SRT Motorsports Post-Qualifying Release - Sports Car Showcase at Long Beach

April 11, 2014 , Long Beach, Calif. -  Enduring a tough day on one of the most challenging street courses in racing, SRT® (Street and Racing Technology) Motorsports persevered through a variety of issues Friday to qualify both SRT Viper GTS-R teams for tomorrow’s Sports Car Showcase on the Long Beach street circuit, the third round of the inaugural IMSA TUDOR SportsCar Championship season.
 
The No. 91 SRT Motorsports Viper GTS-R of Marc Goossens and Dominik Farnbacher overcame an overall lack of grip on the slick 1.968-mile circuit to qualify eighth with Farnbacher’s top lap time of 1:19.223 (89.429 mph). The sister No. 93 SRT Motorsports Viper GTS-R of Kuno Wittmer and Jonathan Bomarito in turn rebounded from a persistent power steering issue – which ultimately resulted in a radiator change that wasn’t completed until several minutes into the qualifying session – to nail down the 10th and final GTLM grid position with a lap time of 1:19.980 (88.582 mph).
 
While both qualifying efforts were not what the team expected, the never-quit performance of the SRT Motorsports crew was the day’s highlight. The No. 93’s power steering issue emerged in this morning’s two-hour practice session and cost the team valuable time despite a speedy steering pump replacement. The issue again emerged in afternoon practice and a repair was completed just minutes before qualifying. Tracing the problem to a potential cooling issue, the SRT team amazingly swapped radiators in another pitside thrash and got Bomarito on track with eight minutes remaining in the 15-minute qualifying session. 
 
With Friday behind them, the two-car SRT Viper GTS-R team now shifts focus to preparing for tomorrow’s Sports Car Showcase that starts at 3:10 p.m. PDT. The 100-minute race will be broadcast live on FOX Sports 1 at 6:00 p.m. EDT/3:00 p.m. PDT. Race coverage begins at 5:40 p.m. EDT with a pre-race show on IMSA.com.
 
In addition to the race coverage, it was confirmed earlier this week that SRT will sponsor FOX Sports 1’s first-ever post-race show for the IMSA TUDOR race, which will air live from the Long Beach Street Circuit winner’s circle for 30 minutes following the event.
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