Photo Credit: Richard Prince for Corvette Racing

I can’t even believe that axing the Corvette Racing program is even under discussion with GM’s racing brass, but according to this article at Autosport.com, it appears to be one possibility as the manufacturer plots its future sportscar racing programs for both Corvette and Cadillac.

We know that the future direction of Corvette Racing is up in the air as IMSA’s GTLM class will be retired at the end of 2021 and a new GTD Pro class with GT3-spec racers will take its place. Meanwhile, Cadillac’s Daytona Prototype International (DPi) class will be replaced with the LMDh spec cars in 2023 which allows the same car to race in both IMSA and the WEC, including Le Mans. Acura, Audi, and Porsche have all signed on to develop cars for the LMDh class.

So there are different ways Corvette and Cadillac can go, although the path seems pretty clear to us. Corvettes go GT racing while Cadillac runs with the prototypes.

But Autosport claims in their article that GM racing (and engineering!) manager Laura Wontrop Kauser is even considering reducing participation to just one class, and as no one believes we would see both Cadillac and Corvette running in the same class, one has to go?

Autosport writes the following:

Klauser, who has taken over the reins of the Corvette Racing IMSA programme from long-time custodian Doug Fehan in addition to her previous role heading up the Cadillac DPi programme, said that the manufacturer is currently assessing whether to retain IMSA programs in both Prototype and GT classes or reduce its participation to just one class. [emphasis added]

However, reading her quotes in the story, I don’t necessarily see that take. Here is what she did say:

“We’ve taken a good look at the rules, and what we’re doing now is looking through where we want to place ourselves in sportscar racing in its entirety.

“It’s a package deal in our mind, where in the past it was a little bit separated – Corvette Racing was its own thing in GTLM, Cadillac was its own thing in Prototypes.

“Now it’s a different story, and LMDh has been very much part of the evaluation. Does it make sense to be there? What brand does it make sense to run?

“The good news is that IMSA’s GTD Pro is also going to allow a bit of factory backing going forward. So all of these things we’ve looked at to try and figure out where we want to be.”

We did hear her previously mention LMDh as a potential path for Corvette, where it could then contend for the overall win against Audi, Porsche, Toyota, and other hypercar participants. However, we also have to believe there would be enough interest to launch a GT3 program featuring both factory racers and customer cars built for the class.

My mind keeps saying GM couldn’t cancel the Corvette Racing program at this time when there is so much potential with the C8 platform, as well as having the most passionate fan base in motorsports. Hopefully, we still have someone who understands that racing is the lifeblood of the Corvette, and everything the Corvette does well is because of racing.

Maybe now we know why Doug was replaced.

Source:
Autosport.com

Related:
IMSA Adjusts Race Calendar After the 24 Hours of Le Mans is Moved to August
[VIDEO] Corvette Racing Confirms WEC Entry for Portimao with Gavin and Garcia
Chevrolet Names Laura Klauser as First Sports Car Racing Program Manager