Cadillac Racing Misses Out On Podium At St. Pete

Cadillac Racing’s second competitive outing in 2015 wasn’t nearly as successful as their first. The double-header weekend at St. Pete, which marked the first time the ATS-V-R raced competitively on one of the Pirelli World Challenge’s street courses, saw the Cadillac team miss out on a podium on both Saturday and Sunday as Johnny O’Connell and Andy Pilgrim struggled to keep up with the frontrunners.

The weekend’s first race ended up with O’Connell fourth in the No. 3 ATS-V.R, while Pilgrim was seventh in the No. 8 Cadillac. The race got off to a slow start after Dan Knox spun his Dodge Viper GTA halfway through the first turn, bringing out a caution flag while the track was cleared of debris. The Cadillacs failed to make the most of the restart, while Ryan Eversly went on to win under caution in his Acura TLX-GT.

The second round of racing at St. Pete was a little more exciting for fans, running caution free from start to finish. It didn’t help Cadillac’s case much, though, with O’Conell turning up fifth and Pilgrim slotting in behind him in sixth. The field was no match for winner of the first PWC round of the year at Circuit of the Americas, Olivier Beretta, who raced his 61 R. Ferri Ferrari 458 GT Italia to his second first place finish of the year.

The Pirelli World Challenge will travel to the streets of Long Beach for this year’s third round of racing on April 17-19. Reigning champs Cadillac are will be searching for their first win of the year at the venue, which will also be the ATS-V.R’s first-ever win.