ViperExchange.com Starts 11th in Sahlen’s Six Hours of The GlenRecent Rule Changes Have No. 33 ViperExchange.com/ Gas Monkey Garage Viper GT3-R Off Pace at Watkins Glen International
ViperExchange.com and Ben Keating will start tomorrow’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen from 11th on the IMSA GT Daytona (GTD) grid after a disappointing but not unexpected qualifying result that has been part of a frustrating weekend so far at Watkins Glen International.The fifth GTD round of the 2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen can be seen live this Sunday, July 3, on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) at 10 a.m. EDT.Keating set the No. 33’s top time of 1:47.192 in his eighth and final flying lap of the session but was frustrated to find the Viper nearly two seconds slower than the pole-winning Audi R8 LMS.“What is most disappointing to me is that I qualified with a 1:47.2, I was pretty happy with that lap, it was a good lap, but when I learned I was P11 I was shocked,” Keating said. “That is just so, so far off where I know I should be, our car should be and our team should be. We don’t have anything for the top half of the field. It is really frustrating.” After Keating and co-driver Jeroen Bleekemolen took the victory one race ago last month in Detroit, the Dodge Viper GT3-R was hit with an IMSA Balance of Performance (BoP) rule change requiring smaller air restrictors. At the same time, several other manufacturers have been granted larger restrictors allowing for better engine air flow.“The class was very well balanced before,” Keating said. “At Laguna Seca and Detroit, all six manufacturers were fairly well grouped. I don’t feel that way right now. A one millimeter air restrictor change is massive. They took one millimeter away from us but added two millimeters to the Lamborghini and the Audi, which is a three millimeter change in the differential. It just blows me away.”Bleekemolen expected the gap in performance at Watkins Glen after the recent rule changes.“I knew already before the weekend it would be hard for us because of BoP,” Bleekemolen said. “I race some of these cars in other series and know how much more power some of them received. And we got some taken away, so it's not easy. Otherwise, the car feels good. That's all we can do, get the maximum out of our package and hopefully things will change soon.”As always, the Riley Motorsports-run ViperExchange.com team will rely on preparation, perfect pit stops and race strategy to overcome the gap in performance in tomorrow’s race.
“We have continued to make improvements on our car and I have been really impressed with how well we have done in terms of improving,” Keating said. “We have a much better car now than when we showed up trying to work around the BoP changes.“We are running less wing here right now than we have ever run, less than Daytona for example, just to try to get some top speed to be competitive. When you are going up those esses without all the wing you can have, it’s a little hairy. I feel like we are driving around a little bit with a gun to our head trying to do these fast laps.”The Viper is handling well but lacks the front-of-the-pack pace to win Sunday on performance alone.“We did do some setup work but there isn't too much we can do since the car isn't bad,” Bleekemolen said. “But this team never stops working no matter what. So, we will keep working and give it all for the race.“Our chance is definitely strategy. I know how good the Riley guys are at that and how fast they can do pit stops. With the yellows you always have a chance to win if you get lucky, so I'm not giving up on anything until we cross the line.”The Glen is the first round of the only back-to-back weekend stretch of races on the 2016 schedule. Next weekend the IMSA WeatherTech series head to Canadian Tire Motorsports “Mosport” Park in Canada.“I really feel like there is a really large imbalance in the GTD field after those last BoP changes,” Keating said. “My only hope is that they correct it before next weekend’s race at Mosport. It would be a shame to blow away 20% of our season on a mistake."Race-day Sunday begins with a 20-minute warm-up at 8 a.m. with the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen scheduled to go green at 10:10 a.m. EDT.About ViperExchange.com: ViperExchange.com is the largest Dodge Viper and exotic cars licensed dealer located just Northwest of Houston, Texas. With over 100 Dodge Vipers typically for sale and more arriving daily for sale, ViperExchange.com has combined the largest inventory in the world of new and pre-owned Dodge Vipers. ViperExchange.com also offers the best prices and discounts. Special orders, specific model searches and financing options are also available. For more information, visit ViperExchange.com directly, Twitter @ViperExchange and Facebook at Facebook.com/Viper-Exchange.About Gas Monkey Garage: In 2002, Richard Rawlings launched Gas Monkey Garage. The Garage created and transported automobiles for customers worldwide. In September 2013, Rawlings started Gas Monkey Bar N' Grill in Northwest Dallas with a second location at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport opened in March 2014. In October 2014, Gas Monkey Live, a venue dedicated predominantly to live music, was opened. In 2016, Gas Monkey Garage will partner in three motorsports efforts with the ViperExchange.com Riley Motorsports Dodge Viper GT3-R in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Gas Monkey Garage Special in the 100th Indy 500 and the Laughlin Motorsports Pro Stock in the NHRA Mello Yello Series.
