Riley Viper Preparing for LeMans, Still on Reserve

It came as unfortunate news in February when the Dodge Viper team from Riley Motorsports hadn’t made the cut for the 24 Hours of LeMans. Outside of the NHRA, Mopar racing fans are running out of drivers to pull for, so after the success in the Rolex 24, Viper racing fans had high hopes for the team in the 2015 24 Hours of LeMans.

The Riley Viper didn’t make the field for the LeMans 24 hour race, but it was the first car on the reserve list — should any cars in the given class not be able to make it to LeMans for the race, their spots will be taken from the reserve list. With the Viper team sitting in the first spot there, any car in the GT classes to drop would allow the #53 Riley Viper to get into the field.

Since February, the Riley Viper team’s status for the 24 Hours of LeMans race hasn’t changed. However, the team has been practicing with the LeMans car, with Ben Keating recently doing some shakedown work at Road Atlanta. Viper Exchange posted the picture above showing the car wearing the Tudor Series #93, stating that Keating and the Viper team were practicing for LeMans. While they don’t have an official entry thus far, the team is preparing for the race as though they will be in the field.

Realistically, the Riley Viper GT3-R has a good chance of getting into the field. Reserve cars have been included in the race in each of the past few years. In some years, so many cars dropped that there weren’t enough cars on the reserve list to fill the 56 car field, on the biggest stage in American endurance racing.

Read more at: http://allparnews.com/index.php/2015/04/riley-viper-preparing-for-lemans-still-on-reserve-28407