The past six months have been rough for SRT's Viper. Last October, Chrysler's SRT slowed Viper production from nine vehicles a day to six. Earlier this month, we learned that the factory would take a two-month hiatus to realign supply with demand. Adding insult to injury, 93 first-generation Vipers were recently slated to meet their fate in claws of the crusher. Although the latter incident involved pre-production examples that were never intended to be street legal, the symbolic indignity resonated throughout the enthusiast community.
Now, thanks to the crew at Autoweek, we have word that the pair of factory-backed SRT Vipers named on the entry list for the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans will be no-shows on the starting grid when the green flag drops on June 14. Ralph Gilles, president and CEO of SRT told Autoweek, "We regretfully and respectfully decline to participate in this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans. We are honored to once again be invited by the [race organizer, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest] to compete in this historic event, and they were the first to be informed of our decision. We will remain focused on our North American racing program in 2014."
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When asked if flagging sales of street-going Vipers and the temporary shutdown at the Conner Avenue production facility in Detroit where the V-10–powered supercars are assembled had anything to do with the withdrawal, a source at SRT told Autoweek, "No, motorsports and product strategy are two separate business functions."
from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/nSHy27
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