggression of the field when it all rolls out on Sunday.” Earl, to follow up with you on that, I mean, because obviously it was the 31 and the 6 at Road America that was involved in that unfortunate late-race collision. Like we’ve known since that Estre has been put on probation and then we’ve also got the driver change. Porsche announced this morning with, with (Laurin) Heinrich in the 6 obviously going for it with your co-driver, Jack Aitken. I’m just kind of curious that dynamic, if you can kind of shed light on what you kind of anticipate in that fight with them, how different that fight could be compared to if Laurens (Vanthoor) was in the car?“It will be interesting to see the level of aggression. Kevin (Estre) has been doing those sorts of moves for a long time and getting away with it, and this year’s been a year that he hasn’t really got away with it at many of the races. So it will be interesting to see his approach, and it was a shame for the 31 guys and for Jack, because he just placed himself in a spot where he deserved racing room and just got driven off the track and straight it’s good that IMSA put a foot down to it but like I said, it’s going to be interesting just to see that whole title fight. It’s going to be aggressive between Laurin and the 6 car and us, because obviously, they need to make up some points, so it’s going to be spicy for sure at some stage.” |
| Would you say it’s a more conservative approach you have planned for the race, or is it kind of just business as usual based on how you guys have been executing for most of the season? “It’s going to be business as usual. I don’t think we really need to change a good thing. We’ve been executing some really good races. We had a good look at Road America. I don’t think we have the outright fastest car like we had at Detroit or Watkins Glen. But, like I said, we still put ourselves in a position to be in the top three there at the end of the race. So that’s what we’re going to try and do again. I think what’s been really working well is the sharing that goes along between the 10 and the 40, and then also the 12 and the 38 in WEC, and just trying to bring the whole program for up to the front has been a big help for everyone all around. Can you talk about your second-place finish at COTA in WEC? “You know, we’ve been very quick, and then, you know, Le Mans was obviously heartbreaking for everyone at Cadillac. Leading Le Mans for so many hours, it was still hard to get over. But, you know, to grab a second-place and sort of fight back from the strategy disadvantage. I think we’re up to 10th in the championship, and still scoring good points, and Fuji’s also a strong one for us as well, but, you know, it definitely helps myself and Jack a lot having the double program, and just being in those cars that much, and understanding the setup directions, and what’s going on, and bringing stuff from both programs continues to push us forward.” Earl, maybe if I could get you to analyze the final element of Cadillac’s successful year, and that would be the Evo upgrade to the V Series R. Can you maybe pinpoint why the car has been more consistent or effective this year? “Yeah when we were doing the EVO we were really targeting the race ability aspect and there was definitely achieved through being able to follow in traffic, and also, typically, we were quite a lot more draggy especially in the WEC compared to the other cars. So, you know, with that, we, we’ve got what we need on the straight, a bit less drag, and we’re able to follow close in the corners, which has just allowed us more opportunity to overtake in races at the right moments, and it’s also helped us with GT traffic, and that was sort of the main component. The other upgrade we did was changing brake manufacturer to Brembo, which is closer to what we run on the road car side as well, and that’s just made the whole thing a lot more consistent and easier to manage at the races as well. So it’s not about peak performance, but probably global consistency more than anything.” |