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McLaren Engines Supplying Power for Two Cadillac Racing Teams at Le Mans

16 June 2000

McLaren Engines Supplying Power for Two Cadillac Racing Teams at Le Mans

    LIVONIA, Mich.--June 15, 2000--McLaren Engines, Inc. is building turbocharged Northstar V-8 engines for two teams of Cadillac Northstar LMP racing cars for this year's Le Mans 24-hour endurance race, which runs June 17-18. GM Racing is entering two cars, and the French DAMS team two cars. GM Racing's Dave Spitzer leads the engine program, supported by engineers and technicians at the McLaren Engines headquarters in Livonia, Michigan.
    McLaren Engines opened a new engine development facility in its headquarters building to support the Northstar development program. A new engine build area was created and new equipment and support personnel were added, including two high-speed 1000-horsepower engine dynamometers dedicated exclusively to the project.
    Reliability is key to GM's strategy leading up to the Le Mans 24-hour race this year. "Our focus is on finishing races," says McLaren Engines President, Wiley McCoy. "We have to support the teams with dependable engines so they can develop the chassis." Spitzer's team decided to turbocharge the engines so the Northstar engine could make power at lower engine speed. If naturally aspirated, the engine would use much higher crankshaft speed to produce the same power.
    The Northstar engines were dependable at Daytona and Sebring this year, and in Europe, where the French DAMS team ran three races in addition to its debut at Sebring. All told, Northstar engines have completed over 22 thousand miles during races, practice, and testing this year.