The Viper will be back to Le Mans

The departure of SRT Motorsports from the United Sportscar Championship left the American fans without the symbol of an American muscle car out of the competitions between LMGTE cars. But it looks like Riley Motorsports will put the V10-powered Viper GTS-R beast on track again, and in one of the most important endurance race of the planet: the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The plans for a Viper attack at Le Mans were always there, with the Viper that Bill Riley owns being on the top of the reserve list for the French endurance race, meaning that any team quitting one of the 56 entries out there would give an opening for Riley Motorsports, which was exactly what happened.

With the reduction of the Team SARD-Morand program to just one car, Riley Motorsports will enter their No. 53 TI Automotive Viper GTS-R in the LMGTE-Am category as planned, with the nominated driver Jeroen Bleekemolen driving alongside Viper dealer Ben Keating and Marc Miller.

With the confirmation of Riley Motorsports entry, the Viper will be back at Le Mans after the 2013 factory effort, where two cars were entered, finishing 24^th and 31^st overall (8^th and 9^th in the LMGTE-Pro category). This also means that the Viper vs. Corvette battle will happen again, although the Corvette team is Larbre Competition.

PHOTO: Viper Exchange