SRT Motorsports Viper team ready for Le Mans return

SRT is heading back to France with two identically prepared Viper GTS-Rs for the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 22-23. It will be the first time the marque has competed at the race since it won the GTS class three consecutive times, from 1998 to 2000. It will compete in the LM GTE Pro Class.

“Le Mans is a world stage. The GTS-R has enjoyed great success at Le Mans in the past, and we're excited to start a new chapter of Viper racing at that historic venue,” said Ralph Gilles, president and chief executive officer of SRT brand and motorsports.

Viper and SRT brass attended the event in 2012, to get a sense for how it would play out if they received an invitation. The company saw that letter in February, and accepted.

“We went to do some research should we ever get back on the track at Le Mans and were astounded by the interest shown by the amount of fans who lined up and waited to simply get a glimpse of our SRT Viper GTS-R show car and take photos,” said Beth Paretta, director of marketing and operations for SRT. “People came wearing all sorts of jackets -- both Viper jackets and competitor jackets -- and it was interesting too that they very much crave to see this American rivalry between the brands. They take such pleasure in watching them kind of duke it out on the track.”

The new SRT, revealed at the New York auto show, made its official return to motorsports last August at the American Le Mans Series Mid-Ohio race. The SRT team came in 10th and 12th in its class, with Kuno Wittmer and Dominik Farnbacher behind the wheel of the first car, and Marc Goossens and Tommy Kendall in the other.

In 2013, the No. 91 Viper has three top-five finishes in three races, including third at Long Beach.

As for Le Mans, the rules have changed since SRT's last race, as well as the competition.

“The rules have changed over the years, but we're going with the same commitment to do our best,” said Gary Johnson, SRT racing manager. “Our plan is to be as competitive as we can and see what happens at the end.”

Preparation time is running out: The 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans takes place in exactly one month.

By Jake Lingeman