ITW Laura Wontrop Klauser (Cadillac Racing) 1/3: “Being at Daytona with three cars”

Did your teams collect the information you wanted during the three days of testing on the Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta?

You never get everything you want because you always come up with overambitious plans. But I would say that everyone was satisfied. We are making great progress with the car. We are working on the correlation between the hybrid, the engine and the rest of the car, in particular the braking system… And we are also looking at the aero. We also rotated the pilots. From our point of view, it was a successful test

What is the next step ?

Work on homologation with IMSA, FIA and ACO. But the next big step is a 24-hour test before the end of the year. It is by carrying them out that we learn the most.

What is the total test mileage target?

Mileage is secondary to other things we need to review. The 24-hour test is important to us and testing different things on different circuits is also key to make sure we see how the car performs in different scenarios. The mileage will go with it.

What can you tell us about the progress made so far with the Cadillac V-LMDh?

Talking about the essential things to get us ready for January, I’d say we’ve gone through 50% of them. Then he will make us look further, including all the boxes we need to tick for the WEC. We are prioritizing the preparation for the Rolex 24 (24 Hours of Daytona. Editor’s note), because that’s what comes first, then we will look at the WEC and its circuits to see what data they will add to the list. ‘equation.

Are you planning trials in Europe?

We would like. We have to see when it is possible for us to do it, what leads we might have available… And then shipping the material in one direction or the other is a long process. So it’s a question of seeing what we can do with the limited time we have. Honestly, our schedule keeps changing due to circumstances. It could be after Sebring, it could be before. Everyone had to learn to be flexible.

How difficult would it be to field a third car at the 24 Hours of Daytona?

The more you have to do, the less easy it is. This usually means that your stock of spare parts is smaller, but our goal is to be there with three cars. I see us achieving this goal and we are leaving with this goal.

Do you consider it crucial to do a 24-hour test before the collective tests planned in Daytona in December?

This is something we need to do before January. Obviously, we would like to do this as soon as possible so that we can learn from it. In an ideal world, we would have completed it in September. It’s something we absolutely have to do before racing in January.

Would lining up a third car at Daytona for these tests jeopardize your European testing programme?

Every time we drive these cars, we learn. It would be nice to go on circuits in Europe as soon as possible, but even by only driving in the United States, we contribute to the program (WEC. Editor’s note). I’m glad we have all three cars at Daytona because it forces us to have all three cars ready to race in January.

Could we see the three Cadillacs at the start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans?

Traveling to Le Mans requires an invitation from the ACO. If you are committed to the season, then you are guaranteed to participate. So we will have at least one. For the rest, we have to wait for the ACO to communicate and continue to work with them. It will depend on what they are willing to do with us. We would like to see as many cars as possible there.