Cadillac on pole at Fuji: "I love this kind of scenario" — Lynn
- Ghazlan Atqiya Firmansyah
- 6 hours ago
- 4 min read
Cadillac continues its fine form of qualifying and will start tomorrow's 6 Hours of Fuji race with a front-row lockout. At the hands of Alex Lynn, Cadillac snatched its third pole position of the year and received a special prize.
Back-to-back Fuji pole for Cadillac
For Cadillac, this was their second Fuji pole position, having achieved this feat in 2024. During qualifying, both Lynn and No.38's Earl Bamber were the drivers tasked to get the V-Series.R to the front row.
Lynn took third in the first qualifying session, finishing behind the No.009 Aston Martin and the No.93 Peugeot in second. Bamber set a decent lap for ninth place, behind the No.83 Ferrari. In the process, Cadillac became the only manufacturer with both of its cars advancing to Hyperpole.
But it was in the Hyperpole that both drivers truly brought their A-game. After a fiery exchange of provisional pole, Lynn set the standard with 1:28.236, edging out the other cars. Bamber gave his all and took the No.38 car to second, securing Cadillac's third 1–2 of the year.
During the ceremony, Lynn received a commemorative helmet with the names of every pole winner through the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC)'s 100 races, which dated back to the 2012 12 Hours of Sebring. The feat was even more impressive considering both Cadillac cars have successfully advanced to Hyperpole six out of seven times this year.
Lynn loves this kind of scenario
Lynn was elated when he learned that his No.12 side would start the race on pole once more. The Briton said that everything was amazing with the car and the team. The pole-sitter eyes a victory in tomorrow's race to make up for last year.
"Third pole in four races.
"Honestly, it was a great feeling. The car was amazing, the team is amazing, and we did the job. I love this kind of scenario, the qualifying. The car is just amazing right now. Let’s go win tomorrow."
The 32-year-old explained that maximising the tyres was the key to setting the best lap times. As such, the team worked hard on the outlap and the preparation lap to ensure the car was in the right window.
"Tyres are the key.
"We’ve been working hard all weekend on our outlap and our prep lap, and make sure the car is in the right window to deliver the outcome we wanted.
"The competition has been very, very strong, so with that being said, we had to work very hard to give ourselves the chance to be here."
He was surprised to know that he was almost half a second clear of the other Hypercars because yesterday he did not have a good feeling in his car. The team reverted some of the car's settings to follow their successful São Paulo race.
"Yes, [I am surprised] because yesterday I didn’t have a good feeling with the car.
"I thought a couple of other brands looked very fast, and I think we had to revert a little bit to a car that we knew for qualifying.
"I think we’ve made really big steps to the car in the race, but we went back to sort of our São Paulo-type car for qualifying. This morning in FP3, I had a much better feeling and confidence."
Lynn said the team was in a positive mood with another excellent qualifying result. He said the No.12 and the No.38 cars were always eager to improve and that the competition pushed them forward.
"I think you also push each other a lot.
"You know the driver on the other side of the garage is going to deliver a lap. You, of course, don’t want to be the second car. It’s just human nature that you want to improve.
"So, I think we’ve been seeing a little bit of that when it comes to the No.12 and the No.38 car. This is a nice, natural competition to improve, and I think that keeps pushing all of us forward."
Bamber confident Cadillac will be "good again"
Bamber was happy with the front row lockout for Cadillac and praised Lynn, knowing full well of his abilities, having shared the same seat last year in the blue No.2 V-Series.R.
"Really good for the team, another front row lockout.
"Mega lap for Alex. Outside of the garage, we keep building and building. We managed to get quite close to the front in Austin from starting from the back, so here I think we can manage to race."
The New Zealander was optimistic that the V-Series.R would perform well in Fuji once more. When asked what the key is for the race tomorrow, the 35-year-old mentioned that staying in clear air and managing tyre degradation would be crucial.
"The Caddy was good last year, and I think we’ll be good again. Hopefully, we can get solid points for the manufacturer championship.
"[When it comes to the keys to race] I think staying in clean air and managing the tyre deg as well will be really critical. We have good knowledge, do a few tweaks tonight and see what [we've] got."
