Alex Lynn

 ( Official Website ) 

In January 2023, Lynn made his first appearance in the IMSA GTP category as the new class, and new LMDh cars, debuted at the 2023 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, alongside his to-be WEC teammates in the #02 Cadillac V-Series.R entered by Chip Ganassi Racing. Lynn qualified the car 5th at the Roar Before The 24, with the team going on to finish 4th in the race. Lynn completed over 8h 50m of driver time, the third most of any driver.

March saw Lynn's first appearance in the WEC's Hypercar class at the 1000 Miles of Sebring. The British driver was once again on qualifying duties for the #2 Cadillac, claiming 5th on the grid as the fastest of the new LMDh runners – only behind the factory Toyota and Ferrari entries. The race saw a similar result, with Lynn and the #2 crew locked in a race-long fight with the #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963, eventually the Cadillac team finished fourth overall, narrowly missing out on an overall podium by 10 seconds to the recovering #50 Ferrari AF Corse 499P.

The second round of the season, the 6 Hours of Portimao, saw the Cadillac team score a second consecutive top five finish despite struggling to have the overall pace of the other manufacturers. Qualifying in 8th on the grid in the hands of Westbrook, the #2 eventually finished 4th despite having to make an off-sequence pitstop early in the race. The drivers were notably better on tyres than their competitors, allowing them to gradually make their way up the field across the six hour race.

At the final race before Le Mans, the 6 Hours of Spa, the #2 Cadillac scored a third top five finish in Hypercar, surviving typically tricky conditions at the Belgian circuit. Bamber qualified the car in fourth, but spent the first part of the race fighting up the order after starting on wet tyres. Lynn took the wheel over two hours into the race, and be involved in a thrilling four-car fight for the final podium spot with both Ferraris and the #5 Porsche Penske Motorsport car. Lynn moved up to third place in the pitstop cycle before handing the car over to Westbrook with just over an hour to go.

Lynn scored his first overall podium at the 24 hours of Le Mans where the #2 Cadillac finished third – driving alongside WEC teammates Bamber and Westbrook. Lynn stated "I'm super happy taking Cadillac back to Le Mans and finishing on the podium."

To pay homage to Derek Bell, one of the most successful British sportscar drivers in history, Lynn wore a tribute helmet at Le Mans; carrying Bell's white, red and blue design.

Teammate Bamber took the car through to Hyperpole, qualifying sixth and the highest of the three Cadillacs entered in the Hypercar class. The #2 avoided drama in the opening two hours in mixed conditions, even leading the race overall, before Lynn took over and heavy, random rain showers scrambled the field. However, Lynn kept the car on track, and consistently on-pace with the front of the pack, keeping the car inside the top five into the night. Westbrook's stint saw some of the worst weather, but the British driver escaped unscathed from a spin at Mulsanne. Throughout the night the trio exchanged stints, with the #2 unable to match the pace of the #8 Toyota and #51 Ferrari but capable of establishing a gap to the closest competition. By the morning the #2 was locked-in to third place, ahead of the recovering sister #3 Cadillac, and looked poised for a surprise result should the battling #8 and #51 hit trouble. Lynn finished his final stint in the car with two and a half hours to go having completed 126 laps across the race. The #2 crossed the line a lap down on the winning #51 Ferrari, but with Cadillac's first overall podium at Le Mans secured.

A month later, the #2 finished tenth at the 6 Hours of Monza. Lynn qualified the car in fifth, the highest of the LMDh cars in Hypercar, only 0.362s behind pole, and ran in the podium positions early on after an alternative pit strategy vaulted the #2 into the leading group. However, the car faded later in the race after a series of minor issues for all three drivers.

At the penultimate round of the WEC season, the 6 Hours of Fuji, Lynn once again took on qualifying duties. In a damp session, Lynn qualified fifth on slick tyres, ahead of both factory Ferrari Hypercars. The #2 ran consistently in the top ten before a loose wheel for Bamber forced the team to spend time in the garage, dropping them down the order. Eventually the car finished tenth, scoring the final point.

Coming into the final round of the season, the 8 Hours of Bahrain, the Lynn, Bamber and Westbrook were fifth in the points standings with a 16-point advantage over the #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport driver trio. Lynn once again took on qualifying duties, and arguably had his best session of the season, qualifying third behind the two Toyotas – Lynn's time was the only non-Toyota within a second of the pole lap, and the fastest of the LMDh cars in the category. Bamber taok the start, but a major lock-up at the first corner saw him make contact with the #7 Toyota, not only did the #2 Cadillac drop down the order, but the New Zealander also receive a 90-second stop/go penalty for the incident – a time deficit to the field that the team never fully recovered with the race running without a safety car intervention, eventually finishing in eleventh.

Lynn finished the year fifth in the points standings with 72 points, and with the #2 Cadillac the highest scoring LMDh in the hotly contested Hypercar field.