As Cadillac Racing prepares to take on the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona in January 2023, the luxury brand has achieved several important milestones in the testing and development of its first all-electric race car, the V-LMDh.
So far, drivers have driven 12,000 miles of on-track testing behind the wheel of the V-LMDh, including a 24-hour stint at Sebring International Raceway in July. While the custom race car was prepared by Chip Ganassi Racing, Cadillac Racing also tested the Action Express Racing prepared race car in shorter endurance runs. This test environment provides valuable data for the upcoming race at Daytona, including information about racecar endurance and night-time driving performance.
“Completing those endurance tests is extra motivation for our team and provides a sense of accomplishment,” said Cadillac Racing Program Manager Laura Wontrop Klauser. “We still have a lot to do in our short time, but we are at a point where we are perfecting a lot of things.”
Cadillac hinted at the arrival of the new V-LMDh race car in late 2021, which will compete in the newly formed Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and FIA World Endurance Championship starting in 2023. DPi-VR
“For drivers going from DPi to V-LMDh on the same track it is very helpful to understand the limitations with a new race car,” said Cadillac Racing Assistant Program Manager Kalvin Parker. “They have been on a few tracks where they can compare the weight difference and the power difference. The growth the team made from the first few tests, in terms of their comfort level with the car, was dramatic, as they pushed their system and understanding of the car even further.”
An additional testing session will be conducted on December 6th through 7th on the 3.56-mile stretch of road that sits in the middle of a Daytona field. Cadillac Racing indicated that more information about the V-LMDh race car, including the livery, will be disclosed via social media in January.
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