The driver roster for the 2013 SRT Viper GTS-R debut is set!

The racing debut of the 2013 SRT Viper GTS-R is just nine
days away and the two teams of four drivers have been finalized for the Viper’s
big debut to the American LeMans Series. 
As expected, Kumo Wittmer, Dominik Farnbacher and Marc Goossens will
pilot the new Viper GTS-R but the fourth driver racing at the Mid Ohio Race
Course next weekend will be experienced road racer Tommy Kendal.

When the new Viper race program was announced shortly after
the New York Auto Show debut of the 2013 SRT Viper, Wittmer, Farnbacher and
Goossens were all mentioned along with Ryan Hunter-Reay but the folks at SRT
mentioned that there would be additional driver news as we got closer to the
racing debut.  The first announcement
came last week when Tommy Kendal announced that he would be the fourth full-time
driver for the SRT Viper GTS-R program and today, SRT announced that Jonathan
Bomarito would join the SRT Viper team for longer endurance races.  Ryan Hunter-Reay will also join the other
five Viper team drivers for those longer races.

The 2013 SRT Viper GTS-R debut at the 2012 Ohio Sports Car
Challenge is a 2 hour and 45 minute race so the teams will only need two
drivers for each car.  SRT has registered
a pair of 2013 Viper GTS-R race cars – one the blue and silver #91 Forza
Motorsport car and the other a silver and yellow Viper sporting the number 93
and the Pennzoil Ultra sponsor.  The #91
Viper will be driven by Kumo Wittmer and Dominik Farnbacher while the #93 Viper
will be driven by Marc Goossens and Tommy Kendal.

The Mid Ohio Sports Car Challenge begins on Saturday August
4^th at 1:05pm.  If you have an
Xbox 360 with the Xbox Live ESPN3 app, you can watch all of the action starting
at 12:15pm EST while those watching on television can catch the race starting at
2pm on ABC.

The lineup for the American LeMans Series GT
Class at Mid Ohio is:
Car # – Car Make – Drivers – Sponsor
01-Ferrari F458 Italia- Scott Sharp/ Johannes van Overbeek – Tequila Patrón
2- Ferrari F458 Italia – Ed Brown/ Guy Cosmo – Tequila Patrón
3 – Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZR1 – Jan Magnussen/ Antonio Garcia – Compuware
4 – Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZR1 – Oliver Gavin / Tommy Milner – Compuware
17- Porsche 911 GT3 RSR- Wolf Henzler/ Bryan Sellers- Falken Tire
23- Lotus Evora- Bill Sweedler/ Townsend Bell- Battery Tender/ William Rast/
Yokohama
44- Porsche 911 GT3 RSR- Seth Neiman/ Marco Holzer – eSilicon/ Osmo Nutrition
45- Porsche 911 GT3 RSR- Jörg Bergmeister / Patrick Long – eSilicon/ Osmo
Nutrition
48- Porsche 911 GT3 RSR- Bryce Miller/ Sascha Maassen- Dunlop/ Chopard
55- BMW E92 M3- Jörg Müller/ Bill Auberlen-BMW
56- BMW E92 M3- Joey Hand / Dirk Müller -BMW
91-SRT Viper GTS-R-Kumo Wittmer/ Dominik Farnbacher-Forza Motorsport
93- SRT Viper GTS-R- Marc Goossens/ Tommy Kendal-Pennzoil Ultra

Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com

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