Cadillac Sports Car Grand Prix Offers Good Chance for Team Cadillac to Keep the Pressure On
Leaders in Driver, Manufacturer Points Look to Strengthen Hold
Laguna Seca Raceway Site of Round 5 of Pirelli World Challenge
Pilgrim Qualifies 2nd, O’Connell Eighth for Friday’s Event
Slippery Surface, Weight Make Things Difficult
MONTEREY, Calif. – Entering the Cadillac Sports Car Grand Prix, Round 5 of the Pirelli World Challenge Series, Team Cadillac’s outlook is pretty rosy.
That can change in a heartbeat inside a series that matches performance vehicles from around the world.
For the moment, Team Cadillac drivers Johnny O’Connell and Andy Pilgrim sit first and second in the driver point standings and Cadillac is atop the manufacturer standings. O’Connell has 49 points in hand over Pilgrim, and Long Beach winner Pilgrim has 94 more than third place, which is good…but there’s plenty of racing left to go before the trophies are handed out.
This weekend’s race, set for Friday afternoon on the 2.238-mile course at Laguna Seca Raceway, will play a role in how it turns out.
In qualifying on Thursday, Pilgrim put his No. 8 Cadillac CTS-V second in line with a lap at 1:26.682, just .321 seconds off the pole-winning run by Volvo’s Randy Pobst. O’Connell was eighth with a lap at 1:27.397 in his No. 3 CTS-V.
“All the credit goes to the team,” Pilgrim said. “They have worked really hard on all the things that we needed, and we’re a lot better than when we started here this week. This place is really slippery now. It’s so slippery that it’s monstrously difficult to put a setup underneath it.”
Typically, tracks like Laguna Seca present difficulties for Team Cadillac, as Pilgrim explained.
“Laguna Seca has low grip, and a lot of middle-speed corners, similar to Mid-Ohio,” said Pilgrim, who posted the quickest time in Thursday’s first practice session. “It’s not an ideal track for our Cadillac CTS-V Coupe. If we can come away with top-five this weekend, we’ll be really doing something.”
The combination of grip level and some tight corners mixed with sweeping corners and some truly breathtaking changes in elevation gives the Cadillac drivers some opportunity for compromise in the setup. Getting off the corners fast is critical at Laguna Seca.
O’Connell, who is driving with an additional 196 pounds of REWARDS weight from the sanctioning body, had some struggles during the test session on Wednesday, but found a handle he liked during the two Thursday sessions.
“After the last session, I was pleased with the car,” said the St. Petersburg Round 1 winner. “All the weight is a disadvantage, but we are dealing with it as best we can. In qualifying, I thought I was going to be fast, but I was wrong again.”
Both drivers are very familiar with the Laguna Seca layout, having run here for years in a variety of series, and that experience could play a role in Friday’s main event.
One of the chief contenders to knock off the Team Cadillac duo, Lawson Aschenbach, will have to start from the tail of the GT field on Friday because he missed qualifying on Thursday.
Rounds 4 and 5 of the Pirelli World Challenge Series will be telecast on NBC Sports, Sunday, May 27 at 11 p.m. EDT. View live streaming on the day of the races and continuously on demand after races.
Feel the Thunder, Hear the Noise as CTS-V Coupe Racer Invades Digital Spectrum
DETROIT – With the release of the Cadillac CTS-V virtual race car from Cadillac and iRacing.com, race fans the world over can now feel the thunder of Cadillac’s powerful coupe and race it for prizes all year long.
The digital version of Team Cadillac’s potent hot-rod, driven in real life by superstar drivers Johnny O’Connell and Andy Pilgrim, features the same heart-pounding acceleration and hard-core performance characteristics of the real thing…and you don’t need an SCCA Competition license to race it.
O’Connell and Pilgrim are currently first and second, respectively, in the driver’s point standings for the Pirelli World Challenge GT Series, and Cadillac is atop the Manufacturer’s points as well.
Cadillac joins iRacing’s base package of cars and tracks, making the CTS-V an integral component of all 30,000+ iRacers’ online racing experience. The virtual Cadillac CTS-V will be featured in the Cadillac Cup, a series of online races at precision-modeled versions of many of the tracks on the 2012 Pirelli World Challenge GT Series schedule including Infineon Raceway, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and Mosport International Raceway.
For a preview of the Cadillac Cup action, click here. In addition to enjoying the challenge of door-to-door racing in their digital 520- horsepower CTS-Vs, iRacers will compete for a variety of iRacing- and Cadillac-branded prizes.
“With Johnny O’Connell’s victory in the opening round of the Pirelli World Challenge GT Series in St Petersburg and Andy Pilgrim’s win in Long Beach, the Cadillac CTS-V has already proven to be very a competitive proposition on the real race tracks of North America,” says Cadillac V-Series and Racing Marketing Manager John Kraemer. “Thanks to our partnership with iRacing.com, Cadillac is delighted to enable sim-racers around the world to enjoy the same incredible performance that Johnny and Andy experience every time they buckle in to their CTS-Vs on the race track.”
“We’re excited to be able to make one of the world’s most advanced racing sedans available to our members,” says iRacing.com President Tony Gardner. “We’re proud to partner with Cadillac, not only in creating the virtual CTS-V but through the Cadillac Cup. iRacing and Cadillac have some exciting programs in the making, and we’re all looking forward to making the most of our dynamic partnership for Cadillac, iRacing and iRacers.”
Visit www.cadillaccupracing.com to register for a complimentary iRacing membership code and see more information on the Cadillac CTS- V.
Please click the link below to view a video interview that covers our use of the Contura G2 CMM and CALYPSO software and how the Ziess partnership has benefitted us
Team Cadillac Finishes Second, Fourth in Grand Prix of Utah; O’Connell’s Driver Point Lead Grows Larger
O’Connell second, Pilgrim fourth in racy Round 4 of Pirelli World Challenge Series
• O’Connell Leads Pilgrim in Driver Points After Four Races
• Cadillac Leads Manufacturer’s Points Over Porsche
• O’Connell Leads 10 laps, Pilgrim Nipped at End for Third
TOOELE, Utah – For the first 10 laps of Saturday’s PrivacyStar Utah Grand Prix, it appeared that Team Cadillac had a shot at a third victory in four races.
But in the end, the team had to settle for second and fourth places, plus a solid points day toward the Pirelli World Challenge Series championships.
Johnny O’Connell took advantage of a standing-start stumble by polesitter Patrick Long to jump to the lead, edging out a gaggle of cars at the entrance to the super-fast Turn 1. For the next 10 laps, the No. 3 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe driven by O’Connell led the way around the 3.048-mile Miller Motorsports Park course until Long got close enough to challenge.
Long dived to the inside into Turn 1 on Lap 11 and completed the pass through the tricky-fast turn complex and raced away to victory.
“It was a really good race with Patrick,” O’Connell said after the race was over. “With us carrying all the weight, I figured out pretty early that he [Long] was just going to try to wear me down, make me use up my tires and then have his way with me. I actually backed my pace off a little to let him get close. I figured eventually he would make a run at me going into Turn 1.”
He did, but was not successful the first time he tried it. Long actually led Lap 7, but O’Connell kept his foot in it and wound up keeping the top spot for another three laps.
“We raced each other super clean, and I think the fans enjoyed watching that,” O’Connell said. “I was just hoping for traffic that never came. You have to give it to them. They were a little bit stronger today, but shoot, with 144 pounds…we were carrying a lot of weight.”
That weight, called REWARDS weight, came from O’Connell winning at St. Petersburg to open the season and finishing second in the second race at St. Pete and third at Long Beach.
Andy Pilgrim, who was carrying 96 pounds after winning at Long Beach, started fourth, lost a spot in the gaggle at the start, and then advanced to third place by Lap 5, chasing O’Connell and Long.
He made up a ton of time through the middle portion as O’Connell and Long battled for the lead, his No. 8 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe shadowing his teammate and looking for opportunities to advance.
But a hard-charging Mike Skeen came from 13th on the grid to fourth place with a handful of laps remaining and passed Pilgrim on the penultimate lap to knock Team Cadillac out of another double- podium finish.
“It was a good race,” Pilgrim said of his battle with Skeen. “I knew [Skeen] was coming; there was nothing I could do. He didn’t have any weight on his car, and we know the Corvette is good. He was really good through the fast corners.”
Pilgrim got a touch loose on the next-to-last lap and Skeen pounced.
“I got a big slide out of Turn 6 and it killed my momentum for that long straight up to Turn 7,” he said. “He got to the inside and there was nothing I could do. He just accelerated faster than I did. I had to let him go. I couldn’t have turned in, and if I had tried to go around the outside I would have just punched right off the track. There’s a lot of stuff on that corner.”
At the end of the day, O’Connell was pragmatic about the result.
“For me it was very difficult, watching my tires and saving some for the end,” he said. “Right now, I am driving as strong if not stronger than I ever have in my career. It was really hard for me to sit back and manage everything, but I was very proud that I was able to do that.”
For Pilgrim, it was a good result, for the big picture, but not the one he was looking for on Saturday.
“I didn’t want top-five, but when you come into one of these races, you want to come away with top-five points if you’re in the championship. That’s all you want.”
Long’s Porsche beat O’Connell to the flag by 3.032 seconds, and Skeen, Pilgrim and David Welch in a Ferrari rounded out the top five. Randy Pobst headed the second five in his Volvo, with the Porsches of Steve Ott, James Sofronas and Madison Snow seventh through ninth. Tony Gaples rounded out the top 10 in another Corvette.
In the points, it was a banner day for Team Cadillac. O’Connell now leads the World Challenge GT driver’s points by 49 over Pilgrim, 501-452. Sofronas is a distant third with 354, Lawson Aschenbach is fourth with 342 and Pobst is fifth with 333.
In the Manufacturer’s points, Cadillac leads Porsche by 2, 32-30, after four rounds.
Next action for Team Cadillac and the rest of the Pirelli World Challenge Series competitors will be May 10-11, the Cadillac Sports Car Grand Prix at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, Calif.
The Grand Prix of Utah will be telecast on NBC Sports, Sunday, May 27 at 11 p.m. EDT. View live streaming on www.world-challengeTV.com day of races and continuously on demand after races.
Team Cadillac’s O’Connell Second, Pilgrim Fourth in World Challenge Qualifying for GP of Utah
CTS-V Coupes In Good Shape for Round 4 of Pirelli World Challenge
TOOELE, Utah – When Saturday’s PrivacyStar Grand Prix of Utah gets the green light tomorrow afternoon, Team Cadillac will have a say in who comes to Victory Lane.
Johnny O’Connell put the No. 3 Cadillac CTS-V on the outside of the front row in qualifying, and teammate Andy Pilgrim put his No. 8 machine right behind him in fourth.
“I was very happy with my CTS-V Coupe,” O’Connell said. “It’s the best it has been since we got here on Thursday, and that has a lot to do with all the people at Cadillac who worked on it so hard.”
O’Connell will line up next to polesitter Patrick Long, who clocked the fastest time at 1:50.834 around the 3.048-mile Miller Motorsports Park layout. O’Connell’s lap at 1:51.358 was second-quick, with Randy Pobst splitting Team Cadillac in third at 1:51.463. Pilgrim’s lap at 1:51.533 rounded out the top four.
“We have been chasing the car since we got here,” Pilgrim said. “We’ve chased the track, the weather, the wind, the temperature…Team Cadillac has really worked hard on getting us to this point.”
O’Connell said that teamwork made the difference.
“This is one of those times where you really needed two cars,” he said. “It allowed us to gain a lot more on the setup for tomorrow’s race.”
Pilgrim said the Miller track was a demonstration in compromise.
“You have to compromise so much here,” he said. “You have to give up a lot in one corner to make good in another, and it’s hard work to set one of these cars up for this track.”
This weekend’s Pirelli World Challenge race from Miller Motorsports Park will be streamed live online, and the online feed is scheduled to start at 2:25 p.m. MDT/4:25 p.m. EDT on Saturday, April 28.
The Cadillac Racing Media Kit is now available online.
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. More information on Cadillac can be found at media.cadillac.com.
Team Cadillac Drivers Show Well in Final Practice for Long Beach Grand Prix; Both in Top Six
Pilgrim Fourth, O’Connell Sixth in First Dry Session of Weekend
LONG BEACH – After the first real track time of the weekend, Team Cadillac put both CTS-V Coupes in the top six during Pirelli World Challenge Series practice.
Andy Pilgrim led the way in the No. 8 CTS-V, posting fourth-quick time at 1:23.684 around the 1.968-mile street course, and point leader Johnny O’Connell was sixth at 1:23.806.
“It wasn’t bad, for a totally green track after two days of rain,” said Pilgrim of his session. “Traffic is an issue here, especially with the GTS cars around the Fountain. You can’t get them easily. It’s a good start, but this is not the ideal Cadillac track. We’re both in the top six, which is what we need to do, but obviously, we’ve got some work to do.”
Lawson Aschenbach led the way at 1:22.822 in a Porsche, and the Volvo of Randy Pobst was second at 1:23.485. Justin Marks sneaked into the top three on the final lap of the session, posting a lap at 1:23.684, just .001 ahead of Pilgrim. Tommy Drissi was fifth in another Porsche.
O’Connell had a struggle with his No. 3 CTS-V, but is confident it will work itself out.
“I’m not as happy with my car now as I was at St. Pete,” he said. “I’m not showing the grip I want, but that’s why you run these sessions. The beautiful thing about a team like Cadillac Racing is, they have the ability to get it all right in time for qualifying and the race.”
James Sofronas’ Porsche was seventh, followed by the Volvo of Alex Figge, Dino Crescentini’s Porsche and the Ferrari of David Welch rounded out the top 10.
Qualifying for Round 3 of the Pirelli World Challenge Series is set for 8:25 a.m. Sunday, with the race to follow at 4:15 p.m. Live streaming of Sunday’s race is available, and the race will be broadcast on NBC Sports Network on April 29, from 3-4:30 p.m. EDT. The Cadillac Racing Media Kit is now available online.
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. More information on Cadillac can be found at media.cadillac.com.
Momentum Is With Team Cadillac in the Streets of Long Beach for Round 3 of Pirelli World Challenge
St. Pete Performances Indicate Recipe for Street-Course Success
• O’Connell Leads Point Standings; Pilgrim Stands Third
• Tricky Track Makes Performance Critical for CTS-V Coupes
• Rain Friday Makes Weekend More Compact for Team
LONG BEACH, Calif. – “This is our Monaco.”
That’s how Cadillac CTS-V Coupe driver Johnny O’Connell describes the Grand Prix of Long Beach, which plays out for the 38th time this weekend through the streets of the California city.
O’Connell and teammate Andy Pilgrim take the potent Cadillac CTS-V racers to those streets this weekend, setting up for Round 3 of the Pirelli World Challenge Series.
O’Connell comes in with the series point lead after winning Round 1 in St. Petersburg and finishing second in Round 2. Pilgrim finished fifth and third in the opening two races to stand third in the points.
“With the degree of attention attached to this race, it truly is, to me, America’s most successful street race,” O’Connell said. “Any time you have something this big and historic, it’s pretty special.”
The 1.986-mile road course through city streets presents a challenge to Team Cadillac, because it is so tight and technical.
“It is St. Pete, plus less track time, a weird schedule and a day of rain, so we haven’t really done very much on track,” said Pilgrim following a rainy first practice session on Friday. “Now we have a concentrated weekend. We’re hopefully as well-prepared as any team here, but this is not necessarily the best Cadillac track. We know it’s a good Porsche track.”
O’Connell said the most famous corner on the circuit is also the one that nobody likes.
“The worst part of the track is the hairpin,” O’Connell said. “I don’t think you’re going to find any driver that says, ‘I love this corner.’ It is such a tight-radius corner. I like the whole Turn 2 and 3 area, and then the Turns 7 and 8 combination, which is a good overtaking area. Turns 9 and 10, you have a variety of pavement changes that are very tricky.”
The tight layout presents difficulties for the potent Cadillac CTS-V, which has a longer wheelbase and more mass than most of the cars it competes against, but with a year of development under its belt, the Cadillac is better equipped to handle the tricky, concrete-encased course.
“It’s not the ideal Cadillac track, but I think we can do well here. We have done well in the past here, so hopefully we can keep the momentum going from St. Pete. I’m thinking that a top-five finish for both of us would be awesome,” Pilgrim said. “If we happen to get a victory or a podium out of this, that’s a bonus.
“It’s a street course, and you can definitely have a lot of problems here.”
Hitting Long Beach with momentum doesn’t hurt, either. St. Petersburg, another street course, proved that the CTS-V is growing up as a racing car, and in the hands of veteran racers like Pilgrim and O’Connell, there’s no disadvantage.
The 2012 Pirelli World Challenge Series runs April 15 in the Streets of Long Beach. Live streaming of both races is available, and the race will be broadcast on NBC Sports Network on April 29, from 3-4:30 p.m. EDT.
Riding positive momentum from Sebring into Long Beach
It’s always good to hear from Jan Magnussen one of the most well-versed drivers in the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón. After a runner-up GT finish in last year’s Tequila Patrón American Le Mans Series at Long Beach, Corvette Racing’s Danish star thinks this is the year Corvette takes a step back up to the top of the podium at America’s most famous street race.
Q: Sebring was the your best start to the year since Corvette switched classes to compete head-to-head against Porsche, Ferrari and BMW. Tell us how this finish will help you focus on a run for the championship?
Jan Magnussen: “Sebring was good for us and for sure, it’s the best start we had. We did have some issues there but we did the best with what we had. I think everybody on the team is very proud of what we did and it was a great way to start the season.
“We were really strong last year at Long Beach – I think in the race we had the strongest car. But the way the pit stops happened we ended up coming second. This year we are heading to Long Beach with one clear goal and that’s to win the race.
“It will be Antonio’s [Garcia, No. 3 Corvette co-driver] first time at Long Beach so he’s got a steep learning curve, but we’re all going to get there really early, walk the track and make sure that everything is right. He’s a super-fast learner and I have faith that he will be very good.”
Q: How challenging is it to go to Long Beach where we have limited track time. Is running practice at 7:15am in the morning and then going to qualify at the end of day a difficult task?
JM: “It’s going to be tough. I’m fairly certain I’m going to be qualifying but at the moment it’s not set. If Antonio is qualifying he’ll have a short time on the track and a long time to think about it.
“For the morning session, it’s two hours and we should have a good idea of where we are with the car. The track for sure will change, but the changes it makes usually don’t upset the balance of the Corvette too much. It gains a whole lot of grip usually as the rubber builds up on the track.
“The schedule for ALMS at Long Beach does make it hard for us to be 100 percent sure that any changes we do make will be in the right direction.
“But it’s the same for everybody, and in previous years the schedule’s been similar and we’ve done a really good job.”
Q: What’s the secret to a quick lap around Long Beach?
JM: “Obviously on a street circuit the penalty for mistakes is very high, because there is no room for error with the walls being so close.
“The real secret on all street circuits is momentum. You’ve got to keep your speed up in the corners but make sure you get off well. The Corvette is very good on these types of circuits, which is helpful.
“Long Beach is fast for a street circuit – I love the place. The layout is fantastic and it’s very intense when you’re out there.”
Q: Traffic at Long Beach is always a big issue. What is it like out there in a GT car? How challenging is it to keep your awareness as to where everyone is and what’s going on?
JM: “The key to winning this race is how you manage traffic. When passing or getting passed, you want to minimize the time loss as much as you can.
“When you’re being passed by a prototype you have to let them do it in a place where there’s enough room and it’s safe, but it’s very important to make sure you don’t lose time.
“It’s important to know who’s in the cars around you at a given time, and my Corvette crew is really good at keeping us informed of what’s going on. They really make great use of all the cameras on the track and telling us what we need to know. Every lap Dan Binks is on the radio giving me updates.
“It’s all about who you can work and who you can’t. Obviously the ones you can work with usually you have no time loss or only a little bit – it’s the one you don’t know that you have to be cautious around.
“We’re also very lucky because the Michelin tires always work incredibly well around here. There are a lot of surface changes and the different types of rubber from the IndyCars going down on the track but our tire package with Michelin is always very strong.”
Q: What is the visibility like on a street circuit in the Corvette?
JM: “That is very tricky, but that’s where the information we get on the radio really becomes valuable. They’re very good about telling me if there’s more than one car behind me or if I have space.
“Again it’s about timing and who’s coming up on me – which car and who’s driving. There are some drivers that will be nice to you and get by you clean and there are others that leave me in the marbles and losing lots of time.
“Experience in this type of racing becomes very valuable in these situations.”
Q: How important is it for you to have a calm, unflustered voice on the radio to help you keep your concentration?
JM: “Dan Binks is on the radio for me and when I first came to Corvette I had to get used to all of the activity in my ears, it was very different than what I was used to. Now I don’t want it to be any different; it’s such a big help. And the way Dan communicates, it almost feels like coaching – it just keeps pumping me up.
“It feels like no matter what, the whole time you’re not out there by yourself, the crew is with you on the track. For Corvette Racing, it’s a big team effort for us all the time – it’s not just like ‘OK, everybody’s working on the car now and at when the car’s on track, it’s up to the driver.’
“Instead, everybody’s involved the whole time and I think we get better results because of it. To me it’s invaluable and a big part of the success we have had.”
Q: There was just an announcement about two SRT Vipers joining the GT class later this year. How much more intense is the GT battle going to get with those cars joining the Corvettes, BMWs, Ferraris and Porsches?
JM: “It will be very interesting to see how the new Viper does. At the moment I this ALMS class is the most hotly contested GT championship in the world.
“The cars are so evenly matched this year more than last and the racing is super-intense. We are going to fight for every position on track.”
The Tequila Patrón American Le Mans Series at Long Beach is the second round of the 10-race ALMS championship. ESPN2 will air the race live from the world famous Long Beach street circuit just outside Los Angeles starting at 7:30 p.m. ET. The race will be carried simultaneously on ESPN3.
Viewers outside the U.S. can always watch races live on ALMS.com. The Series’ website offers additional content such as live in-car cameras, timing and scoring, and car-to-pit radio for all users around the world.
Visit ALMS.com for current and future event information including tickets and area accommodations. Follow the Series on Twitter (@almsnotes, #TGPLB), Facebook and our official YouTube channel.
Team Cadillac Ready to Conquer Pirelli World Challenge in Season-Opening GP of St. Petersburg
Team Seeks to Carry ’11 Season Strength into 2012
• Testing Gives Team an Edge for Season Bow
• More Prep Time This Year for Opener
• Both O’Connell, Pilgrim Excited for Season to Start
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Team Cadillac Racing spent the 2011 season catching up.
At this time last year, the racy-looking Cadillac CTS-V Coupes were just coming off their first on-track test sessions and the team had a lot of questions as to which way to go to make them fast.
This year? Not so much.
The 2012 season will open here this weekend and Team Cadillac knows exactly what it has. Two victories, including a double-podium effort in the final race of the season at Road Atlanta and a strong second-place finish in Manufacturer points, sends Team Cadillac into another year with a clear picture of what lies in store.
That’s a good thing, according to Technical Director/Team Manager Steve Cole.
“I think we’ll be competitive,” Cole said during a recent on-track test at Sebring. “Last year, at St. Pete, we were qualifying seventh and eighth, and with the development of our car we should be able to move up to the pointier part of the grid. Of course you never know, with all the new cars entering the series, but I think we should be able to run in the top five.”
Drivers Johnny O’Connell and Andy Pilgrim put the race cars through their paces during a two-day test at Sebring International Raceway and the team worked on braking systems, cooling, launch control and the thousand other things that make up a successful campaign.
“Our expectations are very high,” O’Connell said during a break in the session. “We look at how we entered last season; we’d had two days of testing and we definitely knew we were bringing a knife to a gunfight. But we’ve been so much better, improved our car a ton. I’m optimistic.
“When we got to the last three or four races, we were regularly one of the cars to beat. Not always, but we were pretty quick.”
Having that knowledge and experience in the bank is a positive factor for the vastly experienced O’Connell, especially heading into the season-opening St. Petersburg Grand Prix.
“Just the fact that we’re entering the season more on par with where our competitors are going to be is a good thing,” he mused. “Our expectations are pretty high. We have been building data, have a better idea what our setup should be, and that’s what this team is known for; the ability to collect data and apply it to future events.
“At St. Pete, I expect us to be better than we were last year, but you don’t know who is going to show up and who is going to be fast.”
The last time the Pirelli World Challenge Series took to the track, O’Connell won the race and Pilgrim finished third, giving the team its second victory of the season and its first double podium.
O’Connell finished second in the points behind champion Patrick Long last year, and won two races in Cadillac’s return to the series and the sport.
Pilgrim notched podium finishes in two of the last four races of the season and earned fifth place in the final points.
“We did some good testing at Sebring, and I’m very positive with what we accomplished,” said Pilgrim, who led Cadillac to two series titles in 2005 and 2007. “It’s hard to quantify what you accomplished in the sense that you aren’t measuring yourself and the Cadillac CTS-V against your competition, but we are in a much better place than we were at this time a year ago, I can tell you that.
“We’ve had a year of competition under our belts, all the development that goes with it, and from a driver’s standpoint, we are in a much better place than we were last year.”
That end to 2011, plus the excitement of having the CTS-Vs back on the track, is creating a ton of buzz back in Detroit, too.
“I have to tell you, everyone at Cadillac, [Cadillac Global Marketing Director] Jim Vurpillat, myself, the season can’t come quick enough,” said John Kraemer, Cadillac CTS-V Marketing and Racing Manager. “The 2011 season ended on a high note with us winning at Road Atlanta and both drivers on the podium. For our first year back, we had outstanding results, but it’s been a long winter. Spring is upon us. We can’t wait to get going each and every weekend to compete.”
Coming off a year in which a record number of Cadillac CTS-Vs left showrooms in the hands of happy owners, it’s a big opportunity as well.
“It’s about more than selling Cadillac CTS-Vs,” Kraemer said. “It’s really about the brand and the validation of the performance credentials of a world-class luxury performance line. That’s why we race.”
The 2012 Pirelli World Challenge Series runs March 23-25 in the Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla. Live streaming of both races is available, and the Cadillac Racing Media Kit is now available online.
…………….It has been eleven years since a Corvette has been capable of winning the 24-Hours of Daytona. This year five special Corvette Daytona Prototypes will attempt to break that record. In early testing the Corvettes were the class of the field. Corvette Motorsport will be live at Daytona, covering the race with the Spirit of Daytona team. This team had the first prototype and will be driven by Corvette Racing’s C6-R drivers. It should be an exciting 24 Hours and hopefully we will see a Corvette first across the line at this historic race……………..
