LM24: Viper team hope for Le Mans chance with ex-works GT3-R

The No. 53 Riley Motorsports-TI Automotive GTE-Am entry was named the first of seven reserve entries and will be in line for a possible chance to participate in the race if one of today's invitees withdraws in the coming weeks.

It would be another step in the new and race-winning partnership between ViperExchange.com, TI Automotive and Riley Motorsports, following their victory in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, where team drivers Ben Keating, Al Carter, Cameron Lawrence, Kuno Wittmer and Dominik Farnbacher raced from last on the starting grid to the GTD class victory in the No. 93 TI Automotive/ViperExchange.com Dodge Viper GT3-R.

Keating would be among the team's drivers for the Le Mans campaign, partnering with second-year teammate and former Le Mans class winner, Jeroen Bleekemolen, the listed driver on the entry that was formally designated the first reserve today in Paris. In the event a slot opens up, and the ACO extends an invite to the No. 53 team to participate in the race in the near future, the third driver and all other team details would be confirmed in the following weeks.

"Being able to race at Le Mans this year would be a highlight addition to a season that has already moved off to a great start with TI Automotive and Viper Exchange," said Bill Riley, Riley Motorsports Director. "We want to follow up the Rolex 24 win with more victories and strong results in the year's remaining endurance races and win both the TUDOR Championship, the Tequila Patrón Cup and, hopefully, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. As always, we will begin preparing right now as if we are racing at Le Mans in June and hope for the best."

"It's an honor to even have this much of a chance to participate in the amazing event that is the 24 Hours of Le Mans," Keating said. "We are grateful to the ACO for finding room for us on the reserve list – we are a step closer than we were yesterday and hope to have the chance to race at Le Mans in June. If you are a racecar driver in professional sports car road racing at any level, the pinnacle of the sport, every driver's goal has to be racing at Le Mans."

The recent Rolex 24 victory came in the on-track race debut of the new partnership between TI Automotive, ViperExchange.com and Riley Motorsports. Both the winning entry and the team's sister No. 33 Viper GT3-R featured several TI Automotive high-performance systems for the first time, including the fuel pump delivery and driver air conditioning systems. In both cases, TI Automotive engineers tuned current production Viper components to Riley specifications. The technology transfer resulted in significant weight savings and optimized engine efficiencies for more power.

In addition to a full IMSA TUDOR Championship season for the No. 33, the No. 93 entry will contest this year's four-race Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup, which also includes the 12 Hours of Sebring, Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen and Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.