24 stories from 2013 21 of 24 : Viper, a promising return
Back

24 stories from 2013 21 of 24 : Viper, a promising return

The 90th anniversary edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans saw the return of an American sportscar icon: the Viper, which claimed three consecutive class wins from 1998 to 2000 at La Sarthe.

Presented in 1989 as a concept car with notable contributions from former driver Carroll Shelby (1923-2012), Le Mans winner in 1969, the Viper took less than 20 years (from 1992 to 2010) to become one of the most famous American sportscars to hit the road, alongside Corvette and Mustang. Reappearing in 2012 in the American Le Mans Series under the name SRT (Street and Racing Technologies, the Chrysler racing arm), the Viper returned to the 24 Hours of Le Mans this year.

The two entries in the LM GTE Pro class raced at La Sarthe against a prestigious grid comprised of Ferrari, Aston Martin, Porsche and Corvette. But it was more to relearn the 24 Hours of Le Mans and to go as far as possible in the race. The two Viper GTS-R entries would fulfill their mission by taking the chequered flag, in eighth and ninth place in class, for drivers Marc Goossens-Dominik Farnbacher-Ryan Dalziel and Tommy Kendall-Jonathan Bomarito-Kuno Wittmer. In parallel, the Viper GTS-R continued a continual progression in the American Le Mans Series, competiting for top honors amongst the Corvette-BMW duel with four podium finishes and a victory in the GT class. For SRT Motorsports, this first full season finished with a third place in the Teams championship, an encouraging result ahead of the majour merger between the two primary sportscar series in American, forming the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. Among many others, the Viper GTS-R will race against the seventh-generation Corvette, making its competition debut in 2014.

Major Partner

PREMIUM partners

OFFICIAL partners

All partners