Update below Last week, GM’s former vice-chairman Bob Lutz threw a challenge at everyone interested to compete against the Cadillac CTS-V. Car owners, journalists or anyone interested on taking on the CTS-V, were invited to sign up for the event taking place on October 29th at New York’s Monticello Motor Club on a 4.1-mile track.
Journalists and “regular” car owners brought out a variety of cars to challenge the Cadillac CTS-V, from BMW M3 and M5, to Mitsubishi Evo, Jaguar XF and even Audi RS4.
Prior to the race, Car and Driver Editor-in-Chief Csaba Csere was on track to verify that all sedans are at stock options.
While the M5 came a bit short of Lutz’s CTS-V, 3:05:398 vs. 2:56:321, Michael Cooper, a 21 year old driver, and his BMW M3 sedan defeated the CTS-V driven by Lutz, with an impressive 2:50:424 lap time.
Jack Baruth of The Truth About Cars followed with 2:51:153 in a CTS-V. Lawrence Ulrich, a freelance journalist, took the third place, aboard a CTS-V, 2:53:157.
Bob Lutz came in fourth at 2:56:321. Michael Mainwald, the BMW M5 owner, came in fifth with a 3:05:398. The Mitsubishi Evo driven by Jalopnik’s Wes Siler, was next with 3:08:126.
You can see the results on the photo below.
Later on, some GM’s drivers jumped on and posted some impressive quick times, in a way, expected. Even a mystery driver was present who was the fastest on track. Identity? Undisclosed. I guess watching Top Gear and the Stig, gave GM some ideas.
We cannot wonder what a professional driver could have done with the M3, but this doesn’t take away from Michael’s impressive driving skills.
Well done and you have just helped me make up my mind: M3 Sedan is my next car!
Update: A little birdie told us that BMW North America would like to reward Michael Cooper for his performance. Our sources say a FREE Advanced School at the BMW Performance Center and a meet-up with the BMW Rahal Letterman Racing team. Once again, congratulations Michael and good to see BMW stepping up.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=gFr_CHvL8DA
