Cadillac ATS-V.R Drivers to Start First Street Race 7th and 10th

Cadillac Racing drivers Johnny O'Connell and Andy Pilgrim will start the Pirelli World Challenge St. Petersburg Cadillac Grand Prix from the fourth and fifth row for the first race of a double event weekend tomorrow afternoon.

Following practice in dry conditions on Thursday where Andy Pilgrim (Boca Raton, Fla.) finished the day eighth fastest and teammate Johnny O'Connell (Flowery Branch, Ga.) experienced electrical issues and could only manage time that had him 15th at the end of the day.

In this afternoon's qualifying session, the St. Petersburg area was receiving a spring time rain storm. The series officials decided to qualify despite the rain. The Cadillac duo of O'Connell and Pilgrim sloshed around the 1.4-mile, 14-turn St. Pete temporary street circuit and posted times good enough for seventh and tenth place starting positions. O'Connell put in a time of 1:25.718 and Pilgrim posted a lap of 1:26.651.

"I am pretty pleased with that rain qualifying run," O'Connell said. "We are still working on what exactly this ATS-V.R wants as far as a rain set-up goes, but we are sneaking up on it. The last thing you want to do is wreck a new car. There was a great potential for that today here in the rain. Each time I drive this new Cadillac I get more comfortable. The rain laps at the Circuit of the America's helped. I may have been able to stay out and push a little more, but tomorrow is going to be dry. You don't get to where I am in my career by making foolish decisions. I wanted to put in a good effort and bring the car back in one piece so we can focus on the race tomorrow."

Pilgrim is glad the series made the decision to qualify in the rain instead of by points.

"We definitely learned a few things at the Circuit of the America's in the rain," Pilgrim said. "More from how to drive this new car and some set-up adjustments from the data. I had a few issues today, I lost my windshield wipers again. So I am pretty happy with where I am on the grid considering I couldn't see that great. It is a good thing we qualified in the rain. I am starting eight positions better than I would have if we would have lined up on points."

The St. Petersburg Cadillac Grand Prix will run Mar. 27 - 29. The races (Sat. Mar. 10 at 11:10 a.m. and Sun. Mar. 11 at 10:45 a.m.) from St. Petersburg can be streamed live at world-challenge.com. The races will be broadcast on the CBS Sports Network Sunday, April 5, at 5 p.m. ET.

Media Contact:

Kyle Chura

kyle@kcapr.com

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