Cadillac Roars Back to Le Mans: A Chance at Redemption

After a 21-year hiatus, Cadillac is roaring back to the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2023, riding the wave of their resounding success in North American sports car racing. Since its return to the prototype ranks in 2017, Cadillac has continued to dominate with its latest V-Series. R LMDh, rendering comparisons to the lackluster Northstar LMP campaigns of 2000-02 downright ludicrous.

The Northstar program failed to impress, with a mere ninth-place finish at Le Mans and a handful of podiums in the American Le Mans Series. However, the current endeavor is rooted in stability and has been a winning strategy from the start. Already on their seventh season on the racetrack, Cadillac has clinched three Drivers' and Manufacturers' title doubles in the IMSA SportsCar Championship and taken home four victories in the Daytona 24 Hours, all achieved with their V-R.DPi. Their new-for-2023 Caddy LMDh, Cadillac's successor, has already scored a win in the Sebring 12 Hours, becoming Cadillac's fifth triumph since the introduction of their Daytona Prototype international.

General Motors' Cadillac brand is gearing up to make a statement at the legendary Le Mans endurance race. With a chance to make up for its past shortcomings at the turn of the century, Cadillac is leaving no stone unturned. Although Porsche's last-minute decision to field a third official Penske-run car may have threatened its presence on the Hypercar grid, Cadillac is still set to make a big splash at the iconic event.

While Cadillac is only running one LMDh full-time in the World Endurance Championship with the Chip Ganassi Racing-run Cadillac Racing squad, the marque's entire fleet will be on hand in France. Ganassi will field a second entry for its regular IMSA crew, and Action Express Racing, a crucial part of its DPi era, will travel to Le Mans with its IMSA line-up for the first time.

Although Cadillac will not have the biggest entry at Le Mans, it's a significant improvement from the marque's first official participation in 2000. Back then, four Northstar LMPs graced the grid - two full works cars run by Riley & Scott and two on a semi-works basis by DAMS. However, the program's first year proved to be a struggle, as the marque spread its limited resources too thinly.

Cadillac underestimated the magnitude of the event, and its three Northstars that crossed the finish line could only muster positions 19, 21, and 22. It was a far cry from the success of US entrant Briggs Cunningham, who last fielded two Caddys in 1950, including the locally dubbed "Le Monstre" - a machine as bold in appearance as its name. Five decades later, Cadillac had fallen short of the wealthy socialite's aspirations. But now, Cadillac is looking to make a triumphant return to Le Mans, aiming to show the world what it's truly made of.

Twenty-five years ago, Cadillac launched the Northstar program with high hopes of success at Le Mans. However, the initiative was more like three projects in one, causing a lack of progress. The initial car was a failure, and when the project started to come good, it was halted. Cadillac had grossly underestimated the enormous task, which was exacerbated by the conservative engine partnership with McLaren Engines in Detroit.

Cadillac's first Northstar LMP, developed by Riley & Scott in North America, was built without a proper understanding of the culture and nature of European racing. As a result, it was clear that the engine was not the best on the market, and its technical level and budget were already outdated when it entered the Le Mans race.

By 2000, Cadillac found itself woefully behind the times, with its Northstar LMP900 class car no longer a match for the competition, notably the Audi R8 LMP900. It was a rude awakening for Cadillac, but the lack of progress was not entirely of their own making. The Automobile Club de l'Ouest gave the team mixed messages about the design of their car, which put them at a disadvantage. Unfortunately, there was no time or money to make changes, and the Caddy tubs were already in construction for the following year.

Fishel was on the lookout for options to revamp the Northstar project even before the 2000 race. Visits to Prodrive and other organizations ensued, but eventually, Cadillac went with a group put together by Wayne Taylor, Jeff Hazell, and Nigel Stroud. The new organization, named 3GR, didn't come into place until November 2000, so a new car for the following June wasn't possible. Instead, they reworked the Riley car, keeping the tub, the twin-turbo V8, and the Xtrac gearbox, and looked ahead to 2002 to produce an all-new contender. The hurried program meant 3GR contracted DAMS to run the cars at Le Mans. Their own operation would start running the cars after Le Mans in the ALMS. The revised car, LMP-01, only yielded a 15th place at Le Mans, highlighting that Cadillac was treading water.

However, Stroud's all-new LMP-02, although not tested until January, was a significant improvement. Cadillac's Le Mans Test Day was a disaster, but the team made significant strides in the better part of two months before the race as it overcame aerodynamic issues. Finally, in the late-season ALMS races, Cadillac began to challenge Audi with a run of four podiums post-Le Mans.

Though Cadillac's Le Mans adventure was approved for three seasons, the program didn't last. Fishel had talked about extending the program as early as Le Mans 2001, but it was eventually halted. The options to continue were vast, including an ALMS-only campaign, the cars running on a privateer basis, and the Northstar engines going in the back of a Dallara chassis to be run by ORECA.

ORECA, the legendary motorsport company, once rose to the top of the prototype ranks with Reynard, following their triumphs with Chrysler's iconic Dodge Viper. Initially, ORECA had planned to create their own vehicle, but instead, they chose to forge a groundbreaking partnership with the legendary Dallara, beating Cadillac to the punch. Fast forward fifteen years, and Cadillac and Dallara finally came together on the DPi program, with Angelelli leading the charge.

IMSA implemented a new ACO/FIA LMP2 concept, and M was the first manufacturer to have a car up and running with its Chevrolet Corvette-bodied Daytona Prototypes. Dallara worked on different designs with different engines while awaiting a decision on which route would be chosen for the program, including staying with Chevrolet. Cadillac continued racing, moving into the Sports Car Club of America's Pirelli World Challenge with the four-door CTS-V and later the GT3-spec ATS-V.R, but DPi presented the perfect opportunity to return to the prototype ranks.

The rationale behind Cadillac's program has remained unchanged, or rather strengthened, with the creation of a global category, allowing a manufacturer to race the same machinery in the WEC and IMSA. The latest Caddy has already proven its worth, with a 3-4 finish the first time out for the Chip Ganassi Racing squad at Daytona in January, followed by a victory for Action Express Racing at Sebring six weeks later.

Although Cadillac hasn't collected any silverware in the WEC yet, they came close in the opening two rounds, with Earl Bamber and his team narrowly missing the podium due to a late penalty at the Sebring 1000 Miles in March. The group achieved another fourth place at the Portimao 6 Hours this month on the first run for the V-Series. R on European soil – the car had not even been tested on this side of the pond.

A safety-car interlude with an hour to go undid a strategy enforced on the Ganassi team after Westbrook flat-spotted a tire while trying to avoid a slow-moving Peugeot. Despite the setback, the solo Caddy would have been the first LMDh home, ahead of Porsche, if not for the late caution.

Caddy's focus was initially on racking up the miles in North America before Daytona, but now the team is ramping up its European-based campaign. Action Express will join Ganassi at the Spa WEC round this weekend, and then Ganassi will return to the Algarve circuit for final pre-Le Mans WEC round testing, marking the team's first opportunity for European testing.