DETROIT – Cadillac announced today it will return to racing in 2011 with a race-prepared version of its CTS-V Coupe competing in the Sports Car Club of America World Challenge, North America’s top production-based racecar series.

The move returns Cadillac to a series where it competed from 2004 to 2007. Competing in the GT Class with the CTS-V Sport Sedan, Cadillac captured the Manufacturer’s Championship in 2005 and 2007 and the Driver’s Championship in 2005.

Cadillac will field two teams in the upcoming SCCA World Challenge GT Class with a racecar based on the CTS-V Coupe. The CTS-V line, which also includes the CTS-V Sedan and CTS-V Wagon, was recently named to Car and Driver magazine’s 10 Best list for 2011.

“Returning to racing in the SCCA World Challenge is a great way to demonstrate the performance and capability of the CTS-V Coupe,” said Don Butler, vice president for Cadillac marketing.   “The racecars in this series are production based, which allows us to validate our performance against the best of our competitors on the track, and not just the showroom.”

Cadillac is working with Pratt & Miller, a New Hudson, Mich., engineering firm which specializes in motorsports, to develop the CTS-V Coupe racecar. While some of the production CTS-V components will be modified due to the unique demands of racing or to meet the SCCA series’ technical rules, every effort is taken to maintain as much production content as possible.

“The SCCA World Challenge lends itself well to a natural transfer of knowledge,” said Jim Campbell, GM vice president for Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “The series will become a key test-bed for Cadillac. We anticipate using what we learn on the racetrack to ensure the V-Series stays on the cutting-edge of performance.”

The first event in the SCCA World Challenge is March 25-27 in St. Petersburg, Fla. Johnny O’Connell, a three-time GT1 champion in the America Le Mans Series, and Andy Pilgrim, who won the 2005 SCCA World Challenge GT class in a Cadillac, will be behind the wheel of the CTS-V racecars.

Introduced for the 2003 model year, the CTS-V has quickly earned a reputation among luxury sports car buyers. For the 2011 model year, Cadillac added the CTS-V Coupe and the CTS-V Sport Wagon to the CTS-V Sport Sedan, creating an impressive family of performance vehicles. The CTS-Vs feature Brembo brakes, a supercharged 6.2L V8 delivering 556 horsepower and a Magnetic Ride Control suspension system that can read and react to the road 1,000 times a second.

Started in 1944, the SCCA organizes and supports racing at all levels from amateur to professional. The World Challenge series is designed to provide teams, manufacturers and aftermarket suppliers a competitive production-based race series in which to prove their products. The races follow a 50-minute maximum time limit, with the number of laps and total distance determined by track configuration, lap times and race conditions.

About Cadillac

Cadillac has been a leading luxury auto brand since 1902. In recent years, Cadillac has engineered a historic renaissance led by artful engineering and advanced technology.

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Johnny O'Connell Makes Transition from Corvette Racing to Team Cadillac

 
Record-Setting Racer Reunited with Corvette Racing Teammate Andy Pilgrim in New Cadillac SCCA World Challenge GT Program

 
DETROIT, Dec. 14, 2010 – Johnny O'Connell will move from Corvette Racing to the new Team Cadillac motorsports program in the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) World Challenge GT in 2011. After 10 successful seasons in Corvettes, O'Connell will join former Corvette Racing teammate Andy Pilgrim in a pair of Cadillac CTS-V Coupes as Cadillac returns to racing in the SCCA production-based series.

 
"Johnny O'Connell has made a tremendous contribution to the success of Corvette Racing both on and off the track," said GM Racing director Mark Kent. "Now as GM launches a new motorsports program with another iconic brand, Johnny was the unanimous choice for Team Cadillac. We are very pleased that Johnny will continue to be a valued member of the GM Racing family, and we believe that his proven speed, racecraft, and outgoing personality will be great assets for the Cadillac racing program."
 

O'Connell, 48, of Flowery Branch, Ga., joined Corvette Racing in 2001. He won 40 races with the team and captured three American Le Mans Series GTS/GT1 championships with co-drivers Ron Fellows (2003-04) and Jan Magnussen (2008). In 2009, O'Connell notched his record-setting eighth career win in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring and became the first American to score four class victories in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

 
"After 10 amazing years with Corvette Racing as part of one of the best American sports car teams in history, I am extremely flattered that Cadillac selected me for this very important program," said O'Connell. "I'm very proud to have won more ALMS races in Corvettes than any other driver and to set records at Sebring and Le Mans. I've enjoyed fantastic relationships with the team, with great friends and co-drivers like Ron Fellows and Jan Magnussen, and with Corvette enthusiasts around the world. I look forward to building a similar fan base with Team Cadillac and representing Cadillac for many years to come."
 

Corvette Racing will announce its 2011 program plans and driver lineup at a later date. Corvette Racing’s next event is the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring at Sebring International Raceway on March 19, 2011, the season-opening round of the 2011 American Le Mans Series.
 

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