SRT Motorsports Post-Qualifying Report - Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen

June 27, 2014 , Watkins Glen, N.Y. -  SRT (Street and Racing Technology) Motorsports locked down row three in GTLM qualifying for Sunday’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen at New York’s Watkins Glen International where Jonathan Bomarito was fifth fastest in the No. 93 Dodge Viper SRT GTS-R and Dominik Farnbacher was sixth in the No. 91 Dodge Viper GTS-R during Saturday’s qualifying session.

Bomarito turned a top lap time of 1:44.606 (117.010 mph) on his fifth of seven laps in the timed 15-minute session. Farnbacher’s fastest lap of 1:44.755 (116.844 mph) came on his fourth of eight laps.

This weekend’s race is the debut event for a new classic look on both Dodge Viper SRT GTS-Rs. Unveiled on Thursday morning at The Glen in the IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship paddock, the 'Viper Red' and 'Race White' scheme is the same worn by previous race and championship-winning Dodge Vipers. The livery honors Viper's racing heritage and Dodge's 100th anniversary that is being celebrated this year.

The Sahlen's Six Hours is the third round of the North American Endurance Cup (NAEC), a four-race championship within the 2014 IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar series. The SRT Motorsports teams currently rank fourth (91) and fifth (93) in the standings and look for strong results in tomorrow’s race to head into October’s finale at Petit Le Mans in contention for the title.

The two-entry SRT Motorsports team has achieved its best results in endurance races this year. The No. 93 Dodge Viper SRT GTS-R, with Rob Bell joining Bomarito and Wittmer, was second in March’s Twelve Hours of Sebring. Goossens and Farnbacher were joined by Ryan Hunter-Reay for a third-place showing in January’s season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona.

The Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen, the fifth event for the GTLM class in the 2014 IMSA schedule, will be broadcast live from Watkins Glen International tomorrow, Sunday, June 29, at 11 a.m. EDT/8 a.m. PDT on FOX Sports 1. 

Jonathan Bomarito, driver, No. 93 Dodge Viper SRT GTS-R 
How was your qualifying session?
“It was a good session. We made progress today, the times are close and the competition is tough, but I think we have a good race car. Ultimately, we would like to qualify a little bit higher, but P5 is not bad. It’s a six-hour race and I think we have a good car over the course of a tire stint, which is going to be important. The guys have been working hard. I think we’re well prepared. Kuno (Wittmer) and I are both up to speed like the car. I’m very optimistic and looking forward to the race.”
 
Can you improve your Dodge Viper in the morning’s brief warmup session?
“Oh yeah. Yeah, we can definitely learn from the warmup. Kuno (Wittmer) is going to drive the whole thing. We were just talking with the engineers and we already have a plan, a game plan for that – a couple of small tweaks that we need to get answers for and we’ll be all set for the race.”

Kuno Wittmer, driver, No. 93 Dodge Viper SRT GTS-R
How do you evaluate the qualifying performance?
“I think it’s actually a pretty good turnaround if you remember some of our recent qualifying efforts in the most-recent rounds. You look at the last few races, we qualified near the back, but we still had some pretty good races. And now I think we’re lined up even better for this race. It shows the pace of the car and the team is buckled down, primed and ready to go for tomorrow. It’s a good car and really nice to drive. I think it will be a good car for an endurance pace tomorrow.”

Kuno Wittmer, driver, No. 93 Dodge Viper SRT GTS-R 
How will the temperatures impact the race?
“It will certainly help the driver as it cools down in the afternoon, but the heat primarily impacts the tires and it’s a variable in making a decision on tires. When do you go to a different compound? What do we do with the compound? Where do we start? Where do we end? It’s going to be more of a tire war than anything else tomorrow for the race. Most importantly, we have to battle the heat and humidity tomorrow, stay at it until the last hour, and then showcase that we can win this thing.”

Dominik Farnbacher, driver, No. 91 Dodge Viper SRT GTS-R
How was your qualifying session?
“It was okay. We definitely had less grip than we had in the practice sessions earlier today. I believe it’s because of the other rubber on the track from the earlier race. It was quite slippery. Marc (Goossens) did most of the driving in the practice sessions. I only did a total of 20 to 25 minutes overall, but I think we found quite a good setup for the race. There are a few little things we want to tweak, but I’m very happy. I used that qualifying session more or less as an opportunity to get comfortable and to find a good setup. We didn’t really drive on the edge. For us, it was more a lesson and I’m happy that our sister car is in fifth and we’re sixth. I think that’s a good result. It’s an endurance race.”

Marc Goossens, driver, No. 91 Dodge Viper SRT GTS-R
How do you assess the qualifying session?
“After the practice session this afternoon, I expected us to be where we are at now. I think we had a little bit of a better car this morning. Having said that, we tried something setup-wise that didn’t work. We’re not sure if it was the setup change that didn’t work or because the track changed a lot after the race earlier today. It’s hard to tell. In the beginning of the practice session, we switched cars – Jonathan (Bomarito) drove my car and I was driving his car – and then we went back. We did it to gather data and get some good feedback on both cars. I think we’re pretty confident for tomorrow. I think we have a good race car. However, the pole winner’s time was pretty fast. We’ll see what we have for them tomorrow. I’ve got all the confidence in our team. We know what Dominik (Farnbacher) and I can do with regards to race-craft. We also know how good SRT Motorsports is. It’s just a good group of people with good tactics, strategy and hopefully we can bring the Dodge brand back to the front.” 

Matt Bejnarowicz, lead engineer, No. 93 Dodge Viper SRT GTS-R
How was your qualifying session?
“I’m not totally disappointed in it. We’re kind of in the middle of things and starting fifth isn’t a bad place to start, especially in a six-hour race. I think we’re close enough to the front where we can probably chip away at it, work on a strategy and pull it off.”
 
What’s your plan for the morning warm-up?
“We’re going to still tweak the car a little bit. There’s a little area that we’re going to try and improve. We’ll have Kuno (Wittmer) do most of that work and then Kuno will start the race.”


SRT Motorsports Team Lineup for Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

No. 91 Dodge Viper SRT GTS-R 
Driver: Dominik Farnbacher (Germany)
Driver: Marc Goossens (Belgium)
Lead Engineer: Bill Riley 

No. 93 Dodge Viper SRT GTS-R 
Driver: Jonathan Bomarito (United States)
Driver: Kuno Wittmer (Canada) 
Lead Engineer: Matt Bejnarowicz 

Race Information
Name: Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen (race five of 11 for TUDOR Championship GTLM)
Date: June 29, 2014
Time: 11:10 a.m. EDT for six hours
Track: Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, NY, 3.4 miles
Broadcast Information: FOX Sports 1 live at 11 a.m. EDT/8 a.m. PDT