Download Print SRT Motorsports - ALMS Race Advance - Round 3 - Laguna Seca May 6, 2013 , Auburn Hills, Mich. - THE VIPER GTS-R IS BACK IN 2013 • SRT Motorsports will field two SRT Viper GTS-Rs in Saturday’s four-hour race at the 2.238-mile Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca road course, the third event on the 2013 American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patron schedule. • In addition to a full-time ALMS schedule in 2013 in the GT Class, SRT Motorsports has accepted an invitation for both cars to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June. • The driver lineup for Saturday’s race: Kuno Wittmer and Jonathan Bomarito in the No. 93 Pennzoil Ultra SRT Viper GTS-R; Marc Goossens and Dominik Farnbacher in the No. 91 Fast & Furious 6 SRT Viper GTS-R. • QUICK FACT: Jonathan Bomarito grew up in Monterey, Calif. and previously served as an instructor for the Skip Barber Racing School at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. SRT VIPER RACING HERITAGE • In 1996, the Viper GTS-R made its debut and competed in a limited schedule in the GT1 class of the European and Asian BPR Global GT Series and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. • Finished 1-2 at 24 Hours of Le Mans in the GTS class for three consecutive years (1998-2000). • Won in GTS Class at Laguna Seca in 1999 and 2000. • Three-consecutive FIA GT championships (1997-1999). • Won the ALMS GTS class, manufacturer’s and driver’s championship in 2000. • In 2000, became the first production-based American car to capture the overall win at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. DID YOU KNOW? • Production SRT Vipers are built at the Chrysler Group’s Connor Avenue Assembly Plant in Detroit. SRT VIPER GTS-R VIDEO MINISERIES Follow the SRT Viper GTS-R team throughout the 2013 season. The first of a multi-part series is now available on youtube.com/driveSRT. DRIVER QUOTES: “The challenge at Laguna Seca is finding a good balance on the race car. The race car really needs to do quite a few things well. There are low-speed corners where you’re working on mechanical grip and getting the car to turn. You also have to find a nice, high-speed balance platform; you need balance in high-speed corners like Turn 4, Turn 9 and Turn 10.” --Jonathan Bomarito No. 93 Pennzoil Ultra SRT Viper GTS-R “The corners at Laguna Seca are very, very different than most other circuits across North America. One thing that is difficult, especially for a four-hour race, is keeping the track clear of sand. If a competitor drops two wheels off the course, it usually leaves sand on the track. We’re not that far from the Pacific and sometimes there are windstorms that come in and put a lot of sand on the track. When that happens, the game changes.” --Kuno Wittmer No. 93 Pennzoil Ultra SRT Viper GTS-R “I think we have good momentum for the season and also for the race at Laguna Seca. We know we can make it to another podium if we just work hard. We have the right recipe for it. We just need to put it all together, have the right strategy and no problems. We have a shot at another podium because the car is actually more competitive than ever before. We did our homework throughout the winter. Now, that effort is paying off.” --Dominik Farnbacher No. 91 Fast & Furious 6 SRT Viper GTS-R “Laguna Seca is one of the classic race tracks in the U.S. with a lot of history. When I first went to Laguna Seca after seeing it on TV, I thought the track was actually quite a bit slower than what it looked like on TV. But, it’s still a challenge. It’s very important to have the right amount of downforce so you can carry momentum through the corners. The elevation changes and the famous Corkscrew make it a very interesting and challenging track.” --Marc Goossens No. 91 Fast & Furious 6 SRT Viper GTS-R QUOTE OF THE WEEK “We have a great team, from the people designing the SRT Viper GTS-Rs to everyone working on them back in the shop between races. A lot of credit goes to our drivers; they did a spectacular job at Long Beach. They kept the cars running and brought them back in pretty much one piece. We’re doing really, really well with both cars from a lap-time point of view. We’re very pleased with that and the improvements we continue to make.” --Gary Johnson, SRT Motorsports Racing Manager FROM THE TEAM LEADERS “The biggest issue you have at Laguna Seca is it’s a fairly tight track that you have to muscle around. You often end up with some damage to the car because every now and then you have to rub on people to get by ‘em. The corners are also an issue – they fall away from you which creates a bit of an understeer or a push. You have to prepare the car to compensate for that. As far as load on the car, it’s not too bad.” --Bill Riley, VP and Chief Engineer – Riley Technologies “Even though it’s a four-hour race, we still consider it a sprint race. We’re not really worried about anything wearing out. There is no problem making it to the end without special maintenance. Whereas at Le Mans, you have to schedule a brake change in that 24-hour race. So, we’re prepared for a sprint race this weekend. However, the strategy will be a little different than Long Beach because there you potentially had to make only one stop.” -- Matt Bejnarowicz, Lead Engineer – SRT Motorsports AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES POINT STANDINGS Team 1. Team Corvette Racing (Corvette) 34 2. Team BMW (BMW) 34 3. SRT Motorsports (Viper) 25 4. Team Risi Competizione (Ferrari) 22 5. Team Falken Tire (Porsche) 18 Driver 1. Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner 34 2. Bill Auberlen, Maxime Martin 34 3. Dominik Farnbacher, Marc Goossens 25 4. Richard Westbrook 24 5. Joey Hand, Dirk Muller 24 -30- ALMS Race Advance - Round 3