Tomball Dodge/Viperexchange has a special relationship with Dodge, the manufacturer of our beloved Vipers and Viper Magazine, and the Viper Club of America. ViperExchange/Tomball Dodge was honored to return the Viper to the Nordschleife at Nürburgring in Germany – AKA, the Ring to defend the title.
In 2008 the Dodge Viper ACR, supported by a small team of dedicated engineers, came to the Ring and established a production car one lap record time of 7:22.1, a record that stood through much of 2011. This summer the Corvette ZR1 came to the Ring with new Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tires and beat the Viper record with a 7:19.6. Even more recently, the $400,000 Lexus LF-A, with a special Nürburgring Edition, set down a blazing time of 7:14.6.
In 2011 ViperExchange offered to supply two very unique cars that possibly could set a new record beating out the Corvette ZR1, the Posrche GT2 RS, and to see how the new Viper stacked up against the Lexus LFA. As loyal Viper Racers, Enthusiasts, Dealers and Passionate people, Ben and Bernie set out to make this task a reality. Tomball was all in from day one planning with emails, phone calls, and helping prepare the cars for pick up to head to Detroit. The Corvette times were the target with only a glamour of hope to attack the LFA insane record we knew the task ahead was going to be a challenge.
Sending 2 cars over to Germany meant that we needed two drivers. As a result of being driver teammates in the 24 hours of Daytona, Ben developed a friendship with Dominik Farnbacher. In fact, earlier this year Ben and his wife Kathleen went to the Nurburgring to spend 2 days with Dominik at the famous track. We were extremely excited to bring our relationship with Dominik to the effort. He is an incredible talent; setting the pole in this year’s GT class at both the 24hrs of Daytona and the 24 Hours of Nürburgring.
This is where the journey began and lot’s more to follow. The special, Tomball Dodge exclusive paint combinations are now being created into “7:12 Editions” and will be sold as special edition Vipers. There will be more to follow on the special editions as we work with SRT and Prefix. We first have to get the cars back home! Not only do we stand proud as the number one selling Dodge Viper dealer in 2011, but we are humbled and honored with the response received from the Viper Nation.
While the official results will be posted on VCA along with the full video footage, SRT was kind enough to share today’s very, very exciting results: The 2010 Dodge Viper ACR set a new production car record of just 7:12 and change. What that “change” is will have to wait until the results are made official, but it is most definitely one for the record books. Look for the full story in the next issue of VIPER magazine and ViperExchange as well as the in-car and exterior footage of the runs themselves here on these forums. On behalf of the Viper Club of America and Viper owners everywhere, Tomball Dodge, ViperExchange, Ben, and Bernie cannot describe how proud we are to be part of the new record. It is an honor and a pleasure.
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