Cadillac Racing Two in Top Ten at Utah

Cooper 6th, O’Connell 10th

TOOELE, Utah -Cadillac Racing put two in the top ten at the Pirelli World Challenge GT Championship at Utah Motorsports Campus this afternoon.

Michael Cooper (Syosset, N.Y.) started from fifth on the grid according to his fastest race lap from yesterday with teammate Johnny O’Connell (Flowery Branch, Ga.) coming to the green in 13th. Both Cadillac drivers were able to get a clean start to the 50-minute race at the 3.04-mile, 14-turn natural terrain road course located 30 minutes east of Salt Lake City. As the race progressed caution free and with little movement amongst the 14 GT competitors O’Connell was able to move up three positions. The finishing positions were a testament to teamwork and driver race craft as they posted the 10th (O’Connell) and 11th (Cooper) fastest laps of the race while finishing sixht and tenth.

“I was able to get a clean run through Turn 1 at the start,” Cooper said. “I lost a position or two, but that is really where we are at with the Cadillac ATS-V.R Coupe in relation to the other cars. I was able to put some pressure on the McLaren, but if they don’t make a mistake we just can’t get around them. We can get close in the corner, but by the time they exit and get on a straight they have already pulled away. It was good to get a result for the team today.”

“We moved forward,” O’Connell said. “You start 13th and finish 10th that is a pretty good day. It is frustrating we are used to running a lot further up the field. With the way the cars are regulated right now you just can’t make up 5 mph down the straight. With that said, I had a much better Cadillac ATS-V.R Coupe today. We put Michael’s set-up on my car and it was much more responsive and easier to drive. We work as a team. The Cadillac Racing guys put in a lot of work to get us dialed in and I appreciate their effort.”

The Pirelli World Challenge Series races from Utah Motorsports Campus will be televised on the CBS Sports Network Sunday, August 21 at 2 p.m. ET. The series will travel to Sonoma Raceway for rounds 18 and 19, September 16-18.