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USA
Race report

SRT Viper GTS-R had second and third-place finishes at Mosport

The No. 91 SRT Viper GTS-R driven by Dominik Farnbacher and Marc Goossens finished second just ahead of the No. 93 Pennzoil Ultra SRT Viper GTS-R driven by Jonathan Bomarito and Kuno Wittmer.

#93 SRT Motorsports SRT Viper GTS-R: Jonathan Bomarito, Kuno Wittmer

#93 SRT Motorsports SRT Viper GTS-R: Jonathan Bomarito, Kuno Wittmer

Michael Tan

Dominik Farnbacher – No. 91 SRT Viper GTS-R (Finished 2nd): DID YOU THINK YOU HAD A CHANCE TO PASS THE 4 CAR THERE AT THE END? “Yes but it would have destroyed the car. I would have done it but we wanted to get the points. I could have risked it but I thought let’s get some points, let’s keep the car in one piece. I just heard that Kuno finished in third-place. I’m very happy for him, I mean it’s his home race.”

#93 SRT Motorsports SRT Viper GTS-R: Jonathan Bomarito, Kuno Wittmer
#93 SRT Motorsports SRT Viper GTS-R: Jonathan Bomarito, Kuno Wittmer

Photo by: Michael Tan

YOU HAD A THIRD-PLACE FINISH AT LONG BEACH AND A SECOND-PLACE EFFORT TODAY. “It’s very important. We lost important points in Lime Rock, we had zero points at Lime Rock. That was not good. We got very important points here and that will really help us for the championship chase.

I don’t know how the BMW ended up; that was our main opponent. The Corvette is leading the championship. We’re trying to stick with them and today was a very good day for both cars. I’m very happy Kuno and that team got third place. I’m going to drink some champagne with him tonight (laughs).”

YOU RACED THE 4 CAR MUCH OF THE RACE. HOW MUCH FUN WAS THAT? “I raced him pretty much the whole race. I know Tommy (Milner) very well. He’s very fair. He never ran into trouble with other cars and he never made a mistake. I think we lost it on the in-lap (lap before pit stop). Marc (Goossens) got blocked for a whole lap by a slower car. So we lost very important ground to the Corvette and then we pitted. The Corvette had a clear lap, stayed out a lap longer. Then they came in, had a clear shot and came out right ahead of us.”

Marc Goossens – No. 91 SRT Viper GTS-R (Finished 2nd): “It was so close I cannot believe it (smiles). We lost a lot of time at the end of my stint. I got stuck behind a Porsche that was going to go a lap down and he held me up like over a second a lap for three laps. If that wasn’t the case, we would have been ahead of the Corvette at the end of that pit stop. I feel like we lost the race there but on the other hand, if you see how Dominik fought the Corvette at the end you can’t ask for more – a closer finish. Same goes for the 93 car.

They had some bad luck with the drive thru (pit road speeding penalty) but if you see how Jonathan (Bomarito) qualified, how he started the race and then how Kuno (Wittmer) did it at the end, they had a great race. It was a great drive by all of the drivers; perfect teamwork. We needed a little more luck on our side but once again, the SRT Motorsports team has come a long way. I think everybody now knows that we are there and we are ready to fight for wins and championships. That’s a very good feeling if you’ve been there since the beginning. For a driver, it’s a good feeling to be here at this level.”

HOW IMPORTANT IS TODAY, BIG PICTURE-WISE, TO HAVE BOTH CARS FINISH ON THE PODIUM? “Well, I think that shows how good the team is. Every race, a Viper has been in the top five. We’ve got two pole positions already. It’s just that the 93 car has been more unlucky than us. But this shows what the team can really do.

This is the real performance. It’s a real track, it’s not a street course. We had some comments about that podium we had, that it was because it was a street course. Now this keeps those guys quiet. I think we answered a lot of questions here this weekend. We’ve shown the competitiveness of the entire team and I think people have to consider the 91 and the 93 for the rest of the year.”

Jonathan Bomarito – No. 93 Pennzoil Ultra SRT Viper GTS-R (Finished 3rd): YOU HAD A GREAT START TO THE RACE. “The start went smooth; the first 45 minutes or so played out well. I had a little bit of a lockup going into Turn 5. The 91 passed us but we were still in good condition. We were running first and second and then we came in for tires, went back out and I got a pit lane speed violation which killed the 93’s race.

Kuno did an awesome job getting us back up there those final laps. We have double-podium, second and third for SRT Motorsports. It’s a good day. I should be really happy but I’m bummed because the 93 had the speed to win today. We’re going to come back to Road America even stronger than we were here.”

TODAY’S RACE WAS THE STRONGEST PERFORMANCE BY SRT MOTORSPORTS ALL SEASON. “Absolutely, this was our strongest race to date for sure. We showed good speed, good pit stops, and good strategy. The whole crew did a great job. We just need to keep learning, keep focused, keep plugging away and we’ll be there at Road America and the rest of the year.”

YOU’VE HAD TWO GOOD RACES BACK-TO-BACK. HOW MUCH MOMENTUM DO YOU NOW CARRY INTO THE REST OF THE SEASON? “That helps a lot. That’s two good results. We’re steadily making more and more progress and I think that helps not only the drivers but the team.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE OVERALL PERFORMANCE OF THE NO. 93 VIPER GTS-R TODAY? “Great day. The Viper was exceptional. I think that we had the fastest car in class today. To have two Vipers on the podium is a huge accomplishment. We're a little bit bummed to be P3 because of my mistake on pit road but this team never gives up and fought hard all day. I think we had the car to win the GT Class today. A great day by our organization. The team worked hard all weekend. From the time that we unloaded this Viper, we were fast. To earn the pole, set a track record in GT Class and earn a podium finish (3rd place) is just incredible.”

THE NO. 93 VIPER GTS-R HAD GREAT SPEED IN THE CAR ALL DAY. “We had great speed and could drive the car pretty much wherever we wanted all day. We had good mechanical grip, good high-speed aero, and great power. We had the whole package today."

Kuno Wittmer – No. 93 Pennzoil Ultra SRT Viper GTS-R (Finished 3rd): TALK ABOUT YOUR STINT. “It was fantastic. The Viper was just awesome. The crew had a really good stop before I got into the car. Jonathan (Bomarito) gave me a perfect car, everything was tip-top. We got up to the yellow flag and I saw that the Corvette and BMW were up in front of me. I knew that I had to get those two cars quick.

I re-started sixth and dragged the Corvette down the frontstretch; we touched going into Turn 1. Jan (Magnussen) is a world-class driver and we just barely touched. From there, it was catching the guys in front of me a tenth of a second at a time. I finally got the BMW on the outside of Turn 8 and just took off from there. That's racing at Mosport. It was a fantastic race for the No. 93 Viper. We may have been the fastest car in class.”

WAS THE KEY TO YOUR SUCCESS TIRE MANAGEMENT TODAY? "The car was great. I only had about 45 minutes in the car with new tires. The overall balance of the Viper was just fantastic. I had to manage the front-left tire a bit and once I did that, I just attacked. We were so fast today."

Ralph Gilles – President & CEO, Street and Racing Technology Brand and Motorsports: TALK ABOUT BOTH SRT VIPER GTS-Rs EARNING PODIUM FINISHES TODAY? “Fantastic day. I couldn't be prouder. The Vipers were absolutely solid all weekend. Speed-wise, I think that we're right there with the other cars. Today was a great example of how close the GT Class field is and how professional the drivers are competing. We had one little bobble but we recovered well. The entire team was exceptional. It was some of the cleanest racing that I've seen in the series. My heart was racing 200 beats-per-minute the last 10 minutes of the race. Just a fantastic performance."

Russ Ruedisueli – Head of Engineering, SRT Brand and Motorsports: CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE OVERALL STRENGTH OF THE SRT VIPERS TODAY? "A great day for SRT. The performance of the Vipers were terrific. I was really proud of how the team got behind the cars this weekend and gave the drivers a really comfortable and fast car. They battled in every part of the race track. What an awesome finish with the Corvette right down to the last lap. It was a terrific battle and I couldn't be prouder of our performance. Just great racing."

Gary Johnson – SRT Motorsports Racing Manager: “We couldn’t be more proud of the SRT Motorsports team. Not only were the cars prepped perfectly but we had a group of drivers that were willing to give it their all. All we can say is we’ve got more races coming up this year. I think it’s going to be a great season and we’re looking forward to Road America.”

BOTH CARS WERE STRONG FROM TESTING ON FRIDAY THROUGH THE RACE TODAY. “We had one miss on the pit stop (speeding penalty) with the 93 car. If we could have avoided that, I think we would have been right there. It looked like the 93 car was maybe a tad faster than the 91. We’ll come back next time and give them a run for their money.”

SRT Motorsport

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