Bourdais crushed by Cadillac DNF

A power steering failure ended Bourdais's hopes of winning the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans

Few will have left the 24 Hours of Le Mans as disappointed as Cadillac.

After taking top honours in Hyperpole 2 by just 0.005 seconds thanks to an inspired lap from Jack Aitken, the No.38 car was found to have exceeded track limits and relegated to 1oth.

Respite came in the form of the No.12 car, which inherited P2, jumped the pole-sitting BMW off the start, and led at the four hour mark of the race.

Keen to capitalise on the V-Series.R’s obvious pace (both cars’ times were consistently in the upper third of Hypercar runners), the No.38 car made good progress through the field. Aided in part by the drop in temperature, the No.38 car was able to join the sister No.12 entrant in the top three by hour 10, and the pair mounted a memorable two-pronged attack on the leading No.8 Toyota.

However, the No.38 car pulled into the pits just after half distance with a suspected power steering issue. A sad end to what looked like a plausible bid for victory.

Afterwards, Sébastien Bourdais did little to hide his disappointment and described the DNF as a “dagger in the heart”. He lauded his team’s efforts, stating that they “in general executed exactly the way we had to” but voiced his frustration at watching their efforts curtailed by what he described as “maybe a $2” component.

At 47, Bourdais is acutely aware of his age. The Cadillac driver admitted to having ruled out an overall victory in 2020 and stated that, having made 19 appearances at Le Mans, he’s “not going to get many of those opportunities” going forward.

When asked about a possible return in 2027, Bourdais simply said, “I don’t know. Let’s finish this year”.

For much of the final morning, the No.12 Cadillac seemed to be in contention for the overall win as its pace persisted, despite the rising track temperatures.

However, there was little the team could do to contend with Toyota’s inspired strategy call and the No.20 BMW’s metronomic consistency. Will Stevens, Louis Delétraz and Norman Nato fought hard but were ultimately relegated to fourth.

Cadillac may have missed out on victory at Le Mans. But if the V Series.R’s one lap and race pace is anything to go by, Cadillac Hertz Team Jota will be one to watch for the remainder of the season.