ORECA doing Great, Le Mans 2002

[Fred(DrivingSchool)Kinder]

ORECA has starts in row 1 in JUDD LMP900.
An independent Viper in front of the 2 Factory Corvettes.

I continue to feel DC Screwed Up by getting out of Road Racing.

The DC line (for getting out of Le Mans and ALMS) in 2001 was that the present Viper could not keep up with the Vette, That Dog (story) does not hunt!

Four Vipers will start in the 2002 Le Mans, June 15-16.

[Joseph Houss]

Fred, from what I understand, the real story was that the additional weight and intake restrictions that the Vipers would have had to carry is what made another season impractical.

[Fred(DrivingSchool)Kinder]

The only thing I can say is BS. Two years later and a Viper Privateer qualifies in front of the Factory Vette's. Pretty impressive.

Had DC continued and supported the ORECA relationship Viper's and the other GTS cars would have provided great racing.

I am glad that Playstation is sponsoring ORECA's two LMP900's and one Viper.

I hope the powers at DC get with the program and roll out a few the CC with ORECA's name on them.

[Fred(DrivingSchool)Kinder]

The official web site is http://www.lemans.org/

The top ten cars in LMP 900/LPM 675/LM GTP
pos# Car
1 Audi
2 Oreca Dallara JUDD
3 Audi
4 Audi
5 MG (LMP675)
6 Bently
7 Dome Judd
8 MG
9 Oreca Dallara Judd
10 Courage Judd

LM GTS
1 Ferrari Maranello
2 Viper Larbre Competition France
3 Corvette
4 Corvette
5 Viper FFSA-Oreca support
6 Viper
7 Saleen S7R
8 Saleen S7R
9 Saleen S7R
10 Viper

[VardaMan]

I was with the Viper Larbre Team at the Daytona 24 this year. These guys are well organized and had ALL potential problems solved and just kept running. They are the 2001 FIA champs. They are a good team with a very reliable car. They could win the class. It will be a good race but if it rains, the Corvettes could win again without driving their cars for the entire race.
What a joke! I hope that they will be seriously challenged this year.

[Craig 201 MPH]

Yep no Factory Vipers but at least we have INTREPIDS IN NASCAR YEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAWWWWWW, what a way to celebrate a flagship.

[ChrisGTS]

Although I watch these practice times with a lot of interest, I also take them with a grain of salt. That far in advance of the race, you have no idea what kind of setups the teams are running in terms of aero/fuel load/tire compound, and in fact they may just be trying out different things.
Don't get me wrong. I would love to see the Corvettes seriously challenged at Le Mans, although I would much prefer the challenge to come from a true GTS car like the Viper (or even Ferrari) instead of the Saleen S7R. But I think the testing times aren't necessarily a good predictor of how the race, or even qualifying, might go.
As a current Corvette and future Viper owner, I would be thrilled with a victory from either car! And as far as ORECA goes, it would be so awesome for them to beat Audi!

[Neil - UK]

I hope of one the viper teams can beat the vettes and saleens, as
the UK club will be there to see it happen, carvanning down will
be fun too

[Frank Parise]

The practice times posted on the Le Mans site look quite fast. Anything under 4 minutes in the GTS class is very competitive. The Vipers are flying. It's impressive that they are ahead of both the Vettes and the Saleens at this stage. Their actual race times will be much slower and the rigors of a 24-hour race makes this race a toss-up. It's also good to see at least 10 cars in the GTS class. In years past this class has been somewhat meaningless and still is in both Grand Am and the ALMS.

[Alternative]

'Hope the Vipers finish 1-2-3-4
Good luck on all the Vipers!

[JonB - PartsRack]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Fred(DrivingSchool)Kinder:
.......I continue to feel DC Screwed Up by getting out of Road Racing. ........<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


They sure as heck disappointed me! NASCAR RULES TV.
They wanna sell TRUCKS and INTREPIDS.

They sell all the Vipers they build anyway.


WAIT TO YOU HEAR WHAT OLIVIER BERETTA IS UP TO NEXT !!!