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GM Open to Cadillac DPi-V.R Customer Cars

GM open to customer Cadillac DPi-V.Rs…

Photo: John Dagys

Photo: John Dagys

GM Racing Director Mark Kent said they are open to having additional Cadillac DPi-V.Rs on the grid in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, with the manufacturer making available cars to customer teams.

The Dallara-based prototype claimed victory in January’s Rolex 24 at Daytona with Wayne Taylor Racing, which along with Action Express Racing are GM’s initial factory supported teams.

Kent said chassis constructor Dallara, which built the DPi bodywork through direct design input from GM, is responsible for Cadillac DPi-V.R sales.

“If someone wants to buy a Cadillac DPi, they can do that,” Kent told Sportscar365. “Our agreement with Dallara is that they can sell cars to other teams.

“We hope that, based on the success of the car, that other people are interested in the car and it helps grow the series.”

Cadillac is the first DPi manufacturer to open up customer car sales, with Mazda yet to finalize when it will offer its RT24-P to additional teams, and Nissan having an exclusive two-year deal with Tequila Patron ESM.

IMSA currently does not mandate DPi manufacturers to make their cars available to customers.

While a timeline has not yet been established, Mazda Motorsports Director John Doonan stressed that customer sales of its Riley-Multimatic-based DPi are planned.

“My goal is to show some reliability in the engine front and then I’d love to see the opportunity to run customers down the road,” Doonan told Sportscar365.

“I don’t know if it will be during this season or 2018, but everything Mazda does from grassroots-up is customer-based and that’s what I’d love to see us do.”

Kent said the process in taking delivery of a Cadillac DPi would not be any different from the way Wayne Taylor and Action Express received its cars, with the chassis being purchased from Dallara and engines separately from ECR Engines.

“We’ve been supplying engineering support on both sides,” he said. “The business transactions have all basically been a customer program.”

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John

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