Add another North American track record

[RT SERPENT]

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I’m happy to say, even after 3 years since production stopped, the Viper ACR continues to add more North American Track records to its resume!

During my last TA event of the year hosted by WSCC at GMP (Gimli Motorsport Park) I managed to push through the long standing
one-minute barrier posting a time of 0:59:752 and setting a new production car track record in the process. (Beat the previous record by almost a half second)
I was lucky enough to follow it up with 2 more 59 second runs in subsequent sessions.

A huge heartfelt thanks to WSCC organization, the volunteers, and to the many far more talented fellow drivers and friends who are nice enough to share their knowledge, tips, instruction, and guidance with me. The Viper ACR-E continues to be an absolute amazing piece of machinery and art!

[catwood]

Big time Congrats

[str5010]

Congratulations and thanks for sharing!

[GTS Dean]

Congrats on the track record! But, what kind of surface is that in the first photo - chip seal??????

[RT SERPENT]

Congrats on the track record! But, what kind of surface is that in the first photo - chip seal??????

LOL! Nope. Just very old faded pavement with a few patches. Good news is the track is looking to resurface shortly

[TA Two Oh]

Well done! That's a great achievement, running a sub 1. I instructed at Gimli many years ago and the surface wasn't great way back then. It must be extra hard on tires these days! But you're lucky that you're able to use it as I recall it being a heck of a long way away from any other Canadian road course.

You should share that track's incredible claim to fame with forum readers. It's an amazing story that involved sportscars, a Boeing 767, and the metric system. Being the track record holder, it's your story to tell.

[Desert Venom Racer]

Love the story. Congratulations!

[Loud]

Awesome, congrats!

[99RT10]

That is awesome, congrats!!!!

[Pappy]

Well done! That's a great achievement, running a sub 1. I instructed at Gimli many years ago and the surface wasn't great way back then. It must be extra hard on tires these days! But you're lucky that you're able to use it as I recall it being a heck of a long way away from any other Canadian road course.

You should share that track's incredible claim to fame with forum readers. It's an amazing story that involved sportscars, a Boeing 767, and the metric system. Being the track record holder, it's your story to tell.

Let me guess - there was a little fuel involved?

[Arizona Vipers]

Badass dude! Congrats! What car held the record before you?

[Bill Pemberton]

Considering this Epic run, please report if another record was broken since this was on a Canadian Track ----- more beer drank in celebration than ever before, ha. Way to go and really fun to hear more success for a car our competition often said wasn't a real track machine.

[TKO MOTORSPORTS TEAM]

Nicely done 1/2 second and you backed it a couple times .......... awesome !!! 58s next time
have fun be safe

[Evil v10]

Great job,keep adding those records and breaking records

[RT SERPENT]

Well done! That's a great achievement, running a sub 1. I instructed at Gimli many years ago and the surface wasn't great way back then. It must be extra hard on tires these days! But you're lucky that you're able to use it as I recall it being a heck of a long way away from any other Canadian road course.

You should share that track's incredible claim to fame with forum readers. It's an amazing story that involved sportscars, a Boeing 767, and the metric system. Being the track record holder, it's your story to tell.

Very cool! Not too many people are familiar with the GMP circuit. It's pretty rough now, but we're still happy to have it.

For the sake of brevity, let's just say not everyone was on the same wavelength when it came to calculating how much fuel was onboard
(due to the conversion from imperial to metric measurements).
The plane ran out of fuel mid-flight but the captain and co-pilot, who happened to also be a glider pilot,
somehow managed to wrestle the jetliner and glide it hundreds of miles to a rough landing on an old air force runway.
This turned out to be quite a shock to the all racers and crowd who were there, since a portion of the old abandoned runway
is now part of an NHRA dragstrip and the road course circuit! Anyhow, the plane landed with zero power, running gear collapsed, and it skidded to a stop
right near the end of the long straight. The track and various racers used their fire extinguishers to put out the small fire ...and all the passengers were safe!

Oddly enough, later on Air Canada dispatched a crew to make repairs to the plane and it went back into service.
However on the drive up to Gimli their van ran out of gas.LOL!

Awesome, congrats!

Thanks!

That is awesome, congrats!!!!

Much appreciated!

Considering this Epic run, please report if another record was broken since this was on a Canadian Track ----- more beer drank in celebration than ever before, ha. Way to go and really fun to hear more success for a car our competition often said wasn't a real track machine.

Bill, I cannot confirm nor deny this rumour. lol!

Nicely done 1/2 second and you backed it a couple times .......... awesome !!! 58s next time
have fun be safe

Thanks! There is definitely more time to be found.

[RT SERPENT]

Badass dude! Congrats! What car held the record before you?

I believe a ZO6 held the record in 2018. (just under 1:01:00)
For the last several years a fellow driver (and friend of mine) was working to get under the one minute mark and earlier this summer he
managed to eek out a 1:00:25 in a very fast 2019 ZL1 1LE Camaro.
A few Porsches, a GT3 RS, several ZO6 vettes, three ZL1 1LE Camaros, a Lotus Super7, one of my best friends (Dason) in his GenV Viper GTS,
and a few other "modifieds" are some of the faster cars/drivers that regularly run. It seems all the cars are getting faster and faster.

[Ronin47]

Got any video of the run?

[TA Two Oh]

Let me guess - there was a little fuel involved?

Exactly! I recall seeing a photo of the plane about to land, with people running out of its way. It's a good thing that someone happened to spot it. Apparently planes don't have horns. This is a cool shot:
IMG_1413.JPG

[JonB ~ PartsRack]

Sincere congrats, WhoEver You Are !?! Russ? Obviously Faster Than a B737!"

This is the 9,732nd time I wish I knew who was posting, vs the anonymous sigs.

I wanna know who I am bragging about ! "Some Guy"....

[1ststrike]

Glad you gave us this exciting news. Great job driving!!!

[RT SERPENT]

Got any video of the run?

Unfortunately no video. Gotta get a better mount for my iPhone. It's so shakey I almost never use it.

[RT SERPENT]

Sincere grats, WhoEver You Are !?! Russ? Obviously Faster Than a B737!"

This is the 9,732nd time I wish I knew who was posting, vs the anonymous sigs.

I wanna know who I am bragging about ! "Some Guy"....

LOL! yup it's me, Russ.
BTW, I'll be hitting you up again for next season's tire supply.

[RT SERPENT]

Exactly! I recall seeing a photo of the plane about to land, with people running out of its way. It's a good thing that someone happened to spot it. Apparently planes don't have horns. This is a cool shot:
IMG_1413.JPG

It's like, "Fun's over... nothing to see here... everyone back to racing!"

[GTS Dean]

I was at a Porshe club DE/TT in Corpus Christi, TX about 20 years ago. It was being held at Cabaniss NALS, one of two auxiliary fields for the Navy's big base there. It is just southeast of CC International Airport, on a 310 heading. (all 4 airports have runways on a 310 heading). I was working a corner during Saturday practice when a small twin was descending to land on top of us - flaps and gear down, lights on. Obviously confused at cars all over the place, I saw him wiggle a little bit - level off, throttle up, then pull the gear back in the fuselage and fly on to CCIA. We all waved at him. :lol: About a year later, one of Southwest's 737s landed short at Cabaniss on that same runway. They had to haul some stairs and baggage conveyors across town so people could deplane! Ooops!

And for a quality phone mount, check out RAM: https://www.rammount.com/product-lines

[Patentlaw]

You are too modest. Technology has progressed. Despite passage of time and technology improvements, you set the record. Obviously you are a very very good driver.