Models
The race-spec SRT Viper is already a successful track machine, having won many prestigious trophies since its introduction in 1996. The latest iteration of the race car, the GT3-R, has yet to reach the heights of its forerunners, but its recent success during the Detroit leg of the Pirelli World Challenge Series in May 2014 is proof enough that the Viper is headed in the right direction. More recently, the "Snake" developed by Riley Technologies made yet another step toward track glory by setting the fastest lap in the Ultimate Track Car Challenge.
The event took place on July 18th at Virginia International Raceway, where the SRT Viper GT3-R rendered its competitors obsolete. The race car, built by Riley Technologies and driven by American Le Mans Series ace Ben Keating, wasn’t shy about tackling the track at full throttle and set the fastest lap at 1:44.71. The Viper was quicker than a 2013 Lamborghini Gallardo Super Trofeo and its benchmark would have been enough to earn it the pole position at last year’s American Le Mans Series on the same track.
The Ultimate Track Car Challenge is an annual event held by Grassroots Motorsports at Virginia International Raceway. The competition is open to any type of car, including classic vehicles, and its sole purpose is to find America’s fastest track cars. Hit play to watch the SRT Viper GT3-R in action as it reaches speeds of up to 171 mph.
At its core, the SRT Viper GT3-R is a born and bred race car that’s capable of inflicting some serious damage on the track. The car proved as much during the Detroit leg of the Pirelli World Challenge Series in May 2014 when it scored its first-ever series victory. On July 19th and 20th, 2014, the World Challenge Series travels to Toronto and the Viper GT3-R is expected to be front and center once again.
SRT Motorsports is bringing one to the race where it will be driven by Kuno Wittmer, a man who is no stranger to driving the SRT GTS-R, his full-time ride at the IMSA Tudor United SportsCar Championship. But on July 19th and 20th, Wittmer will be piloting a special SRT GT3-R prepared by Riley Technologies.
He’s also no stranger to driving Vipers in the series, having competed there from 2008 to 2010 and boasting two victories while piloting the Viper. For one weekend, Wittmer returns to the Pirelli World Challenge Series with an even more incredible Viper by his side, ready to take the GTA class by storm.
The car itself looks like a real world beater. That’s a credit to the work put in by Riley Technologies to turn it into a full-fledged, competition-ready race car. With a massive V-10 engine under its hood that produces 680 horsepower and 640 pound-feet of torque, this SRT GT3-R is ready to take turn some heads in Toronto.
Click past the jump to read more about the Dodge Viper SRT GT3-R By Riley Technologies.
Well this is some pretty sad news. After sitting out for more than a decade, the Viper returned to Endurance racing last year and participated in the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans. It seems that triumphant return was short lived as SRT and Chrysler have announced that they are pulling out of the historic race.
While it is not being claimed as the official cause, and the production and motorsport programs are separately funded, the recent closure of the Viper production plant in Detroit due to low sales is likely playing some part in this decision. Racing is expensive; it’s a simple but saddening fact.
Thankfully you can still hear the V-10 wail of a Viper GTS-R on track as the SRT Racing team is still competing in the US TUDOR United SportsCar Championship for the remainder of the season. Current plans are to continue with the series next year, but the Le Mans run was supposed to be a multi-year initiative as well.
If you have the means, and you enjoy the Viper, maybe you should put one in your garage and help these guys out.
Click past the jump to read more about the SRT Viper GTS-R.
The biggest challenge for the SRT Viper GTS-R this year was, of course, the 24 Hours of Le Mans race, where the two cars entering the race finished eighth and ninth. Those results weren’t quite what SRT and Chrysler were expecting and they knew that the GTS-R needed more practice, so the team entered it in this weekend’s Road America race where Dominik Farnbacher and Marc Goossens piloted the beast. We think this practice was a success, as it claimed first place in the GT Class.
From 1999 to 2000 the Viper scored a total of 16 victories in the ALMS competition, with the last one being on December 31st, 2000 in Adelaide, Australia. This weekend’s win is the 17th factory-backed victory for SRT Viper in the famed ALMS.
Goossens took the lead in the last 33 minutes of the race and held that position for the remainder of the race. He had to work pretty hard for the win though, the Viper was low on fuel in the final eight minutes of the race with the green flag flying. Fortunately, the race went into caution just before he hit the pits, causing the entire field to slow down. He skipped the pits, option to take advantage of the reduced speed to milk the last few drops of fuel from his tank.
The Viper not only took the GT Class, but it also totally dominated the entire weekend, as the No. 93 Pennzoil Ultra SRT Viper GTS-R claimed the pole, while the GT Class winner was fifth on the starting grid.
Click past the jump to read more about the SRT Viper GTS-R.
The SRT Viper is preparing to prove what it is capable of this weekend at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The GTS-R version underwent intense testing over the past few weeks and we are pretty certain it will do great. It looks that while testing the GTS-R, SRT also put some time in working on a GT3-R version that will be raced in upcoming GT competitions.
The new GT3-R was developed by Chrysler Group’s Street and Racing Technology (SRT) Motorsports team and will borrow most of its technology from the GTS-R version, including the engine, chassis, suspension, electronics and aerodynamics.
The model is powered by a V-10 engine mated to a sequential transmission with a multi-disc race clutch and paddle shifters. The GT3-R will race on a set of lightweight wheels combined. Dragging this racing serpent to a halt are six-piston front brake calipers.
The new SRT Viper GT3-R is priced at $459,000. Customers can now place their orders and first deliveries will be made in late 2013.
Click past the jump to read about the SRT Viper GTS-R.
Earlier this year, the SRT team announced that the new-generation Viper is preparing its return to the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans race after an absence of 13 years. Now it looks like the company has big hopes for the 81st edition set for June 22nd and 23rd at Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, France.
SRT, in cooperation with Riley Technologies, is preparing two identicalSRT Viper GTS-R models for the race. The two cars were rigorously tested during four ALMS races in 2012 and during the full 2013 racing season. Car No. 91 managed to obtain three consecutive top-five finishes, including a position on the podium at Long Beach, where it finished third.
The two Viper GTS-Rs will be driven by Marc Goossens, Dominik Farnbacher, Jonathan Bomarito and Kuno Wittmer, joined by Tommy Kendall and Ryan Dalziel for the endurance events.
Click past the jump to read more about Viper’s experience at Le Mans.
The auto industry has been bitten by the web series bug. How else do you explain its proliferation these days with numerous automakers taking to that approach to give outsides like us a chance to see the inner workings of the company.
A few years ago, Chevrolet Racing ran the "Track to Street" series, which chronicled its participation in a couple of ALMS seasons. Koenigsegg also had one earlier this year and Pagani just recently showed a teaser of its web series a week ago.
All this leads us to Dodge, who is following in the steps of Chevrolet Racing to give us "Beyond the Checkered Flag", its own web series that will chronicle Dodge and SRT’s racing season in the ALMS series this year. The first episode is scheduled to be revealed next week, but for now, the company has prepared a nice little teaser for us to enjoy, which you can check out by click past the jump.
Along with the unveiling of the new-generation Viper, SRT also announced the Viper GTS-R — a model that marks the SRT Viper Racing team’s return to the American Le Mans Series (ALMS). Today the team officially announced that the GTS-R will be making its racing debut on June 22nd through 23rd in the LM GTE Pro class of the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans.
SRT Motorsports will enter two identical GTS-R models and they will be driven by Tommy Kendall, Kuno Wittmer, Dominik Farnbacher and Jonathan Bomarito.
2013 will mark the SRT Viper’s return in the 24 Hours of Le Mans after an absence of about 13 years. The sports car entered the series in in 1996 when the original GTS-R had its first racing entry. The Viper also won five international GT championships and the 1997 to 1999 FIA GT championships, plus three consecutive one-two finishes at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the GTS class. In 2000 the car had its last win at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona and afterward it was retired from the series.
Hit the jump for the press release.
Next to the road-going version of the SRT Viper at the 2012 New York Auto Show was the SRT Viper GTS-R - a model that marks SRT Viper Racing team’s return to the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) in 2012. There will be two GTS-R models entering the competition with four drivers currently being signed to drive including Dominik Farnbacher, from Ansbach, Germany; Marc Goossens from Geel, Belgium; Ryan Hunter-Reay from Dallas; and Kuno Wittmer from Montreal.
The GTS-R racing version will be based on the standard Viper, but the model will be updated for track use. The GTS-R version was built in cooperation with Riley Technologies, based in Mooresville, N.C. Both models will race on Michelin GT tires.
"Racing has been a significant part of the illustrious history of Viper not only with wins on the track, but also in the continued development of the street cars – and our new 2013 SRT Viper models are proof of those lessons learned," said Ralph Gilles, President and CEO – Street and Racing Technology Brand and Motorsports, Chrysler Group LLC. "Now with our new team and the launch of the GTS-R, we’re excited and proud to begin writing more chapters in the racing history of the Viper later this summer."
UPDATE 07/06/2012: The new SRT Viper GTS-R has been taken to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for a new testing session. Check out the sports car in action by clicking on the image above!
UPDATE 07/13/2012: Chrysler announced today that the company will return to the American Le Mans Series with the 2013 SRT Viper GTS-R. The return has been made after 12 years of absence and Chrysler has big hopes for their first racing appearance on Aug. 4 at the Mid-Ohio (Lexington, Ohio). "We’re thrilled to return to the world-class competition in the American Le Mans Series with our flagship American supercar," said Ralph Gilles, President and CEO – SRT Brand and Motorsports, Chrysler Group LLC. ’The new SRT Viper GTS-R represents a rebirth for us on the race track. It epitomizes the best of what our new SRT performance brand represents and showcases the Viper’s natural affinity for road courses. Now the time has finally come to go head-to-head with the best sports car teams from around the world."
UPDATE 08/08/2012: The new SRT Viper GTS-R made its official racing debut at the American Le Mans Series racing at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. According to the company, it was a pretty impressive racing debut, with the car finishing in the top ten. The video we’ve added includes brief scenes of the Vipers on the track, and the reactions from SRT Brand President and CEO Ralph Gilles and driver Kuno Wittmer.
We absolutely love the new SRT Viper, and have since the second Chrysler’s performance arm started teasing it. We also love videos of racecars zipping around tracks with awesome flyby shots. Well, you can imagine our excitement when a video of the new SRT Viper GTS-R – the car set to tear apart the American Le Mans Series – was released, showing it ripping up Virginia International Raceway.
This isn’t the first time we have seen the Viper GTS-R in action, but this video is a very telling one. All of the testing videos of the Viper GTS-R were on random tracks that the ALS does not use in its series. Well, VIR just so happens to be a part of this year’s ALS, and SRT has promised us that the SRT Viper will debut this season, but haven’t given a date.
With the VIR race coming up in September, and the fact that the SRT Viper looks just about race ready in the video – sans a little paintwork – we are thinking that the VIR race on September 15th is the likely debut date for this new machine. We could be completely off base here, but on the surface it looks this way.
Regardless of its actual debut day, we do know one thing; we cannot wait to see this thing on the track. Many moons ago, the Dodge Viper used to dominate this series, and we certainly expect to see the Viper jump right back into the 1st place slot that other cars have been keeping warm in its absence.