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Le Mans / ALMS
ALMS: Viper’s Venomous Return
Pair of Riley Technologies-built and run factory SRT Viper GTS-Rs make American Le Mans Series debut this weekend at Mid-Ohio...
Twelve years since winning the ALMS GTS championship with the French ORECA squad, the Viper name returns to the American Le Mans Series, looking to conquer the production-based GT ranks. (Photo: John Dagys)
While having been away from the series in a factory capacity for more than a decade, the Viper name makes its highly anticipated return to American Le Mans Series competition this weekend, as the new-generation SRT Viper GTS-R debuts in Saturday’s Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge.
Announced at the New York International Auto Show in April, the latest factory program for the stout GT category has been built up in the matter of a few months, but with a clear long-term ambition of conquering the production-based ranks as the venerable ORECA-run Dodge Vipers achieved in 1999-2000.
The 8.0-liter V10-powered beast, built by Riley Technologies, which also runs the race operations under the SRT Motorsports banner, turned its first laps only two months ago in a shakedown at Carolina Motorsports Park. It was followed by further tests at Virginia International Raceway and Mid-Ohio before the decision was made to make its first race start.
For Tommy Kendall, SRT’s latest signing who joins Marc Goossens, Dominik Farnbacher and Kuno Wittmer as full-time drivers, the return of the Viper also marks the four-time Trans-Am champion’s comeback to professional competition after hanging up the helmet in 1997.
“It’s a tremendous amount of excitement,” Kendall said. “It’s a big comeback. We’ve both been away for similar periods of time, both Viper and myself, myself a little bit longer.
“[There’s] a lot of excitement just to be back at a historic track like Mid-Ohio but [I’m] also under no illusions about what I’ve gotten myself into. We’ve chosen a pretty stout, stacked pond to jump into.”
With more than a dozen entries from the likes of Porsche, Ferrari, BMW and Corvette, and the majority of them being either works or factory supported outfits, the ALMS GT category has evolved into being the most competitive category in the series, and arguably also the toughest to successfully break into.
That hasn't fazed SRT, which has committed to a multi-year program, initially beginning with select races in 2012 prior to a full-season, two-car attack next year.
“It's good to be here with such a factory program,” said Farnbacher, a four-time ALMS class winner. “It's been a dream of mine and my teammates to be a factory supported driver.
“For us, this year will be about getting experience and to get into the whole rhythm of tire changes, refueling, car setup, etc. It's a learning process.”
It’s no doubt been a baptism by fire for the Viper crew this weekend, which has battled a series of mechanical issues since unloading on Thursday. While expected given the short time frame of such a program, the team is under no illusions of achieving success right out of the box.
In fact, they’re treating Mid-Ohio as a part of an extended testing program, but in the environment of a race weekend.
"You can test and you can make more progress on your own but you really don't know where you're at,” Kendall said. “Here you can go out and get segment times; you know it's at the same time of day with the same track conditions and same everything.
“You can't delude yourself into thinking you're better than you are or worse then you are. We now know where we’re at. It’s exciting.”
Announced at the New York International Auto Show in April, the latest factory program for the stout GT category has been built up in the matter of a few months, but with a clear long-term ambition of conquering the production-based ranks as the venerable ORECA-run Dodge Vipers achieved in 1999-2000.
The 8.0-liter V10-powered beast, built by Riley Technologies, which also runs the race operations under the SRT Motorsports banner, turned its first laps only two months ago in a shakedown at Carolina Motorsports Park. It was followed by further tests at Virginia International Raceway and Mid-Ohio before the decision was made to make its first race start.
For Tommy Kendall, SRT’s latest signing who joins Marc Goossens, Dominik Farnbacher and Kuno Wittmer as full-time drivers, the return of the Viper also marks the four-time Trans-Am champion’s comeback to professional competition after hanging up the helmet in 1997.
“It’s a tremendous amount of excitement,” Kendall said. “It’s a big comeback. We’ve both been away for similar periods of time, both Viper and myself, myself a little bit longer.
“[There’s] a lot of excitement just to be back at a historic track like Mid-Ohio but [I’m] also under no illusions about what I’ve gotten myself into. We’ve chosen a pretty stout, stacked pond to jump into.”
With more than a dozen entries from the likes of Porsche, Ferrari, BMW and Corvette, and the majority of them being either works or factory supported outfits, the ALMS GT category has evolved into being the most competitive category in the series, and arguably also the toughest to successfully break into.
That hasn't fazed SRT, which has committed to a multi-year program, initially beginning with select races in 2012 prior to a full-season, two-car attack next year.
“It's good to be here with such a factory program,” said Farnbacher, a four-time ALMS class winner. “It's been a dream of mine and my teammates to be a factory supported driver.
“For us, this year will be about getting experience and to get into the whole rhythm of tire changes, refueling, car setup, etc. It's a learning process.”
It’s no doubt been a baptism by fire for the Viper crew this weekend, which has battled a series of mechanical issues since unloading on Thursday. While expected given the short time frame of such a program, the team is under no illusions of achieving success right out of the box.
In fact, they’re treating Mid-Ohio as a part of an extended testing program, but in the environment of a race weekend.
"You can test and you can make more progress on your own but you really don't know where you're at,” Kendall said. “Here you can go out and get segment times; you know it's at the same time of day with the same track conditions and same everything.
“You can't delude yourself into thinking you're better than you are or worse then you are. We now know where we’re at. It’s exciting.”
ALMS Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
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