The majority of automakers essentially mark the date of their sports cars’ Nurburgring record attempts on their calendars as soon as they begin developing them. But with the fifth and final-generation Viper, Dodge refused to set a time around the German track, so a group of enthusiasts had to take matters into their own hands.
The Viper Owners Association recently crowdfunded an effort to transport two new Viper GTS-Rs — supplied by ViperExchange free of charge — to the Nordschleife and completed the fifth-generation Viper’s first traffic-free flying lap of the 12.9-mile track in the dry, according to Road & Track.
The GoFundMe campaign received donations largely from individual car enthusiasts who wanted to see the Viper reclaim the production car lap record, which was bested by the Porsche 918 and recently bettered further by the Lamborghini Huracan Performante. The VOA invited those who donated $10,000 or more to come to Germany to witness the attempt, and anybody who donated $250 or more will have their names featured on a commemorative poster.
Although Dominik Farnbacher, a former SRT Motorsports factory driver, wasn’t able to go faster than the Huracan, his lap time 7:03.45 is the fastest among rear-wheel-drive production cars. What’s more, it was nearly 10 seconds faster than the time he set with a fourth-generation Viper in 2011 during dodge’s factory-backed record attempt.
We understand that it makes more sense for Dodge to tout the American-made Viper’s 13 lap records at various North American tracks than to set a time on the Nurburgring, as it likely knew the record was out of reach. Still, we appreciate that the VOA thought it was important enough to give the final-generation Viper a proper sendoff by pitting it against the best performance cars in the world on the most iconic circuit in the industry.
Thumbnail photo via Instagram/@photobymeyer
