{"id":26716,"date":"2021-01-27T14:47:44","date_gmt":"2021-01-27T18:47:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=26716"},"modified":"2021-01-27T14:48:53","modified_gmt":"2021-01-27T18:48:53","slug":"new-gm-racing-chief-klauser-hits-the-ground-winning-at-daytona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2021\/01\/new-gm-racing-chief-klauser-hits-the-ground-winning-at-daytona","title":{"rendered":"New GM racing chief Klauser hits the ground winning at Daytona"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Corvette Racing has a new boss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

General Motors Co. veteran Laura Wontrop Klauser has succeeded the legendary Doug Fehan, who left Corvette Racing at the end of 2020. Klauser assumed a new position as GM\u2019s first Sports Car Racing Program Manager overseeing Corvette, Cadillac, and Camaro IMSA race programs. She has been involved with GM racing for the last five years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Laura<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a huge honor to move into this role with Corvette Racing,\u201d said Klauser. \u201cIt unquestionably is one of the premier programs in all of sports car endurance racing. This motorsports management restructure is a great opportunity to rethink how Chevrolet operates on IMSA weekends. My goal is to promote more synergy between our racing programs and funnel our technical learnings back to GM.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Klauser\u2019s first week on the job was a successful one as the Cadillac Dpi-V.R prototype won the Motul Pole Award 100 at Daytona International Speedway and the Corvette team placed 1-2 in the GTLM division. By winning the Motul 100, Caddy will be on the pole for next weekend\u2019s Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, North America\u2019s premier sports car endurance race. Cadillac is going for a 5th straight Daytona win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Corvette is coming off a historic 2020 season in which its first mid-engine race car won in its inaugural campaign. It was a crowning achievement for Fehan\u2019s 24-year career at Corvette Racing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe team spent three years working double shifts \u2014 two jobs \u2014 to bring the C8.R to fruition,\u201d Fehan said in an interview. \u201cTo come out the first year and win that championship it\u2019s an outstanding achievement for that team, and I couldn\u2019t be more proud of what they\u2019ve done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though his work at Corvette is done, Fehan won\u2019t be going away quietly: \u201cI\u2019m not one to sit back and look out the window,\u201d he laughed. \u201cRacing is my passion and I plan to find a way to continue with that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Klauser, 34, takes the reins as GM continues its engineering-based approach to motorsports programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBehind the scenes we try to take the lessons we learn on the race track and tie that back into production,\u201d Klauser said in an interview. \u201cIn the case of the Cadillac (race car), we did a lot of aerodynamic trial and error. The CT5 and CT4 sedans took all of the learnings from the DPi program and brought that into production. It was a way to learn how to more efficiently bring air over the car which helps stability and better fuel efficiency.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Laura<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

A mechanical engineer with a masters in engineering, Klauser joined GM in 2008 and looks to expand the technical direction for Corvette Racing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After working in GM production and the Cadillac ATS race program, Klauser helped launch the Cadillac DPi-V.R racer, which has been a consistent contender in the high-flying prototype category against other manufacturer entries including Mazda, Acura, and Nissan. Cadillac-supported teams have claimed two manufacturers championships, four Michelin Endurance Cup Championships and 18 race wins.Get the COVID-19 Update newsletter in your inbox.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Since Fehan launched Corvette Racing in 1997, the program has compiled 14 IMSA team titles (including in 2020) and a record 100-plus wins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to her GM management roles, Klauser is the chair of the SAE Detroit Section Board and a familiar face to the Corvette customer and enthusiast community. She owns  a 2013 Corvette Grand Sport that she takes to track days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are pleased to have someone as enthusiastic and experienced as Laura,\u201d said Mark Stielow, Chevy Director of Motorsports Competition Engineering. \u201cCorvette Racing and GM\u2019s road-racing efforts will benefit from her engineering experience with both the Corvette and Cadillac production cars.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Klauser & co. will field nine cars in three different classes at next weekend\u2019s Daytona events. The Cadillac Dpi-V.R and Corvette C8.R will take the green flag at the Rolex 24 January 30-31.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Corvette Racing has a new boss. General Motors Co. veteran Laura Wontrop Klauser has succeeded the legendary Doug Fehan, who left Corvette Racing at the end of 2020. Klauser assumed a new position as GM\u2019s first Sports Car Racing Program Manager overseeing Corvette, Cadillac, and Camaro IMSA race programs. She has been involved with GM […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26716"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26716"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26716\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26718,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26716\/revisions\/26718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}