No evo joker upgrade for Cadillac in 2027 WEC and IMSA campaigns

Cadillac will not use further evo jokers to upgrade its LMDh prototype for the 2027 World Endurance Championship and IMSA SportsCar Championship, according to its factory partner Jota Sport.

Since its debut in 2023, the Cadillac V-Series.R has undergone two major revisions. The first, introduced at the beginning of 2025, focused on improving the electronics, while a more extensive overhaul followed this year to refine the aerodynamics and switch to Brembo braking systems. 

The General Motors brand is understood to have deployed three evo jokers so far, leaving it with two of the original five allocated for the car’s initial five-year lifecycle.

There is little incentive for manufacturers to save their remaining evo jokers, given that they will be granted two additional tokens for the 2028 and 2029 seasons under the regulations.

But Jota team principal Sam Hignett revealed that Cadillac has decided against using further evo jokers, with the 2026 revision already representing a sizeable step forward.

Asked whether he expects Cadillac to introduce more upgrades in 2027, Hignett told Motorsport.com: “No, we’ve used all of our major jokers [but we still have some remaining]. We did our evo joker going into this year.”

However, Hignett clarified that the V8-powered challenger would not remain completely unchanged, with Cadillac planning smaller refinements outside the evo framework.

“There’s always little bits and pieces in the name of safety and reliability but nothing major,” he said.

“There’s always scope to do things and we’re still learning about the evo from this year and optimising that, so there’s still performance to be gained over the winter.”

#31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R: Jack Aitken, Earl Bamber, Frederik Vesti

Photo by: Jake Galstad / Lumen via Getty Images

Cadillac has enjoyed a strong year with its LMDh in 2026, particularly in the IMSA SportsCar Championship. It clinched the GTP manufacturers’ title for the first time since the introduction of the ruleset in 2023, while Jack Aitken secured the drivers’ title while driving for the factory-supported Action Express Racing team.

Cadillac has also achieved solid results in the WEC so far, with Jota scoring one pole position and two podiums across the opening six rounds.

However, the competition in Hypercar is expected to intensify next year, with Ford and McLaren joining the category and Ferrari and Peugeot lining up major upgrades.

Asked whether it was a concern to see rival teams significantly overhauling their cars while Cadillac planned to carry over most of its existing package, Hignett said: “Not really, because the way everything works, I don’t think there’s much to be concerned about there. 

“I think Peugeot has a big update as well but we’re not too concerned about them. It’s important we just focus on what we’re doing and continue to move forward.”