racing – Modern Mopar Magazine

Wittmer to Pilot Dodge Viper SRT GT3-R in Toronto’s World Challenge

Lisa — Mon, 14 Jul 2014 17:27:08 +0000

SRT Motorsports and Kuno Wittmer to Compete in Pirelli World Challenge Toronto Doubleheader

SRT® (Street and Racing Technology) Motorsports and driver Kuno Wittmer will make a surprise entry into the upcoming Pirelli World Challenge Championship Series doubleheader race weekend in Toronto in a Dodge Viper SRT GT3-R that will compete in events on Saturday, July 19 and Sunday, July 20.

Wittmer, a native of Montreal, will pilot an all-new No. 92 Dodge Viper SRT GT3-R prepared by Riley Technologies in the ninth and 10th rounds of the sports car championship on the downtown Toronto street circuit in an effort to promote the SRT Motorsports’ customer Viper GT3-R racing program.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun to have Kuno step into the Pirelli World Challenge and test his skills in the Viper GT3-R against the top class in the series,” said Ralph Gilles, CEO of SRT Motorsports, Chrysler Group LLC. “This is a test Viper that Riley Technologies prepared and we see this race as an opportunity to showcase our customer program. We’ve had success in the series with Dan Knox taking the Viper to the winner’s circle during the Detroit race weekend and we want to continue building momentum with our Viper GT3-R program.”

Knox, who competes full-time in the World Challenge in the No. 80 Dodge Viper SRT GT3-R, ranks third in the GT-A class standings and claimed the Viper GT3-R’s first series victory in a May race on Detroit’s Belle Isle circuit.

Wittmer will compete in the World Challenge’s GT class in Toronto one week after racing at nearby Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (Mosport) for an IMSA Tudor United SportsCar Championship event in the No. 93 Dodge Viper SRT GTS-R, his full-time ride, on July 13. The native of Canada has tallied three podium finishes in six starts in the IMSA TUDOR series in 2014 and won the pole position for the Mosport race.

“I believe that the Viper GT3-R is a benchmark car across the world,” said Wittmer. “The Viper has a lot of potential and this is a great opportunity to showcase the car in the GT class.”

Wittmer previously competed in the World Challenge from 2008 to 2010 and tallied six victories in the series, including two Viper wins in Salt Lake City and Long Beach, Calif.

SRT’s Matt Bejnarowicz will serve as the lead engineer for the No. 92 Viper GT3-R entry. Bejnarowicz currently serves as the lead engineer for Wittmer’s IMSA TUDOR Viper and the pair previously worked together in the same roles in the World Challenge in 2009 and 2010.

“I spent a lot of time in the World Challenge as a race engineer and for me it’s like going back home,” said Bejnarowicz. “That’s where Kuno and I met and he had a lot of talent and potential. We ended up getting paired up, cut our teeth together and we’ve been together since. It will be like the old days – a lot of fun and we’re going to try to put the Viper up front.”

The Toronto race weekend is the only scheduled appearance for Wittmer and the No. 92 Viper GT3-R entry in the World Challenge. Knox will continue to run the full series schedule in pursuit of the GT-A class championship for Lone Star Racing and the Viper GT3-R racing program.

“Since his first race with us in 2006, we have enjoyed watching Kuno race. We look forward to seeing him racing on the Toronto street course,” said Scott Bove, president and CEO for Pirelli World Challenge/ WC Vision.

The ninth and 10th rounds of the Pirelli World Challenge will be contested at 11:25 a.m. EDT on Saturday, July 19 and 12:15 p.m. on Sunday, July 20. The race television broadcast will be aired on NBC Sports Network on August 10 at 1:30 p.m. EDT.

Additional Quotes from SRT® Driver Kuno Wittmer

Kuno Wittmer, driver of the No. 92 Dodge Viper SRT GT3-R
Are you excited to enter the Toronto doubleheader?
“It’s definitely a great step for the Viper program. I think the Pirelli World Challenge has evolved a lot over the past four or five years. The last time I raced in it was 2010 and it was already very competitive. Seeing how the championship has grown, it’s more competitive in all the right ways and it will be fun.”

Is it realistic to think you can win in your first appearance in the series since 2010?
“We can’t forget that this is a one-off appearance on a street course and we don’t get much track time. It’s tough. There are half hour sessions and if you get a red flag from another class, you can lose a lot of track time. It’s very vital that we get all our laps in as quick as we can, get the right setup right away and it’s going to be very, very important that everything goes as perfectly as possible. Luckily, it’s two races and not just one race – it’s a doubleheader, so we can afford to play around a little bit. Ideally, we would like to win. But let’s be realistic, get a solid result and showcase what this car can do.”

Is the purpose of this entry to showcase the Dodge Viper SRT GT3-R program?
“That’s exactly the purpose – to showcase this Viper GT3-R. The thought is, ‘Hey, there’s a Viper here that’s being built by Riley Technologies, so let’s show what it can do.’ This Viper has been on the market for sale to race teams and drivers for less than a year and we need to start showcasing that this car is a very competitive car against world class manufacturers and talent.”

Matt Hagan: Official Blog Preview to Pomona

Lisa — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 06:12:26 +0000

Our friend Matt Hagan sent this pic from Pomona, CA … this weekend kicks off the NHRA season! We are excited to bring you an official blog from Matt all season long so be sure to follow us for all the latest happenings!

Good luck, Matt!

Mopar Ready to Defend Championships as 2013 NHRA Season Launches in Pomona

Lisa — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 21:32:33 +0000

February 14, 2013 , Pomona, Calif. – This weekend’s Winternationals at the historic Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Calif., marks the start of the 2013 National Hot Rod Association Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season and Mopar is ready to pick things up right where it left off in 2012. Defending the two championships earned last season in both Pro Stock and Funny Car classes is at the top of that list.

“After earning two NHRA Championship titles, our Mopar drivers have set the bar high for this new season,” said Pietro Gorlier, President and CEO of Mopar, Chrysler Group’s service, parts and customer-care brand. “We are looking forward to an exciting and competitive year watching our Mopar drivers and teams highlight the strength of our HEMI®-powered Dodge entries in both Pro Stock and Funny Car, and ultimately battle for win titles at every race event in defense of both championships.“

There will be a total of eight full-time HEMI-powered Dodge entries competing in the NHRA pro classes in 2013.

In Pro Stock, Allen Johnson and Jeg Coughlin Jr. will fly the Mopar banner on their Avengers with Vincent Nobile completing the trio of teammates, and Vieri Gaines rounding out the HEMI-powered entries.

In Funny Car, all four Don Schumacher Racing entries will run the Dodge Charger R/T and iconic HEMI engine, with Matt Hagan sporting the special Mopar scheme at seven events throughout the year. Hagan, winner of the 2011 world title, along with current champ Jack Beckman and fellow teammates Ron Capps and Johnny Gray will attempt to defend Mopar’s World Championship for a third consecutive year.

Pro Stock Rewind and Fast Forward
In the last season’s NHRA finale, Allen Johnson not only earned his first NHRA Pro Stock World Championship, Mopar’s first since 1994, but he did it in commanding fashion with a title win, his first at Pomona, to cap off a career season. Johnson won seven race titles in 2012, led all pro-category drivers in round wins, battled his way to 11 final round appearances including five of six in the Countdown to the Championship, and posted a class-best 10 No. 1 Qualifier positions. Now his Johnson & Johnson Racing team’s goal is to carry that consistency and momentum into the new season starting this weekend at Pomona.

“We just need to maintain the same consistency we had last year, continue to make good decisions, and maintain strong engine and drivetrain reliability,” says Johnson who will sport the No. 1 decal on his Mopar Dodge Avenger this season as defending champion. “The addition of Jeg (Coughlin Jr.), along with Vincent Nobile, will certainly be an extra challenge for me, since all of us will be getting good horsepower from my dad (Roy Johnson). Our goal is to have all three Dodges in the top-five, maybe even in the first three positions, at every event. It will be up to the drivers to determine in which order. I will just have to do the best I can behind the wheel and work hard on earning another championship for Mopar.”

Joining Johnson in that quest is four-time Pro Stock World Champion Jeg Coughlin Jr., who has 52 career victories. Coughlin is looking to improve on a disappointing ninth-place finish in the last year’s standings without a win the JEGS Mail Order team driver knows that is about to change.

“The stage is set and the time has come to perform and I can tell you that I have not been this excited for a season opener in years,” says Coughlin who partnered with Johnson starting this off-season, sharing data and HEMI engines built by Roy Johnson. “Our JEGS.com Mopar Dodge Avenger has been making great laps in testing and we are stoked to showcase this J&J Racing/Roy Johnson HEMI horsepower.”

Finishing third in the standings with two wins in 2012, Mountain View Racing’s Vincent Nobile is also part of the contingency running under HEMI power supplied by Johnson’s team, adding to expectations that the trio will be both formidable teammates and competitors in the battle for another championship.
V. Gaines rounds out the number of full time HEMI-powered Dodge Avengers after finishing a career best seventh in 2012 with a win in Reading, Pa., where he also recorded the ninth quickest pass in Pro Stock history with a 6.489 second run.

Mopar’s Funny Car Battle No Laughing Matter
The battle for the Funny Car World Championship came right down to final eliminations in the 2012 season finale with Jack Beckman taking the honors over Ron Capps by just two points after an extremely competitive battle between the DSR teammates, including Johnny Gray, in the NHRA Countdown. This season, the competition is expected to be just as fierce throughout the field, making the defense of a championship, especially two in a row for Mopar with Beckman in 2012 and Matt Hagan in 2011, more challenging. But after missing out on the Countdown and winner’s circle, Hagan is approaching the task at hand with renewed confidence after reaching the semi-finals or finals at seven of the final 10 events in 2012 and posting some good results in off-season testing.

“Our season has great potential and that showed at testing last month in Florida when we ran a 4.03,” says Hagan who is in his fourth season flying the Mopar colors on his Dodge Charger R/T. “As long as we stay focused and work hard we have a lot we can accomplish this year. We still have a lot to prove to ourselves but we have all the great tools that Don Schumacher Racing provides.”

“We plan to run up front for Mopar and get back to where we were in 2011 when we won the Funny Car world championship,” adds Hagan. “We know how to do it, we’ve done it before. There’s no reason why we can’t get back to that.”

Tuning It In
This weekend’s season-opener at drag racing’s birthplace at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona is the first of 24 events on the schedule for the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise two hours of qualifying coverage at 10 p.m. (ET) on Saturday, Feb. 16 and on Sunday, Feb. 17, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise three hours of eliminations coverage at 8 p.m. (ET).

Will you be my Valentine?
While the Mopar team will be in Pomona this Valentine’s Day, plans are already underway to mark a milestone in a love affair with the Mile-High city. This July, Mopar will celebrate its 25th anniversary as title sponsor of the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway, near Denver, Colo. Mopar will return to the venue as defending title winners after Allen Johnson posted his fourth win at the scenic track in 2012.

SRT® Viper GTS-R Team accepts invitation to race at 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Lisa — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 15:56:27 +0000

It’s official. The Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) extended an invitation to SRT® Motorsports to field a pair of SRT Viper GTS-R race cars in the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans. “And we graciously accept,” said Beth Paretta, Director of Marketing and Operations, SRT Brand and Motorsports. Participation in the prestigious race is contingent upon the invitation from ACO, the official sanctioning body of the Le Mans race and one of the oldest sanctioning bodies in motorsports.

“We are very excited to receive an invitation to this important race,” said Paretta. “After a break of more than a decade, we’re thrilled to have been considered again.”

The announcement comes as the team is busy testing and preparing for a full-time return to the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) in 2013.

“This is another step in an amazingly challenging plan to return the SRT Viper to the world stage of endurance racing,” noted Paretta. “It began with our return to ALMS competition last August, and continued with the development of our cars during the following races. We received the invitation for Le Mans, and now we need to get to work. It’s a huge commitment for such a young race program, but we know we have the right team and amazing cars in place.”

The last time Viper competed at Le Mans was 2000. Viper took first and second in the very competitive GTS class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, won the GT world title, won the 2000 Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona overall – yes, overall – and went on to win every race in the ALMS championship to take that title in its final racing season in the series.

“Viper has such a storied history at Le Mans,” noted Paretta. “This amazing supercar has set such an incredibly high standard with past success that we will be working plenty of overtime to prepare.”

The Viper GTS-R was victorious at Le Mans three straight years in the GTS class, from 1998-2000. In 1998, Viper took the top two spots on the podium while each of the four Vipers entered finished seventh or better. Real dominance had begun. Then, in 1999, Viper GTS-Rs swept the top six spots in GTS. In its final season of 24 Hours of Le Mans competition in 2000, Vipers finished 1-2 again in GTS. But the game has changed and the work ahead is momentus.

The core team of drivers from 2012 will return to the SRT Viper GTS-R team, including Jonathan Bomarito, Dominik Farnbacher, Marc Goossens, Tommy Kendall and Kuno Wittmer. A sixth driver will be named in the coming weeks. Fans can look forward to an all-new in-depth look at the SRT Viper GTS-R race program on driveSRT.com set to launch in March, in time for the ALMS 12 Hours of Sebring.

[Courtesy of driveSRT]