Johnny O’Connell led the two Cadillac ATS-V.R entries for race 1 of Pirelli World Challenge GT class at the Grand Prix St Petersberg today.
The preliminary final results — O’Connell in 4th and Michael Cooper in 7th for Cadillac. The best lap times of today’s race determine qualification placement for tomorrow’s race. The Cadillacs appear to be a bit off pace for the St Pete street track. St Pete is a 1.8 mile, 14 turn temporary circuit.
The Cadillac ATS-V.R is a racing extension of the street car. It uses a production based LF4.R twin turbo V6 engine making ~600 hp in the race cars. The ATS-V.R’s also feature wider bodies and accommodation for wider tires.
Cadillac expected to offer full-spec GT3 customer cars as well, but so far we have not seen independent teams in the field. Later in the year the Taylor brothers plan to join the fray, so we should see a 4 Cadillac team.
The Sunday GT race 2 will be at 3:15 ET. http://world-challenge.com/race/2017-03-09-stpt/