General Motors Sports Car Racing Program Manager Laura Wontrop Klauser is being reassigned to a different part of the business. Her new role at GM is Engineering Group Leader for the Global Hardware Systems and Integration Team.
Klauser formerly oversaw racing operations for both Cadillac Racing GTP and Corvette GT3. She’s being replaced by Keely Bosn on the Cadillac side and Jessica Dane on the Corvette side. Bosn’s current role is Future Tech & Mobility Planning Manager in Competitor Intelligence, Technology, and Mobile Planning, and Dane is the Motorsports Integration Manager for GM Motorsports.
This shakeup in motorsports management is part of GM’s “why we race” mission. GM wants to integrate knowledge and experience from the motorsports world into its production models. Klauser will take what she’s learned in her three years as Sports Car Racing Program Manager and bring fresh ideas to the production side of GM.
The biggest highlight from Klauser’s tenure in her previous role – which she entered in 2021 – is the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race, in which a Cadillac V-Series.R earned a podium finish and a Corvette earned a GTE-AM class victory. More recently, a pair of Corvette Z06 GT3.R models earned a double podium finish in the LMGT3 class in Bahrain at the conclusion of the FIA World Endurance Racing (WEC) season last weekend.
This news comes shortly following the conclusion of a respectable 2024 season for GM Motorsports in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Having wrapped up on October 12th at Road Atlanta, Cadillac finished the season as runner-up to Porsche, and Corvette Racing was the third most successful in the GTD Pro class out of 10 manufacturers.
While Cadillac Racing has found success in the IMSA Championship, it’s struggled a bit in the WEC series, in which it finished seventh place out of nine manufacturers for the 2024 season. Hopefully, the rotation in management can change Cadillac’s fortune in the competitive WEC series and capitalize on Corvette Racing’s momentum.
Comments
Well, she must be a car person, so it’s probably actually a good thing for the company…
Time will tell.
The Caddy is and has a super reliable engine, however it is no match for the Ferrari, Porsche or BMW top speed. Like Bahrain that has 4 straightway with top speed in each of 180+ MPH. All in all, GM wanted to prove the world that a NA engine nowadays can beat a turbo-hybrid powerplant, by keeping the design very simple.
But at the end, racing is all about winning, so the future of success in its class continues to be the Corvette which is getting better with the new GT3.
Trying to copy Ford with Jim Farley’s addiction to racing? I’m not encouraged.
Laura is a star. She is headed for a front office position and can only benefit from exposure to all the corners GM has.
No matter where she goes she will excel and keep gaining skills.
All the best Laura.
Dear Laura , please redesign the Camaro body and place it on the Cadillac Chassis as a two door Sports Car . Ford Mustang needs some competition and GM car enthusiasts need a new style Camaro with a big horsepower engine!
Laura is an incredibly talented class act and GM will continue to benefit from that in whatever role she plays.