DETROIT (Jan. 11, 2023) — Cadillac Racing enters a new era of prototype sports car racing with the competition debut of the Cadillac V-LMDh in the Rolex 24 At Daytona. Three Cadillac V-LMDh race cars will attempt to secure the pole Jan. 22 for the 61st edition of the race on Jan. 28-29.
Global Vice President of Cadillac Rory Harvey participated in a Zoom media conference hosted by IMSA with other OEM principals. Transcript of Harvey sections of the Q&A:
HOW DOES THIS SPLATFORM SUPPORT CADILLAC’S MOVE TOWARD AND ALL-ELECTRIC FUTURE?
“We’ve had a long association with the IMSA championship. I’ve personally been privileged to pick up the Manufacturers Championship trophy on a couple of occasions. It gives us the ability to showcase what we do from a technology perspective, from a performance perspective, from and aerodynamics perspective, etc. It gives us the ability to transfer technology across to our road cars, whether it be looking at the aerodynamics as an example. Cadillac has our V-Series and our V-Series Blackwings, which are very successful. We work with IMSA to make sure we can maximize this opportunity and make sure we can replicate some of this on the road. We did the Track Editions last year that sold out virtually immediately, which shows in terms of the target audience that it dovetails into what we want to achieve. If you look at the powertrains this year and our stated ambition to be all-electric by 2030, we have the 5.5-liter V8 and the hybrid technology, so from that point of view we’re looking to learn, develop and look to further take those lessons into our EV portfolio as we move forward.”
AS ANDRETTI CADILLAC MOVES FORWARD WITH A FORMULA ONE EFFORT, COULD THAT HAVE ANY AFFECT ON THE LMDH PROGRAM?
“No, we’re super excited about that opportunity as well. The process is in the very early stages; we’re looking to submit an Expression of Interest. From our perspective, it will complement what we do in this series. We don’t see it impacting this series in any way.”
WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF CADILLAC IN LMDH?
“We have a pedigree of motor racing. It’s well over 70 years since we entered motorsport and have been very successful in a number of series over the years. The U.S. is massively important to us and the IMSA series is very important to us. In addition, we’re looking to complement it with the commonization of the regulations so we can compete in the World Endurance Championship. We sell Cadillacs throughout the globe and that gives us greater coverage and greater reach in geographical locations where we also look to perform. And then being able to complement what we do here with the opportunity, should we be successful, of entering Formula One. We see that as another piece of the jigsaw puzzle and very fitting to the Cadillac brand and the heritage of both Cadillac Racing and General Motors Racing. It’s a big commitment. We believe that the partnership that we discussed last week is wonderful and gives us the ability to perform. We believe that we have a blend of skills sets across the organizations that means we can use the expertise from both parties to put together a package that ensures that we’ll be competitive.”
WHERE ARE THINGS WITH SUPPLY CHAINS; IS IT GETTING BETTER?
“I’d love to say that everything is normalized and things are back at the levels where we think it should be, but it isn’t. Progress continues to be made. I think the speed bumps in the system seem to be small and less frequent, so we are definitely seeing progress. If you look at it in terms of vehicles we build for the road, GM continues to build stock. We’re still at very low levels compared to the traditional levels of stock overall, as I think most manufacturers are, but from our perspective there are some lessons there and we do believe we can work more efficiently and more effectively going forward. We’re taking some of those lessons and applying them to the supply chain going forward. Things are slowly starting to improve and becoming more stable. We’re getting greater line of sight in terms of what product availability is there going forward, what challenges we may have. I have to say the team has done an outstanding job in terms of ensuring that we can drive our performance forward. For North America year end as an example, Cadillac was able to grow 13.9 percent last year, which was a strong performance out of the luxury brands in the U.S.”
IS HAVING THE WEC CAR AT DAYTONA A NUMBERS GAME?
“We’ve run multiple cars in past seasons. We have the partnership with Chip Ganassi Racing and Action Express Racing – two valued partners with a lot of experience. We’re going into the World Endurance Championship as well; we will have one of those vehicles running full time in the WEC. From our perspective, it’s good to have the coverage of the three vehicles, bearing in mind that we will be competing both of the series this year.”
IS THE FORMULA COST-EFFECTIVE?
“We evaluate our performance both on and off the track. We look at the costs of the program and there are some cost efficiencies in terms of the program and we’re very happy to work with the teams and to bring exciting racing together. This season, with some new entrants into the event, it’s going to be super exciting. The fans are going to absolutely love it and it gives us the ability to showcase our vehicles. We’re happy with the championship overall.”
WHAT IS AN EXAMPLE OF SOMETHING YOU HOPE TO LEARN TO CARRY OVER TO THE ROAD CAR SIDE?
“There are multiple things that we take from the program, whether it be the revisions to the regulations, the 5.5-liter V8 and the hybridization of that as an example. Those are standard. We still get the ability to learn from that. If you look at our vehicles, they were designed by our design team, they were designed for racing but it gives us great ability to be able to further our experience in terms of aerodynamics. We take those learnings and portray them on our performance vehicles albeit that we’re in that transition phase between internal combustion engines and going all EV. Racing has been part of our DNA. Performance vehicles on the road have been part of our DNA and we will have that going forward in terms of performance. From our perspective, there are so many things that we translate whether it be now with our internal combustion engines or whether it be in the future with some of the learnings. Some of the things will be common in terms of aerodynamics, etc., and some things will be very new such as the EV powertrains compared to ICE vehicles. So we are in that transition and the regulations that have been put forth here enable us to combine our internal combustion engine with hybridization, so we will take learnings out of that and we will apply those learnings to our existing vehicles and our future vehicle portfolio.”
WHAT’S BEEN THE REACTION FROM THE COMPANY AFTER THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE F1 EFFORT AND WHERE DOES IT STAND?
“We think that in terms of the partnership between Andretti and General Motors and Cadillac that we have a very good proposition. We wouldn’t have gone forward in announcing our intent to submit an Expression of Interest if we didn’t think it was a proposition that fulfilled the requirements and give us the ability to succeed. From that point of view, there is a long way to go yet in this process. The Expression of Interest and the details have not come out exactly yet, so we have that to go as a first step. We’ll need to submit our Expression of Interest and then see how the process plays out. I don’t want to speculate in terms of some of the articles that have been written. Internally, we’re super excited. I know from the Andretti organization’s perspective they are super excited and we will do our very best in terms of our Expression of Interest and be able to showcase what we believe that we could bring to Formula One.”
HOW INVOLVED IS THE MANUFACTURER IN HELPING THE TEAMS DELIVER A CHAMPIONSHIP?
“We work very closely with the teams. We have our 5.5-liter V8 powertrain, which is developed by our Performance Engineering division in Pontiac (Michigan). We work very closely with the chassis provider Dallara as well. It’s about getting the best from the strengths the teams bring along with the strengths of the OEM. It’s about blending those together so you have as good a competitive proposition as you can. It’s integral that we all work together to blend those experiences to come up with the most competitive proposition. Activation, as an example, whether it be social media, whether it be our V-Series websites, and our drivers and teams are very happy to support those events as well. In terms of the Rolex 24, we’ll have all of our expertise on site. The teams have their expertise on site. We collectively work together to optimize what we see during the race. The first thing is to make sure we have a fast car. The second thing is to make sure it’s durable. The third thing is to make sure we have contingencies should any unplanned incidences occur. We’re working hard to make sure we can maximize, but there’s no doubt on occasion there is course correction in an event, particularly the length of 24 hours. The teams are supported by the GM team in terms of the expertise and we blend those two together hopefully influence to outcome to be effect.”
About Cadillac
A leading luxury auto brand since 1902, Cadillac is growing globally, driven by an expanding product portfolio that features distinctive design and technology. More information on Cadillac appears at www.cadillac.com.
