Viper Team Of Keating, Bleekemolen, Miller Win GTD Race At Road Atlanta

In the final WeatherTech Championship race for the Dodge Viper GT3-R, No. 33 ViperExchange.com/Cruising with the Monkey Viper teammates Ben Keating, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Marc Miller sent the car out on top with a GT Daytona (GTD) class victory in the Petit Le Mans presented by Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort.

“It is emotional,” Keating said. “The goal was to give it a good sendoff. Viper has such a rich racing history, and to do our last race in the Viper with IMSA at Petit Le Mans and go out on top is a huge deal. 2017 is the last year they’ll build the production-car Viper and it seemed fitting to finish off the season this way. Last year we had Viper Exchange on the car, and I happen to be in the Viper business, and I’ve been involved in the Viper community. It means a lot to Dodge and the Viper clubs, and to the dealer, and to me as an individual. It means a lot to go out on top.”

It was the third GTD victory of the season for Keating and Bleekemolen, while it was the first in WeatherTech Championship competition for Miller, a full-time 2016 IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge competitor who joined the team as a third driver for Petit Le Mans.

Bleekemolen – who earned the TOTAL Pole Award in qualifying on Friday – originally crossed the finish line behind Andy Lally in the No. 44 Magnus Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3, but the No. 44 car was moved to last place in the GTD class as John Potter, who was paired with Lally for the full season, did not meet the three-hour drive-time requirement for a Bronze- or Silver-rated driver in the Pro-Am class.

Patrick Lindsey, Joerg Bergmeister and Matt McMurry teamed up to finish second in the No. 73 Park Place Porsche / Justice Brothers Inc. Porsche 911 GT3 R. Christina Nielsen, Alessandro Balzan and Jeff Segal finished third in the No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3.

Nielsen and Balzan wrapped up GTD championships for themselves and the Scuderia Corsa team with their seventh podium result of the season. Nielsen became the first woman to win a major, full-season professional sports car championship in North America, while Balzan picked up his second title, having also won the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series GT championship in 2013.

It was the second consecutive GTD title for Scuderia Corsa, which won last year with drivers Townsend Bell and Bill Sweedler. Audi claimed the GTD manufacturers’ championship.