I posted this on a similar thread yesterday, so my apologies for the duplicate language...
The VCA treasurer actually approached SRT a couple months ago after reading the various threads about sending the ACR to The Ring - over and over again. Like many individuals here had already done, we offered to help Chrysler pay to send a car and team over there. Turns out they had already been discussing it internally. Guess what? Our enthusiasm helped finalize that decision. And the cost to the club? Prepare the video footage shot over there. It was SRT that suggested the decal on the dash. Is there
anybody that still doubts the group's dedication to the Viper and its owners?
The folks at VOI got to see the finished product when we debuted the extended length, higher definition video just before Motor Trend published the raw footage last night. Goosebumps abounded as the video started with published times of Lamborghini, Ferrari, Bugatti Veyron, and that Chevy thingie. The run included telemetry such as the lateral G's and down force. Ever seen a car generate 1200+ pounds of down force? The folks at VOI did and the cheers were deafening. The wrap up at the end with commentary from the driver (
Tom Coronel) was awesome, including just a little dig at our Chevy friends across town. The VCA will make that video (suitable for your big screen TV) available very soon. Look for an abbreviated version on You Tube at some point soon.
Our thanks to Brian Paddock of Paddock Productions for the awesome video editing with very little time to do it. This run was done on August 18th and has a few other interesting facts to go with it:
- Tom had never driven the ACR before.
- He broke the record on his third lap in the car.
- He missed two shifts (not just one).
- He faced a pretty strong headwind on that final straight - so much so that the Viper's stock gearing and enormous down force made it impractical to use 5th gear.
- The car did NOT bottom out or hit the wheel liners: The Ring is notorious for chewing up splitters on high performance cars and the sounds you hear are the splitter doing exactly as was expected. Indeed, many teams fully expect to have only 10% of the original splitter still intact at the end of a 24 hour race at Nürburgring.
Another interesting thing to note is that both the ZR1 and GT-R were manufacturer claimed with NO media certification. The ACR run was witnessed directly by
two independent media sources, one of which was Motor Trend. So for independently witnesssed and verified times the ACR owns the record by a lot more than 4 seconds.
Our thanks to the SRT folks for making
so many dreams a reality. We are honored that you allowed the VCA to play a role in such a momentous occasion. Oh, and we will indeed make DVD's available that will show you all kinds of cool stuff, like this:
Watch for more information on how to order that DVD soon!
