2023 Sebring overall winners. Earl Bamber and Jack Aitken return alongside Formula 2 frontrunner Frederik Vesti.
The #31 Cadillac won the 2023 12 Hours of Sebring overall — with Jack Aitken, Pipo Derani, and Alexander Sims taking the outright victory. Jack Aitken returns in 2026 alongside a new lineup including multiple Le Mans winner Earl Bamber and Formula 2 star Frederik Vesti. This car has history at this track.
One Cadillac V-Series.R LMDh competing in GTP class
Whelen Engineering Company is an American manufacturer of emergency warning products — the flashing lights and sirens you see and hear on police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances. Whelen has been a committed IMSA sponsor for many years, and their backing of this Cadillac GTP entry is one of the sport's most distinctive long-term partnerships.
The #31 livery typically carries Whelen's branding alongside Cadillac's factory program colors. The team operates with full Cadillac factory support — engineers, technical data, and resources from General Motors — making it a genuine front-runner in GTP despite being a single-car entry compared to some rival two-car factories.
The Cadillac V-Series.R represents GM's flagship motorsport effort. The car uses a twin-turbocharged LMDh V8 engine combined with the standardized Multimatic hybrid unit, producing the required 500+ horsepower. Cadillac has invested heavily in the GTP program — fielding cars through multiple teams including Wayne Taylor Racing — as part of their broader brand elevation strategy.
The V-Series designation connects the race car to Cadillac's V-Series performance road cars — the CT5-V Blackwing, the Escalade-V — creating a performance halo around the Cadillac brand in the United States market.
Frederik Vesti is a Danish racing driver who has been competing at the top level of Formula 2, the feeder series that leads directly to Formula 1. Many F2 frontrunners are regarded as potential F1 stars — and Vesti fits that profile. His addition to the #31 Cadillac for Sebring marks a significant crossover: bringing pure open-wheel car speed and precision into an endurance prototype context.
For Vesti, the 12 Hours of Sebring represents a chance to broaden his profile beyond the single-seater world and demonstrate adaptability — a quality that teams at all levels of motorsport prize.
Jack Aitken is a British-Korean driver who competed in Formula 2 and made a single Formula 1 start as a last-minute substitute for Williams at the 2020 Sakhir GP. That remarkable call-up story — a driver taking over from a confirmed COVID-positive teammate — earned him international headlines. He has since built a strong IMSA career, including winning this same race in 2023.
Earl Bamber from New Zealand is one of the most successful endurance drivers of his generation. He has won the Le Mans 24 Hours multiple times, including in both the GTE Pro and LMP2 categories, and won the Sebring 12H overall in 2022. His experience in high-pressure long-distance racing is invaluable — Bamber is exactly the kind of steady, strategic driver you want in a car for 12 hours.