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2017 Dodge Viper GTS-R Does 7:03.4 Nurburgring Lap with One Hand on the Wheel

Wednesday was an important day for the Nurburgring, as we're talking about the time when the 2017 Dodge Viper GTS-R set a number of Green Hell records.
2017 Dodge Viper GTS-R Does 7:03.4 Nurburgring Lap 6 photos
Photo: FoxProFilms/YouTube
2017 Dodge Viper GTS-R Sets 7:03.45 Nurburgring Time2017 Dodge Viper GTS-R Sets 7:03.45 Nurburgring Time2017 Dodge Viper GTS-R Sets 7:03.45 Nurburgring Time2017 Dodge Viper GTS-R Sets 7:03.45 Nurburgring Time2017 Dodge Viper GTS-R Sets 7:03.45 Nurburgring Time
No, the V10 beast didn't grab the production car record. However, the 7:03.45 time we reported means that the snake is now the Nordschleife's fastest RWD production car, fastest manual gearbox production car and fastest American-made production car.

Oh, and we'd like to add another accolade, namely the Ring's one-hand-on-the-wheel record. It might sound like we just came up with that record (which is true), but, if you take a look at the freshly-released footage of the run, everything will make sense.

The unedited clip shows racer Dominik Farnbacher wrestling the oversteer with one hand as if it's nothing. Heck, the driver even tries to pet the steering wheel in an attempt to convince the extreme aero supecar to climb higher on the Ring's main straight.

Heck, this vicious Ring sprint almost makes it seem like the 6:52 Lamborghini Huracan Performante does everything for its driver. But let's not get ahead of ourselves here.

Unlike the 2011 Dodge Viper ACR Nurburgring campaign, which led to a 7:12.13 lap time, this effort isn't backed by the factory. Instead, the adventure follows a crowdfunding campaign and multiple sponsorship stunts - in our book, the most important sponsor is Kumho Tires, which provided the Ecsta V720 rubber (295/25 up front and 355/30 at the back).

Alas, the unofficial nature of this Viper Green Hell adventure means that the team behind the effort only has small windows to do its thing.

Keep in mind that Farnbacher released a video statement earlier this week, one that lets us know the Viper has sub-7 potential. And, since we've been keeping an eye on this campaign ever since January, we can't wait to see where it leads - we've been told that fresh news is set to arrive in late August.

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About the author: Andrei Tutu
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In his quest to bring you the most impressive automotive creations, Andrei relies on learning as a superpower. There's quite a bit of room in the garage that is this aficionado's heart, so factory-condition classics and widebody contraptions with turbos poking through the hood can peacefully coexist.
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