How They Killed The ZAKSPEED VIPER - 24h Nurburgring 2003 

It does seem a little on the harsh side

Yeah that's ridiculous

It was necessary at the end. The car was too dominant for the race in the past. in some years 35-40s faster than anyone. And it was really boring to watch. And the lap times showed that the 2003 Viper was well balanced within the competition in 2003. With a tank of lets say 105 Liters it would have been a perfect match up with the Audis BMWs and Opels.

its not really any different from today it was just the early days before strict balance of performance rules. Today nobody gets 500kg of ballast because the manufacturers know it doesnt make sense to build the car too light because you will only add it back as ballast later if the car is too dominant.

Germans are known for making sure they get the desired result

People have the nerve to compare it to the Audi Transam and to slag American Racing Series, However that car was factory backed and was made with 4 times the budget of what privateer teams were capable of amassing, these lot don't even mention the Porsche RSR and 935. German racing series are far more notorious for their "balancing" acts even against neighboring European nations manufacturers. One thing I noticed about german backed racing teams too are that their manufacturers can't seem to win without spending ludicrous amounts of money in a Racing Program, hence why everyone was going broke fighting Porsche and Audi in the 80s and 90s until they caught up with half the budget and the latter 2 manufacturers would leave, hence why they're soo protected in Germany. Mercedes in F1 for the past decade didn't engineer its way to dominance, it Spent 4 upwards to 7 times the budget of Haas to win, and only saving grace they have is that F1 didn't do anything about it until the 2021 ruleset and Budget Cap.

@@youngrody2386Was just an good example against stupid german or nation bashing. You can find such cases everywhere if youre looking for. I never understood that nation clownery. Whats the point of it? Im glad at the ring there is or was only a little fanboy thing. We all loved the cars and every winner was applauded. Copying is always cheaper than innovating. Or in some cases just banning it. (IMSA) Audi was winning on an innovation called AWD. Porsche was always top notch in sport car racing and the most sucessful brand in sports car racing history. And good politics was always a factor too, thar for sure. Yes and you will allways find a david who defeat the goliath but thats an exception You deny that the Mercedes engine was an absolut masterpiece of engineering? That fucking thing won the WC 2 years nearly on its own and made the f1 more boring than ever. And on if you have such an advantage you will in most cases conserve it to the next rule change. Ferrari spent the same money also red bull did. Toyota had the biggest budget in the past and won nothing. In the F1 you need the top notch engineers. And they are limited.

​@@youngrody2386 The RSRs, 935s and 962s were private entries (most of the time) and not factory backed. Talking about the 935s, why was the introduction of them into the IMSA delayed by 2 years? John Bishop was scared that 1974 and 1975 would repeat. Same thing in 1982 with the introduction of the Group C and IMSA GTP rules, Bishop was scared that manufacturers would take over making it impossible for privateers to be competetive so he ditched the Group C fuel formula for the IMSA GTP to drive down the costs. Thats the same thing that happened to the Viper in the NLS. The NLS was a touring car series since its inception running Group 1 and 2 cars, later on Group N and A. After Group A rules ran out in 1992 they were using Class II cars (Supertourers). Suddenly in 1999 the Viper, a full blown GT1 car, appears in a field consisting of Class II cars and below which arent comparable to the Viper. To save the privateer nature of the NLS the Viper gets bopped to hell and back but even then its still significantly faster than most of the field using cheaper equipment. Other privateer teams now have to spend even more and bring NGT and Class 1 cars or stuff like the Turbinchen and now you have manufacturers like BMW joining as well driving the costs even higher killing off any privateer ambitions. Or to put it in your words, an ex F1 Team joined a field of privateers and brought one of the most expensive and advanced cars money could buy to dominate the field. The organizers should have done what Bishop did and ban the Viper (or any GT1 car) before it even arrived at the race track.

​@MCA Geeff Lol, AWD is not an innovation of Audi. In fact, AWD was banned in rally because of a large American SUV beating European rally cars. Audi just bribed the FIA to allow AWD back into rally.

@@johncarl5505 The innovation was to build it light enough and usable to get an advantage in racing. And that was in racing an innovation. The AWD was legalized in 1979 before Audi hit the competiton with its AWD quattro. The competiton just thought it was too complex and too heavy solution.

BMW: lookawaymeme.jpg

The problem with the E46 M3 GTR was that it had no production equivalent, unlike the 996 911 GT3 R. That’s what Porsche’s complaint was. Corvette Racing had the same attitude towards the Saleen S7-R, to which Steve Saleen responded by saying that the demand for the race car was greater than for the road car, so he simply built those first. Other teams could’ve fielded GT cars at the Nurburgring 24 Hours, but they didn’t. That’s their problem, not Zakspeed’s.

​@@FlashoftheBladesthe difference between corvette/ Saleen and BMW and Porsche is that It wasn't a technical rule. It was a gentleman/ unspoken rule. However when corvette complain , it was a technical rule.

@@charlesowens8724 In what way was it a technical rule?

​@@FlashoftheBladesi am not sure but i think the s7 (2000) was produced a year before the s7r (2001)

Such BS that they said it was unsafe so they could change the rules. That gives them carte blanche to do whatever they want, just declare it unsafe.

@@samdajellybeenie14 while I agree it was definitely a power move, I can sort of see the safety dangers of carrying a 90 LITER FUEL TANK full of gasoline from the paddock into a car and then reattaching the fuel system, I mean there's a reason nobody does that anywhere

This story and the one about the mid 2000s NASCAR that had a slightly crooked body to go faster on oval tracks are my favorite lol

And they would have lost... Changing the name of a thing, doesnt change the thing. Cheating is cheating. But its funny how the Viper is always the victim. Its hard to fit an 8.4-something liter engine into any kind of racing league. Whether its Europe or the US. And not because the Viper was "too good" either. It was never a successful car at any point in its 30 years existance.

@@captain_context9991 Yes that was feeling about it arround the track in 2003. Nearly nobody liked that Zak thing at the Ring. And the crowd showed that with banners against Zak and thumbs down at Sunday morning in television.

Hey thanks also for your video, which I found after I published mine! You have lots of race details which I don’t have in mine.

@@captain_context9991 Never ?

@@captain_context9991 german fanboy here, Viper was never a succesful car in 30 years lmao what a clown. Fritzs shit their pants whenever they see Viper on track, even modern GT3 Viper wasn't allowed to run lol. I doubt they will allow Ferrari 296 GT3 to compete next year without some +200 kg ballast, they can't stand any proper competetion. Basing car class on simply engine size is beyond any stupidity, it's a lot more complicated, and at the time for sure there wasn't any specific rules - manufacturers could easily turbocharged their engines and be on par with power.

@@coletrickIe Not in top speed on straights . The was a few cars well over 300 km/h in that time in 2003 like the Alzen Turbinchen 996 turbo. And really slow cars like Austin mini. Todays GT3 top out at best at 280-290km/h and only one Dacia that ist no longer with us.

Yes. People are stupid sometimes.

​@@coletrickIe the Viper had 1000hp man

@@Superstocker669 Youre not wrong but the really dangerous overtaking situations happen in the corners nowadays. The GT3 have so much corner speed compared to the slower non aero cars. On top of that in curvy sections a driver cant see as far ahead, maybe hes fighting another car that reduces his view forward even more so the danger just shifted i think.

@@benistingray6097 Yes for sure. But on the other hand your had about 100 cars more on the track and more slower clars like the dacia.

Does this mean it had the chassis from Reynard Motorsport in the UK as well - not based on the road car?

@@dra911 As far as I know, the Oreca Viper chassis came from USA Viper special factory

The factory cars had a few extra tricks, compared to the US supplied Customer cars, built same place though

I can imagine the lawyers on F1 teams findings even a .1mm difference loophole on parts to be deemed allowed or banned.

@@gerogyzurkov2259 I mean plank wear is one such case literally speaking, a half mm wear too much on the plank and you're instantly disqualified

Glad you enjoyed it!

Winning with 2 valve heads, I dont really like anything American but the viper was awesome 😂

Bruh…..nothing beats the Shelby cobra

@@longsleevethong1457 the Daytona is cool

Glad to help!

It isn't anymore, now it has well defined, well regulated classes plus special classes for small teams that want to have some fun with something silly, it's pretty nice now

Yeah this was bullshit but they are much better now.

You are welcome!

From 1999. All of the racing GTSR Vipers came from Oreca customer program, they were the Factory race team for Chrysler, and had exclusive rights to parts and support Interesting to hear Pedro Lamy drove the Zackspeed Viper, as he was one of the early Oreca Viper drivers He also drove the ill-fated flipping Mercedes CLR, luckily his did not crash, super chill dude Their first win at Le Mans in #53, was Donahue / Bell / Drudi, in 1998 The car I crewed on, we were the 3rd car of the team, and not expected to win ;)

@@NinetyTres Thank you! That's a great memory, I am sure.

Its not really that preposterous.... They had to intervene and shut down THIS TEAM for forcing their hand and refusing the rules. If you dont comply, you dont race. Simple as that. But because its American, its always some kind of a victim complex.

Fantastic story! I never knew this and it’s very interesting. I too own a Viper and it’s a fantastic ownership experience. From North Carolina USA. I dream of the day I can come to Nurburgring and watch the 24hr race!

Good question, early 90s DTM was very high performance and at the time even more expensive than F1. Audi‘s IMSA prototype and pikes peak are also very high performance with partly original body.

I guess it depends on whether or not you count GT1 in the mid to late 90ies. Those cars were capable of competing for outright Le Mans victory against prototypes, with chassis based on road cars. However, the road cars themselves were homologation specials with very limited production numbers. Basically the manufacturers secretly developed prototype race cars first, then built road versions of them so that they then could claim that the race cars were based on the road car model.

You are welcome!

It was the Daimler Chrysler car company at the time.

true, and people are going to host nurburgring 24h no matter what, just by a diiferent organizer, Zakspeed's boss was too nice

Whats your point, trying to show the viper wasnt the fastest car? Even if thats the case, the race goes 24h hours and laptime alone doesnt make a winner.

@@benistingray6097 No its just interesting for most people to get a little view whats going on at the weekend and what the pace was of the different car. The fastest car back than was with no doubt the "Alzen Turbinchen" Turbo Porsche. Yeah and its true lap time back than wasnt all compared to now. The Turbos were too thirsty to win for example and the Turbinchen not durable.

​@@Superstocker669 The Porsche's success was mostly due to better Chassis design, however the Viper still dominated in the championship races.

@@Superstocker669 Ah ok, then i got you wrong, my bad.

@@youngrody2386 Yes cause it had no competition. Especially before 2003. No question. There was no comparable car on grid. Im talking more of 2003 and ongoing here. In the VLN Championship the Turbinchen Porsche was at this point unbeatable in Speed. But that was a massive care. No compare to the average porsches. In some races it arrived with 15s advantage in the Brünnchen.

Should have taken it to court. He might own the whole thing by now.

@@benjaminbrockway5998 better not. The Russian guy managing it, does an excellent job so far.

It really looks like that...

Thanks and greetings!

Whiny euro manufacturers couldn't figure out how to beat good old American muscle.

And I would have absolutely dragged it to the FIA court. Complete scorched earth.

They pits always had have only regular fuel pumps still to that day. Its just easier and low cost way to fuel 230 cars especially in those old days.

This transcends cheating. This is a race organizer trying to screw over a single entry. I would not have taken their "compromise" if I were Zakspeed. It would have had a day on court.

big scam is bribing FIA to ban Viper because your stupid car engineers couldnt build a fast car.

If they were gonna regulate it, those regulations should have gone to everyone. This is one of the biggest embarassments in European motorsport history.

Two words: American muscle. The Euros couldn't beat it, so they regulated it out of existence.

Zakspeed just registered the car as Dodge Viper. There was nothing wrong with that.

@@BSport320 oh no I mean the sporting body just changing it willy nilly for their personal gain, if the car is registered as a dodge, they shouldn't be able to change it

@@tturi2 Yes that was unbelievable

@@BSport320 that type of book keeping is how organised crime tries to hide their dealings