Cadillac
Cadillac is among the first automobile brands in the world, second in the United States only to fellow GM marque Buick. The firm was founded from the remnants of the Henry Ford Company in 1902. It was named after Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, who founded Detroit, Michigan. The Cadillac crest is based on his coat of arms.
Cadillac Northstar LMP
For the 24 Hours of Daytona, the first race of the year, Team Cadillac would debut their two cars. Alongside their Chevrolet Corvette teammates, the Northstar LMPs performed well early on, taking second and third in qualifying. During the race the cars ran on pace, although after problems they found themselves nearly 100 laps behind the leading grand tourer cars. Although one car suffered a gearbox in the closing moments of the race, both cars were classified as finishers, taking 13th and 14th places. This was followed by the 12 Hours of Sebring, which saw both Team Cadillac and Team DAMS would be entered, with Cadillac running two cars and DAMS one. The teams suffered some difficulties, with the DAMS entry breaking a clutch and one of the Team Cadillac entries being involved in an accident. However, the third Northstar LMP was able to finish the race and take an encouraging sixth place, although it was 29 laps behind the winning Audi R8.