Jota is not expected to take part in the World Endurance Championship’s post-season test in Bahrain as it switches focus to its factory programme with Cadillac.
Team principal Dieter Gass revealed that Jota is “not very likely” to participate in the official one-day test at the Bahrain International Circuit on 3 November, which follows the final round of the season in the Gulf nation.
This means the Bahrain 8 Hours is set to be the last time the Porsche 963 will run in the colours of Jota’s title sponsor, Hertz.
The decision will allow it to pay more attention to its preparation for the 2025 WEC season, when it will replace Chip Ganassi Racing as Cadillac’s factory team in the series.
The British outfit, which wrapped up the World Cup for Hypercar teams at Fuji this month, is also in talks with the General Motors brand to privately run the car before the end of the year.
Such a test will take place at some point after the Bahrain season finale, by which time Cadillac will also have concluded its partnership with Ganassi in the IMSA SportsCar Championship.
“We are discussing that [but] it’s not finalised yet,” Gass told Autosport when asked when the team will be able to run the Caddy LMDh.
“Before the end of the season [in November], not. [Before] the end of the year, I hope so.”
Gass explained that there are a number of hurdles that Jota and Cadillac need to overcome to organise a test together this year.
“It’s more a matter of periphery [than anything else],” he said. “You should be able to have a car, but we need to have all the tools to be able to run, and spare parts and everything.
“So that needs preparation and then we can start looking into it.”
#2 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R: Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
Jota has been running the Porsche 963 LMDh on a customer basis since 2023 and scored an outright win at Spa in May this year en route to sealing the championship for privateer Hypercar teams with a round to spare.
The news about Jota becoming Cadillac’s new factory team for WEC was made official in August, when it was also announced that the team would enter two examples of the V-Series.R in 2025.
Gass added that there will be no contractual issues with Porsche regarding testing as Jota prepares to begin a new chapter in its illustrious history with General Motors.
“What we need to look at is the sporting regulations and what you are allowed to test and things like that,” he said. “With Porsche, I don’t foresee any problems.”
Sharing engineers
Cadillac has a strong presence in IMSA, where both Ganassi and Action Express Racing run one example each of the V-Series.R in the GTP class.
The North American championship will stage its final round of the season, Petit Le Mans, at Road Atlanta on October 12, three weeks before WEC’s own title decider in Bahrain.
Asked if there is a plan to send Jota engineers to an IMSA race to get an early understanding of how the V-Series.R works, Gass said: “Very possible that something like this is happening. [With] tests [yes], we need to see [if it is possible in] races [as well].
#2 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R: Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
“Again it all needs to be confirmed but I think there is going to be an exchange of personnel as well [and] potentially American engineers [will] join us.
“For us with the personnel restrictions maybe it’s not as easy as going to IMSA [as IMSA engineers going to WEC, so that we don’t get into troubles with the regulations there.
“But for testing and things like that, that’s likely to happen.”
In IMSA, Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti will leave the Acura stable in 2025 to replace Ganassi as one of Cadillac’s factory teams.
The outfit, which has a long history with the American brand, will field two entries in GTP next year, while AXR will continue to run a single car.