Cadillac rules out full ALMS season in 2001

General Motors wants the Northstar LMP programme to concentrate its resources on the Le Mans 24 Hours, rather than battle for the ALMS title with the works Audi and Panoz teams.

Cadillac project manager Jeff Kettman said: "It's not our intention for next year to run a full championship, although we cannot rule it out in future seasons. We've got to develop the car and the whole programme before we tackle a task like that. To jump into a full championship battle would be stretching our resources at the moment. Le Mans is the absolute priority, and always has been."

General Motors' Riley & Scott-run prototype squad is running a partial programme in the US-based series this year. It raced in the championship for the first time since Sebring at the Portland event last weekend, finishing eighth overall.

Two more rounds, including the blue-riband Petit Le Mans race at Road Atlanta, are scheduled for the works team this year. The policy of contesting selected ALMS races alongside Le Mans itself is thought likely to be mirrored in 2001.

Cadillac is to make an official announcement this week as to its plans for next year. The American marque has not yet confirmed whether Riley & Scott will be retained to design and run the cars for next year.

The Indianapolis-based company is known to have started the design process on a new Le Mans challenger, but work on this is now understood to have been put on hold. A new engine configuration is also a possibility. An atmospheric powerplant was recently given a back-to-back test alongside the existing 4.0-litre turbo-charged unit.