ALMS - Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix- TODAY 1pm EST - July 21, 2013

[daytonprowler]

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Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix

Broadcast Info

Television Broadcast:
Sunday, July 21, 2013 - 1:00pm EDT

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Live Streaming:
Sunday, July 21, 2013 - 11:45am EDT

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SRT Motorsports got an impressive qualifying effort from Jonathan Bomarito who scored his first career GT pole in the No. 93 Pennzoil Ultra SRT Viper GTS-R. Bomarito’s lap of 1:15.462 (117.309 mph) was 0.139 seconds ahead of Corvette Racing’s Jan Magnussen. Magnussen qualified second in the No. 3 Compuware Corvette C6 ZR1 he shares with Antonio Garcia with a lap of 1:15.601, while Marc Goossens rounded out the top three in the No. 91 SRT Viper GTS-R at 1:15.635.

“The track is WOW… you know it just takes your breath away in numerous corners,” said Bomarito, who made his first appearance at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park this weekend. “I don’t know that I took more than one or two breaths that whole lap. From turn 2 to turn 3 to turn 4, it has awesome flow. It’s just a really, really knife edge of a track. You have to be spot on, really work on balancing the car and just trusting the grip levels because it’s really, really fast.”

 

[daytonprowler]

• Kuno Wittmer Has Been Coming To Canadian ​
• Tire Motorsport Park For 15 Years​

BOWMANVILLE, Ontario - When Kuno Wittmer straps into the cockpit of the No. 93 SRT Viper GTS-R in this afternoon’s Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix, it will be the culmination of a lifelong dream for the 30-year-old from Montreal.

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There are certain people who want to go to Formula 1, certain people that want to go IndyCar,” said Wittmer, a factory driver for SRT Motorsports. “For me, ever since the first day I drove here at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park back in ’99, looking back at all the sports cars racing on this track, I’ve told myself, ‘One day, I want to be a factory driver.’ It’s definitely a dream come true for me.”

It would be another dream come true if Wittmer and co-driver Jonathan Bomarito could score the first American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón win for the Viper since returning to the series last year after a lengthy absence. They’ve certainly got a good shot; Bomarito will start the race from the GT class pole position.

While Bomarito turned his first laps at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park earlier this weekend, there is no track on the ALMS schedule – and few anywhere in the world – that Wittmer knows better than the ultra-fast, 2.459-mile strip of pavement formerly known as “Mosport.”

“Oh my gosh, I wouldn’t be surprised if I have close to 2,000 or 3,000 laps here,” Wittmer said. “I’ve done multiple endurance races in different forms of cars from Formula Fords, 1600, Atlantics, to touring cars that vary from 90 horsepower to 300 horsepower and GT cars that vary from 400 to 800 horsepower at one point. I would say, without being unrealistic, from 1998 all the way to today, I’ve done at least four or five races a year in different forms.

“It helps when you come back to a ‘home,’ circuit, which is not necessarily my home circuit, but being a Canadian and being the only Canadian race on the calendar, it’s definitely really nice. Experience is good to have in your back pocket, and when you race against world class drivers that we have out here in the GT class, it does make a difference.”

One thing is certain, as one of four Canadians in the field this afternoon, Wittmer will have plenty of support among his thousands of countrymen lining the circuit and camping throughout the racetrack grounds. That isn’t lost on Wittmer.

“If you look, it’s always the same type of fan that comes here; the die-hard motorsports fan, the guys that are going to camp here for a week,” Wittmer said. “Rain or shine, they’re going to be here.

“To me, that’s a real motorsports fan, the guys that come out, they have a cookout with their families and kids, their dogs, and play some ball. That’s what we need, and basically, that’s what we see here at the track. I, myself, have camped here on my own, when I raced on a Saturday and had to go home Saturday night, but I stayed for Sunday’s race.”

Wittmer first drove the circuit as a 15-year-old, so he’s been racing at the circuit for exactly half his life. Coincidentally, that’s exactly how long the ALMS has been racing here.

“The first time I came here was the first time I raced here,” Wittmer said. “I came here kind of blindfolded, because I knew I had a race weekend going on, but I’m not lying when I say that every American Le Mans race, I’ve been here to spectate.”

Of course, long-time CTMP visitors like Wittmer have noticed considerable – and welcome – changes to the facility’s infrastructure since last year. But for Wittmer and everybody else who has developed an appreciation for the racetrack over the years, the most important part hasn’t really changed.

“The track is still the track, period,” Wittmer said. “The rhythm that you learn here as a kid, which I did 15 years ago, has never changed. That’s something that should never change, and I don’t think it ever will. What changed for the better is definitely the facility. I’m not going to lie. I miss that little baby tunnel that was for one car and you had to honk your horn. That was pretty cool.

“It’s important to have a facility like this that’s enjoyable for the fans, that’s enjoyable for the race teams, the drivers and everybody. It is really important. I think it’s a great facelift, as long as they don’t touch Corner 2, and they haven’t. Corner 2 is still Corner 2. You’ve got to have a lot of guts going through that corner. It separates the men for the boys.”

Source ALMS

 

[Solid Red 98]

Vipers running strong; 3rd and 6th. The leading BMW hasn't made its second pit stop yet, so they are essentially in 2nd and 5th. Very exciting race this far! Great battles between viper and vette!

 

[daytonprowler]

Vipers in 2nd and 3rd!

 

[daytonprowler]

YAY!!!! Looks like a 2-3 podium finish!!!!!!

 

[chikane]

amazing amazing ... i'll take second not happy losing to the vette . but SRT did send a clear massage to the vette team .... i now believe in srt even more

 

[fastandloud]

Damn fine showing today...getting better race to race!

 

[redtanrt10]

So close to a victory, thought he might get by the vette. Really looks like a great track to run a viper

 

[HyperViper]

Wow, almost, just couldn't quite get by at the end. Nice job SRT and great driving Dominik

 

[FLL-B/W-GTS]

Dude

Snake did well....

 

[bushido]

SRT Motorsports got an impressive qualifying effort from Jonathan Bomarito who scored his first career GT pole in the No. 93 Pennzoil Ultra SRT Viper GTS-R

A local here,and ex karting champion too..

http://www.grand-am.com/tabid/141/a...aguna-Seca-Is-Home-For-Jonathan-Bomarito.aspx

 

[mjorgensen Woodhouse]

That was awesome! to bad we caught that traffic late Dom would have "scratched her up" and maybe ruined the Vettes day. Just a great weekend for the Viper, YEAH Team SRT!!!!

 

[daytonprowler]

That was awesome! to bad we caught that traffic late Dom would have "scratched her up" and maybe ruined the Vettes day. Just a great weekend for the Viper, YEAH Team SRT!!!!

The Corvette's day will be ruined in due course. Now we have their attention.

SO PROUD TO BE A VIPER OWNER!

Pic from day 1

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[daytonprowler]

from SPEED:

Muscle Milk Pickett Racing cruised to its fourth straight American Le Mans Series P1 victory, but that was only one of the storylines from Sunday's Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix, which saw a down-to-the-wire battle for GT class honors.

Tommy Milner in the No. 4 Corvette C6.R held off a hard-charging SRT Viper of Dominik Farnbacher in the closing stages of the two-hour and 45-minute race from Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, reviving a classic American sports car rivalry.

Milner edged out the No. 91 Viper GTS-R of Farnbacher by 0.267 seconds at the line, aided by last-lap traffic, to give Corvette its third victory of the season and the second of the year for Milner and co-driver Oliver Gavin.

Farnbacher got alongside Milner on the Andretti Straight on the final lap but a PC car managed to get in the way of the battle for top class honors.

"The last lap was very tight," Farnbacher said. "The car got a little loose when we got into traffic but he defended it really well and made no mistakes. Congrats to Corvette Racing but SRT Motorsports did very well. Two [cars] on the podium, we could not have hoped for a better result."

The pole-sitting No. 93 Viper of Kuno Wittmer and Jonathan Bomarito bounced back from an early race pit lane speeding penalty to finish third, completing the first double podium for the American manufacturer since its return to GT competition last year.

The No. 3 Corvette of Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia came home fourth, ahead of the No. 56 BMW Team RLL BMW Z4 GTE of Joey Hand and Dirk Mueller in fifth.

 

[NI-KA]

Way to go Team SRT !

 

[tbsviper]

Missed the race today but happy to read the team did really well. Way to go SRT team!!

 

[chesapeake07]

Congrats, SRT.

 

[JAY]

It was a great day at the track today ! Way to go Team Viper !

 

[Torquemonster06]

DAMN, I missed the best finish yet. Congrats Team SRT.

 

[Kurt]

Very exciting race to watch! Well done Team SRT!

 

[VIPER GTSR 91]

Nice job guys. The win just slipped through. Vette guys though are loving their win. They do have some very talented drivers

 

[ViperSmith]

man 1/4 a second, that must be hard to take! Great run

 

[I Bin Therbefor]

That's what I want to see, the Vipers and the Vetts filling the first four places - every race from now on!

 

[SnakeBitten]

Very very cool news. Missed the race. I will be checking the web to see if I can find an upload of the whole race.

 

[daytonprowler]

http://www.alms.com/alms-tv/episode/top-5-viper-victories

 

[GRNBGON]

We are so close to kicking everybodys a**. I will be there to root the team on in Elkhart Lake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Go SRT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[GCRoberts]

I was at that race, in fact it was my first ALMS race ever. I'm a Vette owner (C6 Grand Sport Convertible) and was there to cheer on the #3 and #4 Vettes. I was actually expecting the #3 car to win the race until that nasty tire wall crash on Saturday while attempting to beat the Viper qualifying time. I was right outside the Corvette Racing garage when the flat bed arrived with the wreckage. It looked pretty bad, but the crew had it totally repaired by 10:30pm that night. Here's the footage I took of the damage. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb4Sk1mAcEs

ALMS racing is a strange beast. In an attempt to equalize the field, they place a ton of restrictions on the cars....especially the ones that have been winning recently. I attended a Q&A session at the Corvette Corral where someone asked the Corvette Racing representative (can't recall his name) why the Vipers were running so well. He basically stated that every car out there is "given something" except the Vettes. Regarding the Viper he stated that the Viper is being granted a larger air restrictor (hence it's allowed more air) than the Vettes. But that being said, all the cars are power reduced versions of their street equivalents. I'm not sure it's possible to have a fair race when all the cars are so unique in their street versions. I'm also a little fuzzy on how the Viper is allowed into ALMS GT with the specs they have stated (4-8 cylinder engine from 3.2 to 7.0 liters). The Viper GTS-R is a 8.0 L V-10 according to the SRT Viper racing link. If anyone knows this, I'd appreciate you sharing it with me. Don't get me wrong, I love the return of the Vipers as it makes for a more exciting race. As a newbie to ALMS, I'm trying to get up to speed. Of course it all changes next year with the United SportsCar Racing merger. There is a chance that the Mobil 1 SportsCar race (formerly Mosport) won't even be on the schedule next year! UGH!


One of the previous posters stated they'd love to see Corvettes and Vipers dominate the podium, and I'd love to see that too. While I don't own a Viper, I have a very healthy respect for them and consider them equally cool sports cars. If I could afford two expensive sports cars, it wouldn't be two Corvettes or two Vipers, it'd be one of each.

 

[VIPER GTSR 91]

GC, good post and well written too. The Viper has an extensive history in ALMS and has been allowed to enter given the V10 (yes 8.0L) albeit with a large restriction to lower the HP (approx. 500) so the GT field can be an equal. It was formerly GTO, then GTS and now GT. IMSA approved it this way. The GT field as you mentioned has less HP than their street brother but keep in mind the cars weigh a LOT less in race prep. Im glad you got hooked on REAL pro racing such as ALMS and Grand AM Rolex as I did years ago. It is very addicting to say the least. Next years combined series as you mentioned will be the United Sports Car Racing series which will include the DP cars from Grand AM and the P2 cars (no more P1) from ALMS plus a GT style line up as well with new entries.

 

[chikane]

GC, good post and well written too. The Viper has an extensive history in ALMS and has been allowed to enter given the V10 (yes 8.0L) albeit with a large restriction to lower the HP (approx. 500) so the GT field can be an equal. It was formerly GTO, then GTS and now GT. IMSA approved it this way. The GT field as you mentioned has less HP than their street brother but keep in mind the cars weigh a LOT less in race prep. Im glad you got hooked on REAL pro racing such as ALMS and Grand AM Rolex as I did years ago. It is very addicting to say the least. Next years combined series as you mentioned will be the United Sports Car Racing series which will include the DP cars from Grand AM and the P2 cars (no more P1) from ALMS plus a GT style line up as well with new entries.

That will be the one reason i'll stop watching the ALMS USCR whatever its call next year.. i'll still follow SRT but by this fourm

 

[GCRoberts]

That will be the one reason i'll stop watching the ALMS USCR whatever its call next year.. i'll still follow SRT but by this fourm

I know it's frustrating when they take away something you like. For me personally, I don't like the Prototypes (especially the P1). But it's a selfish reason to be honest. When you watch the coverage, that's all they talk about for the first 1/2 hr of the race. It seems like they don't want to talk about the GT cars until they are well into "battles" with each other. And even watching the Mobile 1 SportsCar in person, they have a big board that shows the current standings. It was P1 non-stop!