SRT Viper GTSR to Wear Classic Dodge Viper Look at Watkins Glen

It was announced recently that the SRT Viper would become the Dodge Viper in the near future as the Chrysler Group discontinues to standalone SRT brand and to celebrate the return to Dodge, the two SRT Viper GTS-R race cars in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship will wear the livery of the unstoppable Team Oreca Dodge Vipers of the 1990s and early 2000s.

When the current SRT Viper GTS-R racing program was launched a few years back in conjunction with the arrival of the 5th generation Viper road car, the factory backed racing program was hoping that the new program would see similar to success of the Team Oreca Dodge Viper endurance racers in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Team Oreca stormed onto the scene with incredible success and in 1998, 1999 and 2000, the right and white Viper team cars were nearly unstoppable.

Channeling Greatness with an Old Theme
Unfortunately, the arrival of the modern SRT Viper GTS-R to the world of the endurance racing has been nowhere near as successful as they had hoped. The program continues to be very competitive and they have grabbed some wins over the past few seasons, but they’ve fallen short of the incredible Team Oreca success from back in the day. However, with the SRT Viper becoming the Dodge Viper in the next few years, the two Viper GTLM teams of what used to be the American LeMans Series (now the IMSA Tudor United SportsCar Championship) have adopted the look of those 1990s Team Oreca cars for the upcoming event in New York.

Silver Out, Red In
Since the modern SRT Viper GTS-R racing program was reborn, the two team cars have been predominantly silver with one car wearing yellow trim and the other wearing dark blue trim. It is a look that the Viper race cars wear very well, but there is just something magical about the look of the Team Oreca cars. Really, the basic design is the same - with a pair of stripes running from front to back –but where the cars had previously been silver with either bright yellow or dark blue stripes, both cars will now be painted mostly red with twin white stripes.

Other than the different numbers on the hood, roof, doors and rear fascia, the only aesthetic difference between the two cars will be a black rear wing on the #93 car and a black Dodge windshield banner while the #91 Viper will have a red wing and a red windshield banner. Both cars will sport the Dodge 100th Anniversary logo as well.

“We are honoring the racing history of the Dodge Viper by returning to its classic colors as we are in the midst of celebrating the Dodge brand’s 100th anniversary and 100 years of American performance,” said Ralph Gilles, President and CEO of SRT Motorsports and Senior Vice President of Product Design for Chrysler Group LLC. “The new livery not only brings back this classic look but also enables us to continue to connect our Viper racing program to its spirited racing heritage.”

This new-old look for the SRT Viper GTS-R race cars will debut on track at the upcoming Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen race weekend from June 27th to the 29th at New York’s Watkins Glen International circuit. You can catch the racing action on Fox Sports 1 starting at 11:00 am EST.