Mid Ohio Race Results

[1HOTACR]

TEAM VIPER ACHIEVE GOAL – BOTH CARS FINISH ALMS RACE

LEXINGTON, OHIO (Saturday, Aug. 5, 2012) – SRT Motorsports' Team Viper was candid about its mission in Saturday's American Le Mans Series event at Mid-Ohio.  The mission – have both SRT Viper GTS-R race cars running at the finish of the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge in the GT class.  Mission accomplished.

Team Viper was making its return to the ALMS series.  Not only were both cars running at the finish, the performance improved throughout the two-hour, 45-minute timed event.  As an added bonus, one of the Viper GTS-Rs had a top-10 finish.

Kuno Wittmer and Dominik Farnbacher finished 10th in the No. 91 Forza Motorsports SRT Viper GTS-R while Marc Goossens and Tommy Kendall were 12th in the No. 93 Pennzoil Ultra SRT Viper GTS-R.

"Our first goal was to get through the race without any major problems," said Gary Johnson, Road Racing Manger – SRT Motorsports.  "We accomplished that.  In fact, we were making progress throughout the race.  The cars were getting better.  Today's race gives us an opportunity to know where the issues are and where we need to focus."

Even though both teams reached the primary goal of finishing in the debut, everyone agrees there's plenty of work ahead before the specially-prepared Viper GTS-R race cars, built by Bill Riley and Riley Technologies, take the track at Road America in two weeks.

"It wasn't pretty but both cars finished," said Riley.  "We've got a lot to build on.  We're about two seconds off where we need to be and that showed in the race.  Now we need to build on that and go from there.  We were consistent but there are things we have to work on.  There are gains to make with the car.  We'll keep chipping away on it.  I think we'll get about half of the gap taken care of pretty quickly."

Wittmer says there were more positives than just having both cars running at the finish.  "We learned so much today as far as driver comfort, car handling, chassis, and motor, everything in the package," he said.  "This was a great test.  We have to keep working at it but a top 10 is not a bad start."


Farnbacher was pleased he and Wittmer didn't make an on-track mistake.  "We didn't make a mistake," he said.  "We didn't go off the track.  It's a good start for both teams, something to build on for the next race."

Kendall and Goossens had two minor incidents – slight contact with another car early in the race and a trek off course in one of the turns in the final minutes – but the No. 93 continued it consistent pace to the checkered flag.

Kendall said having both cars finish was positive for the day.  "Our goal was to run as many laps as we could and finish both cars," he said.  "It's a tribute to this group, all the guys on these two cars.  We've got plenty to work on.  I'm encouraged.  I thought our race pace was decent.  There's certainly some good take-aways."

Goossens was pleased with the consistency.  "We showed we can be consistent," he said.  "We had a good solid race, both cars.  There's still a lot of work to do.  That's normal after your first race."

Race Results
American Le Mans Series
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Saturday, Aug. 4, 2012
 1. Gavin/Milner                          Corvette      
 2. Bergmeister/Long                 Porsche
 3. Muller/Auberlen                     BMW
 4. Henzler/Sellers                     Porsche
 5. Hand/Muller                           BMW
 6. Sharp/van Overbeek             Ferrari
 7. Neiman/Holzer                      Porsche
 8. Brown/Cosmo                       Ferrari
 9. Miller/Maassen                      Porsche
10. WITTMER/FARNBACHER SRT Viper GTS-R
11. Sweedler/Bell                        Lotus
12. GOOSSENS/KENDALL       SRT Viper GTS-R
13. Magnussen/Garcia                Corvette

SRT MOTORSPORTS' TEAM VIPER POST-RACE QUOTES

Gary Johnson (Road Racing Manager, SRT Motorsports)
"Our first goal was to get through the race without any major problems.  We accomplished that.  In fact, we were making progress throughout the race.  The cars were getting better.  Today's race gives us an opportunity to know where the issues are and where we need to focus."

Bill Riley (Riley Technologies – Riley Motorsports)
"It wasn't pretty but both cars finished.  We've got a lot to build on.  We're about two seconds off where we need to be and that showed in the race.  Now we need to build on that and go from there.  We were consistent but there are things we have to work on.  There are gains to make with the car.  We'll keep chipping away on it.  I think we'll get about half of the gap taken care of pretty quickly."

Marc Goossens (No. 93 Pennzoil Ultra SRT Viper GTS-R)
"I think we've proven that we're already reliable in a short period of time.  It was a great team effort by the whole SRT Motorsports group.  We showed we can be consistent.  It was a good race.  We had a good solid race, both cars.  There's still a lot of work to do, that's normal in your first race."

Tommy Kendall (No. 93 Pennzoil Ultra SRT Viper GTS-R)
"In a lot of ways, it feels like a win.  You get ahead of yourself, everybody want to run before they can walk.  But our goal was to run as many laps as we could and finish both cars.  It's a tribute to this group, these guys.  We've got plenty to work on.  I'm encouraged.  I though our race pace was decent.  There's certainly some good take-aways."

Kuno Wittmer (No. 91 Forza Motorsports SRT Viper GTS-R)
"I would say it's more than a goal achieved.  We definitely wanted to be quicker but we wanted to finish the race.  That was the priority.  We learned so much today as far as driver comfort, car handling, chassis, and motor, everything in the package.  This was a great test.  We have to keep working at it but a top 10 is not a bad start."

Dominik Farnbacher (No. 91 Forza Motorsports SRT Viper GTS-R)
"I'm very proud of my team.  I could say mission accomplished because our goal was to finish the race.  We didn't make a mistake.  We didn't go off the track.  It was a good start for both teams, something to build on for the next race."

Best regards,

Kuno Wittmer
SRT Motorsports - Factory race driver

I hoped for better...But this is encouraging !      Go...  SRT  <1

[ViperX]

I think we all hoped for better, but finishing is very important. 

On a more personal level, I've now had 7 track weekends with the new ACR and it's almost where I want it to be performance wise.  With soooo many variables, it does take time and patience to develop a track car.

They will get there.....

Dan  <2

[PCH VIPER]

Agreed.  I hoped for a better finish, but they got some great coverage and the Viper sure looked good out there.

It is going to be fun to watch when they are up to speed and battling with the Corvettes which looked really strong.

[Speedtactics]

We have to keep in mind this car is six months old! The results will come if SRT and dodge want them to.
Hirk