senor honda

[h=2]Cadillac: Northstar Shining[/h] Monday, 06 February 2017


RACER Staff / Images by Richard Dole, LAT

Like now, when Cadillac entered endurance racing in 2000, a street-car engine was at the heart of it all.

A half century after its first and only foray to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Cadillac dared to be different when it returned to northern France in 2000.


While others vying for victory in the world's most famous endurance race built highly specialized race engines to power their exotic prototype sports cars, Cadillac's contender had a twin-turbo version of a street-car powerplant, the 4-liter Northstar V8, at its beating, growling heart.
It's an approach echoed in the new Cadillac DPi-V.R racer, which uses the same 6.2-liter V8 that you'll find in the CTS-V or Escalade at your local dealer.
Then, as now, Cadillac goes racing to build better street cars. Through the two-way transfer of technology between road and track, and the uncompromising environment that competition provides, racing really does improve the breed.
Adding to Cadillac's challenges in 2000, its European-based competition not only had a head start in terms of experience, but in basic logistics, too. Based 4,000 miles and an ocean away, Cadillac called on the services of the French-based DAMS team, as well as U.S.-based Riley & Scott, to ease the steepness of its learning curve. It used the 2000 Rolex 24 at Daytona as a valuable warmup, yet its first Le Mans in 50 years still proved as tough as expected.

Above: Debut for the Northstar LMP was the 2000 Rolex 24 at Daytona, one of the toughest races on the calendar. The No. 5 car started a respectable fifth and finished 14th, one place behind its sister car.
Four Northstar LMPs were entered, with the quickest qualifying a solid ninth. But with a best finish of only 19th, it was time to regroup and react to the lessons learned.
On its return to Le Mans in 2001, the updated Cadillac Northstar LMP01 showed its improved pace and reliability. Two cars were entered by DAMS, starting eighth and 12th. Despite losing one car in an accident early in the race, a 15th-place finish for the other hinted at progress. It was followed by a third- and fourth-place finish for the U.S.-based Team Cadillac squad in an American Le Mans Series race at Mosport Park, Ontario, later that season.
For 2002, the relentless pace of development saw an all-new Northstar LMP02 take to the track, with Le Mans once again the primary focus. Qualifying eight and 10th in France, Team Cadillac ran strongly in the race to record a ninth- and 12th-place finish. On its return to the States and ALMS competition, second place on the streets of Miami and a three-four result at the season-ending Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta pointed to an exciting 2003 ahead.
But we're left to speculate on what might have been. With GM concentrating its endurance-racing resources on the burgeoning Corvette Racing program, the LMP02 didn't compete in 2003. Instead, American sports car fans were left with incredible memories from an exciting adventure...and a whole lot of "what ifs?"
Wayne Taylor, whose eponymous team is one of two racing the Cadillac DPi-V.R in 2017, was part of the driver lineup for the three seasons the Northstars raced. Even now, he remembers the silver and black machines with affection and awe.
"That 2002 car was probably the best prototype I ever drove," he says. "It was fantastic, and had the program continued, I've no doubt it was a winning car.
"For me as a racer, it was unfinished business, and I always hoped that Cadillac would return to prototypes one day. So to be involved with the DPi-V.R program, with my sons, Jordan and Ricky, both driving for me, and with the exciting emphasis on technology transfer and relevance, it really is a dream come true."
THE LEGEND OF "LE MONSTRE"

Above: "Le Monstre" sits alongside its relatively unmodified 61 Series Cadillac teammate at the 1950 24 Hours of Le Mans.
When wealthy American auto racing enthusiast Briggs Cunningham entered the 1950 24 Hours of Le Mans with a pair of Series 61 Cadillacs, a rule allowing non-standard bodywork spawned a car so outrageous the French named it "Le Monstre."
Cunningham kept one Cadillac relatively standard, but tasked a Grumman aircraft engineer with making the other as light and streamlined as possible. The result, honed in a wind tunnel normally used for crop dusters, was a slab-shaped, yet effective body that proved some 13mph faster in a straight line. But despite its slipperiness, poor traction out of corners meant "Le Monstre" was slower around a complete lap than its unmodified teammate.
Despite that, "Le Monstre" finished 11th, one place behind the other Cadillac, becoming a crowd favorite in the process. It could have been higher had Cunningham, who shared the driving with Phil Walters, heeded advice and carried a shovel in the car. He was left to rue his decision after he went off the road into deep sand and was forced to dig himself out by hand, losing more than 30 minutes in the process...