When Dodge offered us a sneak peak in July at the Viper GTS-R track-focused bruiser, we were happy the 2014 IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship was offered with one of the nicest-looking cars currently in production. The vintage livery added to the visual drama of the racing Viper GTS-R duo.
But this racing venture was unfortunately short-lived. As it happens, the Chrysler Group just announced it decided to discontinue the SRT Motorsports racing program with the conclusion of the championship at last week's Petit Le Mans event. That translates to the dissolution of the Dodge Viper SRT GTS-R GTLM-class team for the 2015 season.
“Our company has made a business decision to discontinue the SRT Motorsports Dodge Viper GTS-R racing program,” stated Ralph Gilles, the senior VP of Chrysler Product Design. “We are very proud of the amazing achievements our fantastic teams, drivers and partners have achieved on track the last few seasons. We thank them for their hard work, effort and commitment to SRT Motorsports."
The American automaker refused to go into specifics, but sugarcoated this decision by saying it will redirect its focus and efforts on the brand’s product lineup. It's a shame this venture was axed so soon, more so when you consider that the SRT Motorsports team won both the team and driver titles with Kuno Wittmer in the inaugural United Sportscar season's GTLM-class.
Furthermore, the SRT Motorsports team won two of three championships in the class and finished second in the GTLM-class manufacturer championship in its second full year of the program. But that was that and this is now, so expect the SRT brand to churn out a suite of new performance-oriented Dodge cars, following in the footsteps of the manic Charger SRT Hellcat and Challenger SRT Hellcat.
“Our company has made a business decision to discontinue the SRT Motorsports Dodge Viper GTS-R racing program,” stated Ralph Gilles, the senior VP of Chrysler Product Design. “We are very proud of the amazing achievements our fantastic teams, drivers and partners have achieved on track the last few seasons. We thank them for their hard work, effort and commitment to SRT Motorsports."
The American automaker refused to go into specifics, but sugarcoated this decision by saying it will redirect its focus and efforts on the brand’s product lineup. It's a shame this venture was axed so soon, more so when you consider that the SRT Motorsports team won both the team and driver titles with Kuno Wittmer in the inaugural United Sportscar season's GTLM-class.
Furthermore, the SRT Motorsports team won two of three championships in the class and finished second in the GTLM-class manufacturer championship in its second full year of the program. But that was that and this is now, so expect the SRT brand to churn out a suite of new performance-oriented Dodge cars, following in the footsteps of the manic Charger SRT Hellcat and Challenger SRT Hellcat.