After a 50-year hiatus, Cadillac is set to return to the fabled turns of The 24 Hours of Le Mans, the premier endurance race in the world. On track to compete in the June, 2000 event, Cadillac will campaign the Cadillac Northstar Le Mans Prototype (LMP). The foray back into international endurance racing gives Cadillac the opportunity to showcase its vision of "art and science," demonstrating its engineering and technology prowess on the world stage. Under development with world-renowned race car builders, Riley and Scott, the LMP chassis will be powered by a 4.0-liter version of Cadillac's Northstar V8 with dual turbo chargers. In addition to going head-to-head with the top competition in the world, the racing program will also provide valuable engineering information to help improve the street performance of future Cadillacs. With pre-qualifying for the June 24 Hour of Le Mans endurance classic back at the end of April, Mike Croake, team manager for Riley & Scott Inc., did what it took to race abroad. "It takes approximately 30 people for a two-car effort," explained Croake. "The initial preparation began in late February and hasn't stopped yet. It takes a great deal of organization and time to prepare for an international race, especially when the equipment stays is Europe until after the race." Most people who turned on their television sets on June 17-18 to watch segments of the race may never wonder what it took to get all the equipment, cars and personnel from point A to point B. In speaking with Mike Croake you would think it's a piece of cake. A detailed Manifest containing a list of all equipment, from the coffee filters to spare race car parts must be compiled for each truck and trailer and submitted to the custom agent for approval. Team Cadillac drove the transporters from their shop on Gasoline Alley in Indianapolis to the Port of New Jersey where it was loaded onto a cargo ship. It takes a few weeks for the transporters to make the journey from New Jersey "across the pond" to Liverpool. Once everything clears customs, the transporters will be loaded onto a ferry in Port Smith, England, with its final destination being La Harve, France. Although this may seem rather time consuming, there are several advantages to this method. "I can't tell you how nice it is to show up at a racetrack after flying all night and having the actual transporter there," said Croake. "The mechanics know exactly where everything is and don't have to fumble through boxes trying to find things. It really saves a great deal of time and alleviates some frustration." Another benefit to having your own truck and trailer overseas is that once it passes customs it can travel all over Europe. This allowed Team Cadillac the freedom to do a little testing in Monza between pre-qualifying and the actual race. Cadillac's European connection, the DAMS-Team, is located in the city of Ruaudin, a few short miles from the actual Le Mans race circuit. Another advantage for Team Cadillac? Absolutely, when the team heads back to the United States after the Monza test they will be able to leave their transporter at their sister team's race facility until they return in June.