pitviper
Enthusiast
don't know if anyone realized it or not, but this LeMans 24 Hours was the first in TEN years to not have a Viper represented... back in 194 the very crude RT-10 road turned racer finished 3rd in class, behind only the 2 Dauer Porsche 962 LM ("road cars"), one of which was also the overall winner... it was not nearly as interesting in a way to not have the snake to pull for, even against much greater odds in the past couple years. with the GT classes moving closer and closer to the forefront of the sport, dodge needs to take advantage of this incredible marketing opportunity to go head to head with the C6R Corvette, Ferrari with the 550 and 575, maserati, aston martin, and lamborghini. there is even the potential for them to have a chance at the overall... can you imagine a Viper crossing the line first at 4pm come LeMans finish?! beating the world, that's what the task is. i know that there are major political issues with the whole mercedes/chrysler thing, but honestly, why not take some of the engineering that went into the SLR (or ME412 for that matter) and build a new Viper LeMans racer that will take the fight to the rest of the world on a world stage? sportscar racing is on the upswing again, and look at the marketing clout gm is garnering from their corvette successes (which, by the way, i hate corvettes, and nothing makes me cringe more than seeing those cars win when i know a properly prepared Viper effort would be soaking up the same results). it's only going to get better in the next few years, and with the FIA and ACO merging their rules, the costs for making cars that can run in series all across the globe will be lessened... even if you do not follow the sport as much, would you not feel a sense of pride in seeing the snake rise back to the top again? thoughts both for and opposed more than welcome!
pit
pit