Crowd Sourced Viper ACR Sets Fastest Lap Yet Before Crashing at the Nurburgring
The crowd sourced Viper ACR Nurburgring record run ended in a crash barrier before it could record a sub 7-minute time.
Dodge didn’t do it. But earlier this year, a group enthusiasts set about setting a Nordschleife record with the Viper ACR. With sponsorship from Kumho Tire, Prefix and a pair of cars provided by Viper Exchange, they managed to run a very respectable lap time of 7:03.45. This time they went back looking to break past the seven minute mark and try to challenge the current production car lap record of 6:52.01.
Their return to Nurburgring used crowdsourcing on top of the sponsorships. Enthusiasts had also pooled together in their belief the Viper is capable of taking the record. That’s a fantastic measure of the pride and belief Viper enthusiasts have in the car. A pride and belief that almost nearly paid off.
The first car met with mechanical failure after someone only finger tightened the differential oil drain plug. A horrific error, but it’s worth bearing in mind this is not a factory team. They were burning money on track time someone else had given up for them. On top of that rain was approaching. When they sent the second car out, the first lap produced a heroic time of 7:01.3. The car didn’t make the second lap though. Mid turn at around 160-mph, the front left tire had a sidewall failure. Fortunately, the driver is OK and the car wasn’t too badly damaged. They do have a bill for damaged Nurburgring barrier on top of a damaged Viper though.
Fortunately, the first fast lap was recorded by in car video:
Unfortunately, this looks like their last attempt. According to the drivers, the Viper ACR on sticky tires is capable of beating the 6:57 mark. Considering that’s the first attack lap and there was an issue with second and third gear, we don’t doubt a Viper ACR could make a real challenge with more time and money to spend.
We salute the team for making such a valiant attempt to honor the Viper and show the world what it’s capable of. We also salute Kumho Tire, Prefix, Viper Exchange and all of the enthusiasts that helped make the attempts happen.
