Cadillac is getting back into racing, using the CTS-V coupe as its vehicle of choice, and the car will race in the SCCA World Challenge GT class. This will actually be the CTS-V's return to the series, as the first-gen sedan competed there from 2004 to 2007.
As you can see, the cars are currently being built by Pratt & Miller, the same race shop that works with Chevy to create the Corvettes that race in ALMS and elsewhere. The Cadillacs are production-based CTS coupes, sent directly from GM's Lansing assembly plant to be fabbed at the race shop. GM's vice president of performance vehicles and motorsports, Jim Campbell, expects the race program to provide a two-way knowledge transfer from the production car to the race vehicle and vice versa. Cadillac says the usual series-specific modifications will be made, as well as some other performance-enhancing tweaks, but didn't go into specifics on what's being removed/added/modded. Obvious changes we can discern from these in-progress shots include a stripped interior with full roll cage, a vented carbon-fiber hood, and relocated exhausts—they're now side-exit pipes instead of the production car's dual center outlets.
A finished product will be shown at the 2011 Detroit show in January. The racing effort will include two coupes, driven by Andy Pilgrim and Johnny O'Connell, and they'll make their race debut in St. Petersburg, Florida, in March.
While this is undeniably cool, we think a few more doors might help get Cadillac more publicity. To paraphrase the old UPS NASCAR commercials, "We want to race the wagon. People love the wagon." Can you imagine this sweet livery on a CTS-V wagon?
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