The factory-backed SRT Viper Racing team will return to the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) in 2012 with the purpose-built, non-street legal and competition-ready SRT Viper GTS-R. SRT Motorsports has partnered with Riley Technologies, based in Mooresville, N.C., on the design-and-build process of the new SRT Viper GTS-R. Two identical SRT Viper GTS-Rs will compete in the production-based GT class in the series. Four drivers currently are signed to drive including Dominik Farnbacher, Marc Goossens, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Kuno Wittmer. Additional driver and team announcements will be forthcoming.
Both Viper GTS-Rs will race on the proven Michelin GT tires extending the successful technical partnership. All ALMS teams compete in the prestigious MICHELIN GREEN X Challenge. Entering its fourth season, the program objectively ranks the competing cars in terms of their environmental footprint, their energy efficiency and speed on the racetrack. A separate, season-long award is given by the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and SAE International, acknowledging the vehicle manufacturer and its technology contribution to improving efficiency and reducing environmental impacts of racing.
The scoring system for the program was developed by series officials and the U.S. Department of Energy, and it is based on a combination of on-track performance and energy consumption. The LMP and GT teams that win MICHELIN GREEN X Challenge championship will earn an entry to the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans.
“We often say it’s clean, fast and efficient,” Bob Larsen, president of Obotech and a contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy, said. “There’s a lot of science that goes into the actual scoring, a very thorough and technically rigorous way to factor in the environmental footprint. We look at each car’s average speed and the distance that they travel and we adjust their amount of fuel that they would have had to burn in order to go as fast and as far as the leader, and that gives us an equitable basis for comparing the performance of the vehicles.”
