- Cadillac plans to race the prototype in both the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the World Endurance Championship.
- The car is a collaborative effort of Cadillac Design, Cadillac Racing, and Dallara.
- The car is scheduled to make its racing debut in the new IMSA GTP prototype class at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January.
Cadillac revealed its Project GTP Hypercar Thursday morning and officials say the brand is ready to take on all comers on the world stage and compete for the overall win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2023.
Cadillac plans to race the car in both the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the World Endurance Championship. The car is scheduled to make its racing debut in the new IMSA GTP prototype class at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January, against expected entries from BMW, Acura, and Porsche. The class will replace the current DPi class.
Alpine and Lamborghini plan to enter cars in the new prototype classes in 2024. A previously announced Audi program is reportedly on hold as that company re-evaluates the current economics and a possible move into Formula 1.
"It’s always been our dream to be back running for the overall win at Le Mans," said Mark Stielow, General Motors director of motorsport and engineering. "(GM President) Mark Reuss challenged our team to put this project together, and I think all of our partners have really rallied. I think it’s going to be interesting when we get them all out there at Daytona in 2023."
The car is a collaborative effort of Cadillac Design, Cadillac Racing and Dallara. The new race car will be powered by an all-new 5.5-liter DOHC V8 that will be paired to the LMDh common hybrid system that will allow the same cars to race in both the top classes of IMSA and WEC.
"What’s been really great about this program is the spec system we’re all running," said Laura Wontrop Klauser, GM sports car racing program manager. "The hybrid system is being developed together and jointly. We have meetings regularly with the sanctioning body, some without the sanctioning body. The OEMs have worked together quite a bit.
"In terms of the rest of it, our target, the aero window we have to meet, as well as the power target, are so well defined that you really try to be as creative as you can. I think Cadillac has created the most beautiful car within the windows. But nonetheless, we’re all still in the same windows."
As with all the major sports car series today, the class will be subject to balance of performance formulas to keep the the competition close.
"It’s OK if we all show up and we’re a little bit different," Klauser said. "We’ll just have our own identities, which I think makes this class so exciting."
The car is expected to hit the track for testing this summer. Inside testing, including work on the dyno, has already begun. Drivers from Chip Ganassi Racing and Action Express—teams currently racing with Cadillac in the IMSA DPi class—are involved in the testing.
Klauser said the manufacturer's 2023 drivers and lineups for IMSA, WEC, and Le Mans will be announced at a later date. Plans for Le Mans are fluid until Cadillac officials find out how many invitations it will receive from race organizers Automobile Club de l'Ouest. Klauser is hoping that Cadillac will receive invites for at least two cars.
"The way the invitation process works, there’s no guarantees until we get invited," Klauser said. "Our hope is to have at least two vehicles there. It’s a discussion that starts yearly with the ACO. A lot of it has to do with what your plans are for participation in the WEC.
"We will have a full WEC season entry next year with Cadillac, which is super exciting. We are hoping that makes the discussion for bringing at least two cars an easy one when we get to that point."
The creative wing of the design process was headed by Chris Mikalauskas, lead exterior creative designer at Cadillac.
"Our job is to push as hard as we can possibly push," Mikalauskas said. "Usually, when you’re designing production vehicles, there are times we have to make some sacrifices. With racing, there are no sacrifices. The functionality has to win, but from our side, it’s like ‘How beautiful can we make that function look?’ That’s the key takeaway.
"And for Cadillac, even aside from it being a race car, this is our chance to show people, yes, we’re still going to do performance cars in the future, and this just might be how they’ll look."
Mikalauskas says it's been a dream to work on this particular Cadillac program.
"From an aesthetic point of view, with this new series, it’s allowing the cars to not be all cookie-cutters," Mikalauskas said. "And that's really exciting for fans and for people who are true motorsports enthusiasts, because they get to see this unique car out there and see that Cadillac did that one.
"And that we'll be fighting for the top spot, which is really cool."
