Snakebite
Following an undefeated 1999 season in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), and repeat success at the 24hrs of Le Mans and a staggering overall win at the Rolex 24hrs of Daytona, the Viper positioned itself as amongst the most successful production-based American sports cars ever. Built in early 1999 and prepared for the 2000 season, the example featured here – chassis GTSR C31 – is one of the final Chrysler Factory Works Team cars.
Wearing no.91, it was fielded by the 1999 ALMS Driver’s Champion Olivier Beretta alongside ’99 runner-up Karl Wendlinger and Le Mans winner Dominique Dupuy for that year’s ALMS. The schedule was greatly expanded upon from the previous season including four additional races, three of which held outside the US and the 24hrs of Le Mans. The 12hr endurance race at Sebring on March 18 marked the team’s first pursuit. The result was a class victory, and a 1-2-3 finish for Viper Team ORECA making for a fabulous photo finish in a display of utter dominance.
This Viper then went on to take class victories in the following three races at Charlotte, Silverstone and Le Mans. A different chassis was used in the victory at the Nurburgring due to the race being so close to Le Mans. C31 did then return to take wins at Mosport, Portland, Laguna Seca, Las Vegas and Adelaide.
At the 24hrs of Le Mans, Karl Wendlinger, Olivier Beretta, and Dominique Dupuy drive C31 (as car no.51) to Viper Team ORECA’s third straight class victory. The 333-lap finish is Viper’s best Le Mans performance to date. Given the serious competition that the Pratt & Miller’ Corvette C5R posed, the win is one of the most significant as the pressures to overcome another American-born racecar deepened the Viper-Corvette rivalry.
This example was nearly unbeatable winning 7 of 10 ALMS races it entered in the GTS Class. In total, 10 wins throughout the 2000 season for Team ORECA easily gave them ALMS Championship, with 266 total points, capping a three-year win streak. Second place was claimed by the Porsche GT2, 82 points back. More importantly, though, the Viper beat its biggest rival, the factory-backed Corvette C5-R, by a staggering 130 points. History was written in dominating fashion but all good things come to an end. 2000 would be the last year of the factory-backed Team Oreca Vipers. C31 is widely regarded as one of the winningest Viper’s in history and is arguably one of the most significant race cars of our generation.
This incredibly important ex-Works Le Mans-winning Viper GTS R is available from LBI Limited. Click on the link below for more information, including a detailed history of the car. Photos © LBI Limited.