Chip Ganassi Racing will return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans and with two NTT IndyCar Series champions as Alex Palou will join Scott Dixon for his debut in the endurance race classic.
After finishing third and fourth with its Cadillac Racing V-Series.R hybrids last year at Le Mans, the team announced Monday that its No. 2 and No. 3 entries have been invited to return in the premier hybrid prototype category.
The No. 2 will be driven by Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn and Palou, the two-time IndyCar champion who turned the second-quickest lap in last month’s Rolex 24. The No. 3 lineup will feature Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande and Dixon, the six-time IndyCar champion who will be making his sixth Le Mans start but only his second in the premier prototype category.
24 HOURS OF LE MANS ENTRY LIST: Click here to see the field for the 2024 event
A relative newcomer to sports cars, Palou turned the fastest lap of the 2022 Rolex 24 at Daytona in his endurance racing debut.
“Going to Le Mans is an amazing opportunity and a big challenge as well,” the Spaniard said. “It’s only a couple of hours from my home and obviously it is one of the biggest races alongside the Indianapolis 500 and Daytona where you want to participate but also win. We have a chance to win it overall and that is our biggest goal. I’m excited to be back in the Cadillac and join Earl Bamber and Alex Lynn. They had success there last year and the cars were quite fast, so with our recent pace at Daytona, I can’t wait to go there and win.”
Said Dixon: “I love this race; it’s one of the biggest and the toughest in the world. We all know it is definitely a privilege to even be invited, so I’m excited to go back with Sebastien, Renger, Cadillac and everybody involved. I feel like the team did a tremendous job last year. We had some issues here and there but to go third and fourth was pretty spectacular. Hopefully, we can have a closer fight this year but it’s one I love to do. I’m very fortunate to be able to do this with the team and to be a part of it.”
Ganassi’s six drivers have combined for 40 starts at Le Mans.
Bourdais, who won four titles in Champ Car, is a Le Mans native who will be making his 17th start in the hometown event and seeking his first win in the prestigious race.
“I’m quite excited to be able to announce that we’ll be back at Le Mans in the No. 3 Cadillac,” he said. “Obviously, it’s a huge challenge but we’ve had some very promising findings and learnings from last year. I think we definitely have a very competitive car with our Cadillac V-Series.R to be able to contend. Hopefully, we can give it a shot to get that win that is missing on my resume. It’s obviously one that means a ton to me and I’m looking forward to going back there to give it another go.”
Cadillac Racing announced that the Action Express Racing V-Series.R, which won last year’s Grand Touring Prototype championship in IMSA, also will return to Le Mans. Pipo Derani and Jack Aitken will be joined by a third driver to be named. Tom Blomqvist finished second with Derani and Aitken in the Rolex 24 at Daytona season opener.
