Cadillac DPi-V.R
The luxury automaker is returning with the slick new
racer previewed here for the first time.
Dubbed the DPi-V.R, Cadillac's new racing prototype
is built to the new Daytona Prototype international standards and will compete
starting next season in the Prototype class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar
Championship.
Based on a Dallara LMP2 chassis, but features
distinct bodywork designed by Cadillac, and fitted with a 6.2-liter naturally
aspirated V8 engine based on the same block as those you'd find in the Escalade
and CTS-V.
The DPi-V.R is set to debut at Daytona for the first
test session in just a couple of weeks. A month later, three examples will be
on the grid for the season opener in the Rolex 24 late in January. Two will be
fielded by defending three-time champions Action Express Racing and another by
longtime GM motorsport partner Wayne Taylor Racing.
They'll have to beat Mazda and Nissan, both of which
have also developed prototypes under the new DPi regulations, as well as the
Ligier, Dallara, Oreca, and Riley/Multimatic LMP2 chassis powered by Gibson
V8s.
It will mark the first time Cadillac will be active
in prototype racing since the Northstar LMP competed with limited success in
the American Le Mans Series and at Le Mans between 2000 and 2002.
