Cadillac’s Swoopy Prototype Aims for Le Mans Glory in 2023Cadillac’s Swoopy Prototype Aims for Le Mans Glory in 2023

Cadillac has unfinished business following its 2000-2002 flop in France.

Dan Carney, Senior Editor

September 13, 2021

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The Whelen Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R race car in 2017.Richard Prince, courtesy of Cadillac

General Motors premium brand has announced it is returning to the 24 Hours of Le Mans sports car race in 2023 with the goal of competing for the overall victory. Its most recent effort in the top class of sports car racing was embarrassed by the technical tour de force put on by the Audi team that went on to dominate the race for the better part of two decades.

Those wins helped vault Audi back into the conversation with Mercedes-Benz and BMW, which Cadillac would very much like to also accomplish through its participation.

GM’s Corvette sports car team has run with an impressive success at Le Mans, but the company recently announced it would discontinue that effort. Now we know why. Rather than chasing victory among the slower production car-based classes, GM wants to push Cadillac to the front for the overall win against the highest-technology prototype race cars in the world.

Cadillac began its latest prototype program in 2017, with the DPi-V.R, a car that competes in the Daytona Prototype category in the 24 Hours of Daytona and Sebring 12 Hour races as well as the rest of the IMSA racing schedule in the U.S. The move to the LMDh category positions Cadillac to race for overall honors at Le Mans.

“We are excited to compete at the top level of international motorsport in the LMDh class beginning in 2023,” said Rory Harvey, Cadillac Global Vice President. “Like motorsport, Cadillac is making the transition into a future driven by alternative propulsion. The hybrid nature of the LMDh rules will help us to bridge our technology transfer to our all-electric future.”

Related:Peugeot Aims for Hyper Speed with its New 9X8 Le Mans Contender

“We are excited to carry forward our success and continue to transfer our learnings and technology from the track to our production vehicles,
 Harvey continued. “We have had great success with the championship-winning Cadillac DPi-V.R and look forward to building on that record into the future with the next-generation Cadillac LMDh.”

As is customary in this type of racing, the cars will be constructed by an expert racing specialist manufacturer, in this case, Dallara. The Italian constructor is best known as the sole supplier of Indy cars for the last couple of decades, but the company has also built Formula 1 cars and Le Mans-winning prototypes.

GM will provide a new engine that will be integrated into the common hybrid system that all LMDh cars will employ. These cars will be run by the Chip Ganassi Racing team and Action Express Racing starting with the 24 Hours of Daytona in January 2023 in preparation for Le Mans the following June.

“We are looking forward to the new international prototype formula and running the Cadillac LMDh,” said Chip Ganassi. “We have had a great relationship across three different racing disciplines with GM and we are looking forward to developing the car with Cadillac and Dallara over the next year-and-a-half.”

“The IMSA LMDh category is looking to be very competitive with multiple manufacturers,” said Gary Nelson, AXR Team Manager “We’ve had a lot of success running the Cadillac DPi-V.R as one of the original teams since 2017 and we are looking forward to being a part of the next chapter of Cadillac Racing.”

For a look at Cadillac’s sports car racing history, click through our slide show.

About the Author

Dan Carney

Senior Editor, Design News

Dan’s coverage of the auto industry over three decades has taken him to the racetracks, automotive engineering centers, vehicle simulators, wind tunnels, and crash-test labs of the world.

A member of the North American Car, Truck, and Utility of the Year jury, Dan also contributes car reviews to Popular Science magazine, serves on the International Engine of the Year jury, and has judged the collegiate Formula SAE competition.

Dan is a winner of the International Motor Press Association's Ken Purdy Award for automotive writing, as well as the National Motorsports Press Association's award for magazine writing and the Washington Automotive Press Association's Golden Quill award.

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He has held a Sports Car Club of America racing license since 1991, is an SCCA National race winner, two-time SCCA Runoffs competitor in Formula F, and an Old Dominion Region Driver of the Year award winner. Co-drove a Ford Focus 1.0-liter EcoBoost to 16 Federation Internationale de l’Automobile-accredited world speed records over distances from just under 1km to over 4,104km at the CERAM test circuit in Mortefontaine, France.

He was also a longtime contributor to the Society of Automotive Engineers' Automotive Engineering International magazine.

He specializes in analyzing technical developments, particularly in the areas of motorsports, efficiency, and safety.

He has been published in The New York Times, NBC News, Motor Trend, Popular Mechanics, The Washington Post, Hagerty, AutoTrader.com, Maxim, RaceCar Engineering, AutoWeek, Virginia Living, and others.

Dan has authored books on the Honda S2000 and Dodge Viper sports cars and contributed automotive content to the consumer finance book, Fight For Your Money.

He is a member and past president of the Washington Automotive Press Association and is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers

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