Cadillac CTS-V Coupe Hits the Track for First Time

Those of us feeling Mother Nature’s icy grip in the Northeast would love to be in Florida for two reasons: the obvious one and to see the Cadillac CTS-V coupe get its first track time at Sebring International Raceway.

According to Cadillac, the Cadillac CTS-V Coupe race car hit the track for the first time yesterday, driven by Johnny O’Connell and Andy Pilgrim for tests at Sebring. Cadillac announced in a press release it is reentering the Sports Car Club of America World Challenge GT series this year, beginning with the season-opening race in St. Petersburg, Fla., on March 25-27. Cadillac competed in the World Challenge series in 2004-2007, earning the Speed GT Manufacturer’s Championship in both 2005 and 2007 with CTS-V Sedan race cars.

As Patrick Rall explained in his TorqueNews.com post on the unveil of the Cadillac CTS-V coupe at the Detroit Auto Show: “There has been no indication as to what drive train will be used in the 2011 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe race car but GM stresses that they will compete in a production-based series, so we can expect the 6.2L LSA supercharged V8 which offers 556hp in the standard production form. We can also expect to see a manual transmission when the new CTS-V race car makes its debut in March.”

Rall also reported that the 2011 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe race car will compete with a pair of teams; one piloted by Andy Pilgrim and the other by Johnny O’Connell. These production-based CTS-V racers are prepared by Michigan-based Pratt & Miller.