Lot 620
2000 Oreca Viper GTS-R GT1
2000 Oreca Viper GTS-R GT1
Chassis no. C38
Chassis no. C38
• FIA GT1 with Carsport Holland 2000-2002
• Racing history in FIA GT: five wins; eight 2nd places; two 3rd places; 15 races finished on podium; five pole positions
• One of the fastest FIA GT cars in 2000-2002
• Possible entry to Goodwood Members Meeting 2023 GT1 Demonstration
This Oreca Viper was owned by motor sport legend Toine Hezemans and campaigned by Team Carsport Holland; it features prominently in Toine Hezemans' biography.
The idea to develop a modern-day Cobra-like sports car was first floated in late 1988 at Chrysler's Advanced Design Studios. Within months, a full-scale clay mock-up was presented to Chrysler president Bob Lutz by styling boss, Tom Gale. The car then appeared as a concept at the North American International Auto Show (Detroit) in 1989, and public reaction was so enthusiastic that chief engineer Roy Sjoberg was directed to develop it as a standard production vehicle.
The Viper project engineer was Roy Sjoberg and, together with engineer Dick Winkles, they assembled 'Team Viper' in early 1989, comprising 85 hand-picked specialists. At that time a Chrysler subsidiary, Lamborghini cast a prototype V10 aluminium block in May '89. Development proceeded apace: the production body was ready in the autumn of that year and a prototype chassis was tested in December. Launch approval was given by Chrysler chairman Lee Iacocca (of Ford Mustang fame) in May 1990, and in November 1991 the Viper was released for media review with the first dealer shipments commencing in January 1992.
In May 1991 Carroll Shelby drove a pre-production pace car ahead of the start for the '91 Indianapolis 500 race; appropriate perhaps in that Shelby, the father of the Cobra, was called upon to drive it. Design cues from the legendary, bare-knuckle Cobra Daytona, penned by Pete Brock, are evident in the Viper's muscular design and aggressive styling.
The first factory built racing version, the Chrysler Viper GTS-R, was introduced in 1996. The cars were constructed by Chrysler themselves, and in Europe by Reynard Motorsport and Oreca. In total, 57 Viper GTS-Rs were built, the chassis being fabricated by Reynard in the UK with Oreca doing the assembly and race preparation in France.
Although the Viper GTS-R finished 10th overall on its Le Mans debut in 1996, the car's first win in the GT2 class came in 1998, marking the first GT class win for an American-made car since the Shelby Daytona Coupé's win in 1964. The '96 Le Mans race saw no fewer than four Vipers entered, of which only one failed to finish. The following year in 1997, two Vipers finished in 5th and 6th places in class. No fewer than five Vipers were back to do battle in '98, this time coming home in 11th, 13th, 19th, and 21st places, with one DNF. For the last Le Mans 24-Hour race of the decade, Vipers occupied eight places on the starting grid, with the top finisher crossing the line in 10th place. All of this racing exposure at the highest level brought vast experience to the company, and enabled the Viper to be continually developed throughout this period. In all, the Viper notched up three class wins at Le Mans, another three victories at the Nürburgring 24 Hours, and two 24-hour victories at Spa.
Hugues de Chauna's Oreca team credits its growth during this period to the success of the Viper. At first, Oreca ran their own cars in the BPR and FIA GT series, and following their success, they were asked to take charge of the customer cars for Chrysler. This was a whole new world for the French outfit, but they performed the role with professionalism thanks to the experience that they themselves had built up. One of the customer teams was Toine Hezemans'.
Toine Hezemans recalls: "In 2000, we bought this Viper (chassis number 'C38') from Oreca because it was probably the most reliable, fast car that you could buy at that time, in its class." The car was a completely new build and Hezemans took it straight to Valencia to test. "We drove for two days and nothing went wrong, it was really a very good car. For the first two or three races, we drove it standard like it was and then in order to beat the Lister, we had to modify things," he added.
Swiss engine builder, Heini Mader, was charged with overseeing engine development. Hezemans recalls that they lowered the engine and relocated it slightly back in the chassis. Changes were made to the air intake system primarily to get more air into the engine. Modified camshafts were fitted, but initially these gave the engine too much torque, and so re-profiled cams from Switzerland were installed which improved the car.
The main aerodynamic change made to the car though was to reroute the hot engine air, which normally came out under the car and behind the wheels, to come out of the top
of the bonnet, effectively pushing the car down. Hezemans also fitted a new front splitter, which he copied from the Mercedes GT1.
Toine Hezemans admits to modifying almost everything on the car, and even moved the oil tank to the rear. However, this necessitated very long lines to carry the oil to
the engine, but he admits this was a mistake as the dry sump pump wasn't strong enough to cope. As a result, air got into the system, which is why the car did not even start at the Monza race, because the bearings had failed through lack of oil.
The suspension was modified and the rear wing was moved further back. The Hezemans team was constantly working to lighten the car so that it was under the limit, which enabled them to reposition the weight to improve overall balance. "But the big improvement," Hezemans pointed out, "was that I put a sequential gearbox in the car. Oreca was still using the old H-pattern gearbox, and so I installed a Holinger sequential gearbox, it was a fantastic gearbox. The gearbox alone improved the car by five or six tenths of a second per lap, because the shifts were much quicker. The others complained, but I said it was in accordance with the regulations. That really helped a lot, and by improving everything on the car, we were able to gain more than a second and a half."
Following a crash during the 2002 Spa 24 Hours, with Anthony Kumpen leading the race by a lap in 'C38', the Hezemans team was without a car so a chassis had to be found quickly. Hezemans explains, "We used a chassis that was laying around at Anthony's that we built up quickly for the next race and the original chassis was repaired later. The chassis of the car offered here has been inspected by a former team member and is confirmed as the original 'C38'. We had to get a lot of parts from Oreca and other suppliers, but by then we were making a lot of the parts ourselves like noses, backs and doors, and so it could be done quickly."
The Toine Hezemans Team Carsports Holland Viper raced for three seasons between 2000 and 2002. "The only reason we stopped with the Viper," Hezemans confesses with a hint of sadness, "was because there was no longer any support from Oreca or from Chrysler, and as there was no further development on the car, it quickly became outdated."
The team's drivers recall their time with this Oreca Viper:
Anthony Kumpen: "I started off in 2000, so 2002 was my third season in the Viper. I had been driving with the team Paul Belmondo before moving to the team of Toine Hezemans, Team Carsport Holland, in 2002.
"Team Carsport Holland developed the Viper, and although everybody was starting to develop the Viper, we probably had the fastest car in the field. Mike Hezemans and I made a really good team pairing, and we lost the championship by a really very small margin. We were always up there, and so 2002 was one of my best racing seasons.
"There were a lot of rumours in the paddock as to why our Viper was so fast, and there are still rumours going around now, many years later, as to how we built such fast cars. Toine had a different engine builder than most of the others, he went to Mader to develop the engines. Later on, we did it in-house because we had our own engine dyno and our own tuners right here, and then everybody started coming here with their Viper engines. But Toine was actually the guy who made it all happen, he brought all the good guys together because everybody used to take their engines to Caldwell, they were the official tuner for Viper. So he made a big change during this Viper era.
"I had a scary moment that season at the Spa 24 hours. I remember we were leading, a lap ahead of everybody else, so we had a comfortable lead. It was about 23h00 at night, and I remember as I went down to Eau Rouge, I passed a Porsche. I lapped the car but he
pressed into the back of my car, it was a huge crash. The fuel tank exploded, so the only thing that everybody saw was a huge ball of fire coming down the hill towards Eau Rouge. The car was pretty much destroyed, but we built it up afterwards and we won with it. Crashing out with a back marker who makes a stupid mistake while you're leading is not a nice moment, I can tell you."
"My best moment in the Viper was the win that we had at Donington. We struggled throughout the season to win, and although we always had the speed, there was something that prevented that win from happening. Then finally one race before the end of the season we got the win that we deserved, and that is something that you never forget."
"Driving for Toine Hezemans was really special, I was his longest driver except for his son. He is very tough and if you're not fast he will just tell you. But we had a very good car with a very good engine, and we had a good team that built the car."
Jeroen Bleekemolen: "I was an up-and-coming young driver mainly racing in Formula cars when I got the opportunity to race in GT cars. The very first GT car was the Viper, and it was unbelievable. For me, the power was the most challenging thing, the first time I stepped on the throttle it was unbelievable, there was just so much power to control, but I really enjoyed it. We went to Zandvoort, my home track, in the middle of winter and there was snow everywhere. My first laps were a real thrill and since then I have fallen in love with GT racing. I stopped Formula racing and I jumped into endurance racing from that point on because I just loved racing these cars."
"We had two wins that season (2001) in the FIA GT, at Budapest and the last race at Estoril. Obviously winning in the FIA GT, it was a kind of world championship, so for us it was really special. It was my first year in GT racing, I am still the youngest ever race winner in FIA GT so being that young and winning against some of the big endurance names, I was really happy to do that."
"The fun part about those days was that you could develop the car by yourself, but now if you buy a car you can't touch it. We worked a lot on the aerodynamics, Toine made a new splitter and it fell off a couple of times in the beginning, but we made it really strong. We managed to get a lot of horsepower out of the engine so it was fun to drive because the top speeds were really high. At the end of the day I really loved that era because you could play with the car and make it better, I think we had the quickest car out of all."
"Because we developed the car so much over the winter, it was not reliable in the beginning. We actually missed the very first race at Monza, we blew up the engine because we had some issues with the oil getting to the engine. So, for the first race we scored zero points, and that was the hardest part, but then we made the car more reliable and we could make up for that."
"It was a lot of fun to race with the Toine Hezemas. My dad goes way back with him to the 1970s when he raced with Toine. We have so many stories from those years, it was a real experience. They developed the Viper in the best possible way to make it quicker, sometimes we paid the price because initially some parts broke but later on we made it much more reliable. But there was always action, there was always something going on with those two guys."
"The Viper was very successful, and we were mainly fighting other Vipers for the win. We took seven podiums in the whole season with two wins, but I think most other races were won by another Viper, so it was definitely the most successful GT car at the time. I have raced a lot with these muscle cars, and it really got me into endurance racing. It is a car that is special, people really like the car and drivers who raced them all loved the car, so it was one of the most special GT cars out there, and it still is."
Results in FIA GT:
2000
A1 Ring 1st Mike Hezemans / Tom Coronel
Brno 1st Mike Hezemans / David Hart
Magny-Cours 2nd Mike Hezemans / Tom Coronel
2001
Test Monza 2nd Mike Hezemans / Jeroen Bleekemolen
Brno 3rd Mike Hezemans / Jeroen Bleekemolen
Zolder 2nd Mike Hezemans / Jeroen Bleekemolen
Hungaroring 1st Mike Hezemans / Jeroen Bleekemolen
A1 Ring 2nd Mike Hezemans / Jeroen Bleekemolen
Nürburgring 2nd Mike Hezemans / Jeroen Bleekemolen
Estoril 1st Mike Hezemans / Jeroen Bleekemolen
2002
Magny-Cours 2nd Mike Hezemans / Anthony Kumpen
Jarama 2nd Mike Hezemans / Anthony Kumpen
Anderstorp 3rd Mike Hezemans / Anthony Kumpen
Donington 1st Mike Hezemans / Anthony Kumpen
Estoril 2nd Mike Hezemans / Anthony Kumpen
Built up new in 2002 after the Spa 24 Hour accident, 'C38' went on to win the FIA GT race at Donington Park and finish 2nd at Estoril. In 2010, the car was given yet another complete overhaul, including engine and gearbox, and was raced by Rüdiger Klos in Germany.
Specification highlights include the following:
• Original Chrysler Oreca Viper GTS-R
• Engine, gearbox, complete suspension and shock absorbers all built new in 2010
• Wide body fitment, all in carbon fibre
• Engine completely rebuilt in 2010 (€35,000) to the latest Oreca specification with the best cylinder heads by Grasser Racing
• Fully equipped with Motec system
• Exhaust available with or without silencer
• Engine and gearbox have run for 11 hours since rebuilt in 2010
• Car was then owned by Klos Racing, entering only a few races
• Weight 997kg
Engine
• Engine builder: Mader (2002) / Grasser Racing (2010)
• Manufacturer: Chrysler / Dodge
• Displacement: 8,000cc
• Horsepower: 940bhp (unrestricted)
• Torque: 1053Nm (unrestricted)
• Heads: GTS-R
• Block: GTS-R
• Crankshaft: GTS-R
• Connecting rods: GTS-R
• Pistons: JE
• Camshaft: GTS-R
• Valves: GTS-R
• Clutch: Carbon AP
• Pressure plate: AP
• Flywheel: AP
• Exhaust: GTS-R
• Total time: 11 Hours
Transmission
• Manfacturer: Quaife
• Type: Sequential
• Gears: 6
• Transmission cooler
• Total time: 11 hours
Rear End
• Manufacturer: Dana
• Type: 60
• Cooler: Yes
• Axles: Pankl
Fuel System
• ATL fuel cell
• Capacity: 100 litres
• Fuel pump: Bosch
• Fuel type: standard
Electrical System
• Ignition: Motec
• Data logger: Motec
• Computer: Motec
• Data display: the original System 2, which is very rare
Body
• Construction: carbon wide body
• Colour: white, with 'Route 66' livery from Spa 2002
• Condition: superb
Chassis
• Type: original Oreca chassis
• Builder: Oreca
• Material: steel
• Condition: superb
• Brakes: Brembo
• Steering: Tilton
• Wheels: BBS
The car comes with digital versions of the Oreca Viper Customer Catalogue and the System 2 manual. The Goodwood Road Racing Club recently announced that a special demonstration of GT1 cars will be one of the key features of the 80th Goodwood Members' Meeting, which takes place on 15-16 April 2023. This particular Oreca Viper GT1 could be your ticket to take part. The team at Goodwood has expressed to us that they would be delighted to speak with the new owner to explore the potential for the car to be part of the demonstration.
• Racing history in FIA GT: five wins; eight 2nd places; two 3rd places; 15 races finished on podium; five pole positions
• One of the fastest FIA GT cars in 2000-2002
• Possible entry to Goodwood Members Meeting 2023 GT1 Demonstration
This Oreca Viper was owned by motor sport legend Toine Hezemans and campaigned by Team Carsport Holland; it features prominently in Toine Hezemans' biography.
The idea to develop a modern-day Cobra-like sports car was first floated in late 1988 at Chrysler's Advanced Design Studios. Within months, a full-scale clay mock-up was presented to Chrysler president Bob Lutz by styling boss, Tom Gale. The car then appeared as a concept at the North American International Auto Show (Detroit) in 1989, and public reaction was so enthusiastic that chief engineer Roy Sjoberg was directed to develop it as a standard production vehicle.
The Viper project engineer was Roy Sjoberg and, together with engineer Dick Winkles, they assembled 'Team Viper' in early 1989, comprising 85 hand-picked specialists. At that time a Chrysler subsidiary, Lamborghini cast a prototype V10 aluminium block in May '89. Development proceeded apace: the production body was ready in the autumn of that year and a prototype chassis was tested in December. Launch approval was given by Chrysler chairman Lee Iacocca (of Ford Mustang fame) in May 1990, and in November 1991 the Viper was released for media review with the first dealer shipments commencing in January 1992.
In May 1991 Carroll Shelby drove a pre-production pace car ahead of the start for the '91 Indianapolis 500 race; appropriate perhaps in that Shelby, the father of the Cobra, was called upon to drive it. Design cues from the legendary, bare-knuckle Cobra Daytona, penned by Pete Brock, are evident in the Viper's muscular design and aggressive styling.
The first factory built racing version, the Chrysler Viper GTS-R, was introduced in 1996. The cars were constructed by Chrysler themselves, and in Europe by Reynard Motorsport and Oreca. In total, 57 Viper GTS-Rs were built, the chassis being fabricated by Reynard in the UK with Oreca doing the assembly and race preparation in France.
Although the Viper GTS-R finished 10th overall on its Le Mans debut in 1996, the car's first win in the GT2 class came in 1998, marking the first GT class win for an American-made car since the Shelby Daytona Coupé's win in 1964. The '96 Le Mans race saw no fewer than four Vipers entered, of which only one failed to finish. The following year in 1997, two Vipers finished in 5th and 6th places in class. No fewer than five Vipers were back to do battle in '98, this time coming home in 11th, 13th, 19th, and 21st places, with one DNF. For the last Le Mans 24-Hour race of the decade, Vipers occupied eight places on the starting grid, with the top finisher crossing the line in 10th place. All of this racing exposure at the highest level brought vast experience to the company, and enabled the Viper to be continually developed throughout this period. In all, the Viper notched up three class wins at Le Mans, another three victories at the Nürburgring 24 Hours, and two 24-hour victories at Spa.
Hugues de Chauna's Oreca team credits its growth during this period to the success of the Viper. At first, Oreca ran their own cars in the BPR and FIA GT series, and following their success, they were asked to take charge of the customer cars for Chrysler. This was a whole new world for the French outfit, but they performed the role with professionalism thanks to the experience that they themselves had built up. One of the customer teams was Toine Hezemans'.
Toine Hezemans recalls: "In 2000, we bought this Viper (chassis number 'C38') from Oreca because it was probably the most reliable, fast car that you could buy at that time, in its class." The car was a completely new build and Hezemans took it straight to Valencia to test. "We drove for two days and nothing went wrong, it was really a very good car. For the first two or three races, we drove it standard like it was and then in order to beat the Lister, we had to modify things," he added.
Swiss engine builder, Heini Mader, was charged with overseeing engine development. Hezemans recalls that they lowered the engine and relocated it slightly back in the chassis. Changes were made to the air intake system primarily to get more air into the engine. Modified camshafts were fitted, but initially these gave the engine too much torque, and so re-profiled cams from Switzerland were installed which improved the car.
The main aerodynamic change made to the car though was to reroute the hot engine air, which normally came out under the car and behind the wheels, to come out of the top
of the bonnet, effectively pushing the car down. Hezemans also fitted a new front splitter, which he copied from the Mercedes GT1.
Toine Hezemans admits to modifying almost everything on the car, and even moved the oil tank to the rear. However, this necessitated very long lines to carry the oil to
the engine, but he admits this was a mistake as the dry sump pump wasn't strong enough to cope. As a result, air got into the system, which is why the car did not even start at the Monza race, because the bearings had failed through lack of oil.
The suspension was modified and the rear wing was moved further back. The Hezemans team was constantly working to lighten the car so that it was under the limit, which enabled them to reposition the weight to improve overall balance. "But the big improvement," Hezemans pointed out, "was that I put a sequential gearbox in the car. Oreca was still using the old H-pattern gearbox, and so I installed a Holinger sequential gearbox, it was a fantastic gearbox. The gearbox alone improved the car by five or six tenths of a second per lap, because the shifts were much quicker. The others complained, but I said it was in accordance with the regulations. That really helped a lot, and by improving everything on the car, we were able to gain more than a second and a half."
Following a crash during the 2002 Spa 24 Hours, with Anthony Kumpen leading the race by a lap in 'C38', the Hezemans team was without a car so a chassis had to be found quickly. Hezemans explains, "We used a chassis that was laying around at Anthony's that we built up quickly for the next race and the original chassis was repaired later. The chassis of the car offered here has been inspected by a former team member and is confirmed as the original 'C38'. We had to get a lot of parts from Oreca and other suppliers, but by then we were making a lot of the parts ourselves like noses, backs and doors, and so it could be done quickly."
The Toine Hezemans Team Carsports Holland Viper raced for three seasons between 2000 and 2002. "The only reason we stopped with the Viper," Hezemans confesses with a hint of sadness, "was because there was no longer any support from Oreca or from Chrysler, and as there was no further development on the car, it quickly became outdated."
The team's drivers recall their time with this Oreca Viper:
Anthony Kumpen: "I started off in 2000, so 2002 was my third season in the Viper. I had been driving with the team Paul Belmondo before moving to the team of Toine Hezemans, Team Carsport Holland, in 2002.
"Team Carsport Holland developed the Viper, and although everybody was starting to develop the Viper, we probably had the fastest car in the field. Mike Hezemans and I made a really good team pairing, and we lost the championship by a really very small margin. We were always up there, and so 2002 was one of my best racing seasons.
"There were a lot of rumours in the paddock as to why our Viper was so fast, and there are still rumours going around now, many years later, as to how we built such fast cars. Toine had a different engine builder than most of the others, he went to Mader to develop the engines. Later on, we did it in-house because we had our own engine dyno and our own tuners right here, and then everybody started coming here with their Viper engines. But Toine was actually the guy who made it all happen, he brought all the good guys together because everybody used to take their engines to Caldwell, they were the official tuner for Viper. So he made a big change during this Viper era.
"I had a scary moment that season at the Spa 24 hours. I remember we were leading, a lap ahead of everybody else, so we had a comfortable lead. It was about 23h00 at night, and I remember as I went down to Eau Rouge, I passed a Porsche. I lapped the car but he
pressed into the back of my car, it was a huge crash. The fuel tank exploded, so the only thing that everybody saw was a huge ball of fire coming down the hill towards Eau Rouge. The car was pretty much destroyed, but we built it up afterwards and we won with it. Crashing out with a back marker who makes a stupid mistake while you're leading is not a nice moment, I can tell you."
"My best moment in the Viper was the win that we had at Donington. We struggled throughout the season to win, and although we always had the speed, there was something that prevented that win from happening. Then finally one race before the end of the season we got the win that we deserved, and that is something that you never forget."
"Driving for Toine Hezemans was really special, I was his longest driver except for his son. He is very tough and if you're not fast he will just tell you. But we had a very good car with a very good engine, and we had a good team that built the car."
Jeroen Bleekemolen: "I was an up-and-coming young driver mainly racing in Formula cars when I got the opportunity to race in GT cars. The very first GT car was the Viper, and it was unbelievable. For me, the power was the most challenging thing, the first time I stepped on the throttle it was unbelievable, there was just so much power to control, but I really enjoyed it. We went to Zandvoort, my home track, in the middle of winter and there was snow everywhere. My first laps were a real thrill and since then I have fallen in love with GT racing. I stopped Formula racing and I jumped into endurance racing from that point on because I just loved racing these cars."
"We had two wins that season (2001) in the FIA GT, at Budapest and the last race at Estoril. Obviously winning in the FIA GT, it was a kind of world championship, so for us it was really special. It was my first year in GT racing, I am still the youngest ever race winner in FIA GT so being that young and winning against some of the big endurance names, I was really happy to do that."
"The fun part about those days was that you could develop the car by yourself, but now if you buy a car you can't touch it. We worked a lot on the aerodynamics, Toine made a new splitter and it fell off a couple of times in the beginning, but we made it really strong. We managed to get a lot of horsepower out of the engine so it was fun to drive because the top speeds were really high. At the end of the day I really loved that era because you could play with the car and make it better, I think we had the quickest car out of all."
"Because we developed the car so much over the winter, it was not reliable in the beginning. We actually missed the very first race at Monza, we blew up the engine because we had some issues with the oil getting to the engine. So, for the first race we scored zero points, and that was the hardest part, but then we made the car more reliable and we could make up for that."
"It was a lot of fun to race with the Toine Hezemas. My dad goes way back with him to the 1970s when he raced with Toine. We have so many stories from those years, it was a real experience. They developed the Viper in the best possible way to make it quicker, sometimes we paid the price because initially some parts broke but later on we made it much more reliable. But there was always action, there was always something going on with those two guys."
"The Viper was very successful, and we were mainly fighting other Vipers for the win. We took seven podiums in the whole season with two wins, but I think most other races were won by another Viper, so it was definitely the most successful GT car at the time. I have raced a lot with these muscle cars, and it really got me into endurance racing. It is a car that is special, people really like the car and drivers who raced them all loved the car, so it was one of the most special GT cars out there, and it still is."
Results in FIA GT:
2000
A1 Ring 1st Mike Hezemans / Tom Coronel
Brno 1st Mike Hezemans / David Hart
Magny-Cours 2nd Mike Hezemans / Tom Coronel
2001
Test Monza 2nd Mike Hezemans / Jeroen Bleekemolen
Brno 3rd Mike Hezemans / Jeroen Bleekemolen
Zolder 2nd Mike Hezemans / Jeroen Bleekemolen
Hungaroring 1st Mike Hezemans / Jeroen Bleekemolen
A1 Ring 2nd Mike Hezemans / Jeroen Bleekemolen
Nürburgring 2nd Mike Hezemans / Jeroen Bleekemolen
Estoril 1st Mike Hezemans / Jeroen Bleekemolen
2002
Magny-Cours 2nd Mike Hezemans / Anthony Kumpen
Jarama 2nd Mike Hezemans / Anthony Kumpen
Anderstorp 3rd Mike Hezemans / Anthony Kumpen
Donington 1st Mike Hezemans / Anthony Kumpen
Estoril 2nd Mike Hezemans / Anthony Kumpen
Built up new in 2002 after the Spa 24 Hour accident, 'C38' went on to win the FIA GT race at Donington Park and finish 2nd at Estoril. In 2010, the car was given yet another complete overhaul, including engine and gearbox, and was raced by Rüdiger Klos in Germany.
Specification highlights include the following:
• Original Chrysler Oreca Viper GTS-R
• Engine, gearbox, complete suspension and shock absorbers all built new in 2010
• Wide body fitment, all in carbon fibre
• Engine completely rebuilt in 2010 (€35,000) to the latest Oreca specification with the best cylinder heads by Grasser Racing
• Fully equipped with Motec system
• Exhaust available with or without silencer
• Engine and gearbox have run for 11 hours since rebuilt in 2010
• Car was then owned by Klos Racing, entering only a few races
• Weight 997kg
Engine
• Engine builder: Mader (2002) / Grasser Racing (2010)
• Manufacturer: Chrysler / Dodge
• Displacement: 8,000cc
• Horsepower: 940bhp (unrestricted)
• Torque: 1053Nm (unrestricted)
• Heads: GTS-R
• Block: GTS-R
• Crankshaft: GTS-R
• Connecting rods: GTS-R
• Pistons: JE
• Camshaft: GTS-R
• Valves: GTS-R
• Clutch: Carbon AP
• Pressure plate: AP
• Flywheel: AP
• Exhaust: GTS-R
• Total time: 11 Hours
Transmission
• Manfacturer: Quaife
• Type: Sequential
• Gears: 6
• Transmission cooler
• Total time: 11 hours
Rear End
• Manufacturer: Dana
• Type: 60
• Cooler: Yes
• Axles: Pankl
Fuel System
• ATL fuel cell
• Capacity: 100 litres
• Fuel pump: Bosch
• Fuel type: standard
Electrical System
• Ignition: Motec
• Data logger: Motec
• Computer: Motec
• Data display: the original System 2, which is very rare
Body
• Construction: carbon wide body
• Colour: white, with 'Route 66' livery from Spa 2002
• Condition: superb
Chassis
• Type: original Oreca chassis
• Builder: Oreca
• Material: steel
• Condition: superb
• Brakes: Brembo
• Steering: Tilton
• Wheels: BBS
The car comes with digital versions of the Oreca Viper Customer Catalogue and the System 2 manual. The Goodwood Road Racing Club recently announced that a special demonstration of GT1 cars will be one of the key features of the 80th Goodwood Members' Meeting, which takes place on 15-16 April 2023. This particular Oreca Viper GT1 could be your ticket to take part. The team at Goodwood has expressed to us that they would be delighted to speak with the new owner to explore the potential for the car to be part of the demonstration.
Footnotes
2000 Viper GTS-R GT1 Oreca
Châssis n° C38
• GT1 FIA avec Carsport Holland 2000-2002
• Historique en course GT FIA: 5 victoires, deux 2e places; deux 3e places, 15 courses terminées sur le podium, 5 pole positions
• Une des GT FIA les plus rapides en 2000-2002
• Participation possible pour la démonstration de GT1 au Goodwood Members' Meeting en 2023
Cette Viper Oreca appartenait à la légende du sport automobile Toine Hezemans et fut engagée par le Team Carsport Holland. Elle figure en bonne place dans la biographie de Toine Hezemans.
L'idée de développer une Cobra moderne prit naissance à la fin de 1988 à l'Advanced Design Studios de Chrysler. En quelques mois, un modèle échelle 1 en argile était présenté au président de Chrysler, Bob Lutz, par le directeur du style, Tom Gale. La voiture fut dévoilée sous forme de concept car au Salon De Detroit en 1989 et la réaction du public fut si enthusiaste que l'ingénieur en chef Roy Sjoberg fut mandaté pour le transformer en modèle de série.
Le directeur du projet Viper était Roy Sjoberg et, avec l'ingénieur Dick Winkles, ils réunirent le « Team Viper » au début de 1989, comprenant 85 spécialistes triés sur le volet. À l'époque filiale de Chrysler, Lamborghini coula un prototype du bloc V10 en aluminium en mai 1989. La mise au point avançait bon train, la carrosserie de série fut prête à l'automne de cette année-là et un prototype du châssis était essayé en décembre. Le feu vert du lancement fut donné par le président de Chrysler, Lee Iacocca (fameux pour avoir créé la Ford Mustang) en mai 1990 et en novembre 1991, la Viper était présentée aux media les premières livraisons aux concessionnaires débutant en janvier 1992.
En mai 1991, Carroll Shelby pilota une voiture de pré-production comme pace car pour les 500 miles d'Indianapolis en 1991, une bonne idée que d'avoir demandé à Shelby, le père de la Cobra, de la conduire. Des clins d'œil à la légendaire Cobra Daytona, dessinée par Pete Brock, sont évidents dans le style musclé de la Viper et dans son dessin aggressif.
La première version compétition d'usine, la Chrysler Viper GTS-R, fut dévoilée en 1996. Les voitures étaient construites par Chrysler soi-même et en Europe par Reynard Motorsport et Oreca. Au total, 57 Viper GTS-R furent construites, le châssis étant fabriqué par Reynard au Royaume-Uni, Oreca procédant à l'assemblage et à la préparation en France.
Bien que la Viper GTS-R ait terminé 10e au classement général lors de ses débuts au Mans en 1996, la première victoire en classe GT2 advint en 1998, marquant la première victoire de classe en GT pour une voiture de construction américaine depuis celle de la Shelby Daytona coupé en 1964. Les 24 Heures du Mans 1996 virent pas moins de quatre Viper engagées, dont une seule ne finit pas. L'année suivante en 1997, deux Viper terminèrent aux 5e et 6e places de leur classe. Pas moins de cinq Viper revinrent dans la bataille pour 1998, cette fois terminant aux 11e, 13e, 19e et 21e places, avec un abandon. Pour la dernière course des 24 Heures du Mans de la décennie, les Vipers occupaient huit places sur la grille de départ, la meilleure finissant à la 10e place. Toutes ces expériences au plus haut niveau de la compétition apportèrent une vaste expérience à la marque et permit à la Viper d'être constamment développée pendant cette période. En tout, la Viper s'adjugea trois victoires de classe au Mans, trois autres victoires au 24 Heures du Nürburgring et deux aux 24 Heures de Spa.
L'équipe Oreca d'Hugues de Chaunac attribue son développement au cours de cette période aux succès de la Viper. Au début, Oreca courut avec ses propres voitures en série BPR et GT FIA, et suite à leur succès, on lui demanda de prendre en charge les voitures clients pour Chrysler. C'était un nouveau monde pour la société française, mais elle s'acquitta de son rôle avec professionalisme, grâce à l'expérience qu'elle avait elle-même acquise. L'un des clients de l'équipe était Toine Hezemans.
Toine Hezemans se souvient : « En 2000, on a acheté cette Viper (châssis numéro C38) à Oreca parce que c'étai probablement la plus fiable et la plus rapide des voitures de cette classe qu'on pouvait acheter à l'époque ». La voiture était entièrement neuve et Hezemans l'emmena immédiatement à Valence (en Espagne) pour un essai. « Nous l'avons fait tourner pendant deux jours et rien n'a cassé, c'était vraiment une bonne voiture. Pour les deux ou trois premières épreuves, nous l'avons pilotée en version standard, comme elle était, et, dans la perspective de battre la Lister, nous avons dû modifier certaines choses », ajoute-t-il.
Le constructeur de moteurs suisse, Heini Mader, fut chargé de superviser le développement du moteur. Hezemans se souvient qu'ils l'ont abaissé et repositionné plus en arrière dans le châssis. Des changements furent apportés aux entrées d'air pour donner plus d'air au moteur. Des arbres à cames modifiés furent installés, mais au début, ils apportaient trop de couple au moteur, aussi des cames reprofilées en Suisse furent-elles montées qui améliorèrent la voiture.
La principale modification aérodynamique fut apportée pour rediriger l'air chaud, qui sortait normalement sous la voiture derrière les roues, vers le haut du capot, poussant ainsi la voiture vers le bas. Hezemans monta aussi un nouveau diviseur, copié sur celui de la Mercedes GT1.
Toine Hezemans avoue avoir presque tout modifié sur la voiture et avoir même déplacé le réservoir d'huile vers l'arrière. Ce qui nécessitait de longues tubulures pour amener l'huile au moteur, mais il admet que ce fut une erreur, la pompe du carter sec pas assez puissante ne pouvant faire face. Avec comme résultat, de l'air qui s'immisça dans le système, ce qui explique que la voiture ne prit même pas le départ à Monza, les roulements n'ayant pas tenu, faute d'huile.
La suspension fut modifiée et l'aileron arrière fut reculé. L'équipe d'Hezemans travaillait constamment à alléger la voiture pour qu'elle reste sous la limite, ce qui leur permettait de repositionner les masses pour améliorer l'équilibre. « Mais la grosse amélioration », précise Hezemans « ce fut de doter la voiture d'une boîte séquentielle. Oreca utilisait toujours l'ancien modèle à grille en H. J'ai installé une boîte séquentielle Holinger, une boîte fantastique. À elle seule elle améliorait la voiture de cinq ou six dixièmes de seconde au tour, car les changements étaient plus rapides. Les autres concurrents s'en plaignirent, mais je leur ai dit que c'était conforme au règlement. Ça nous a beaucoup aidé et en améliorant chaque chose sur la voiture, nous avons fini par gagner plus d'une seconde et demi. »
Après un accident aux 24 Heures de Spa en 2002, alors qu'Anthony Kumpen menait avec un tour d'avance sur C38, l'équipe d'Hezemans se retrouva sans châssis et dut en trouver un rapidement. Hezemans explique, « On a utilisé un châssis qui trainait chez Anthony et on a reconstruit la voiture pour la course suivante et le châssis original a été réparé plus tard. Le châssis de la voiture que nous proposons a été inspecté par un ancien membre de l'écurie qui confirme que c'est bien celui de la C38. « Il nous fallait de nombreuses pièces d'Oreca et d'autres fournisseurs, mais à ce moment-là, on faisait déjà de nombreuse pièces nous-même. Comme le nez, l'arrière et les portes, ce qui nous a permis de la finir plus rapidement. »
La Viper de Toine Hezemans du Team Carsports Holland courut trois saisons entre 2000 et 2002. ns avec une pointe de tristesse, « cétait parce que nous n'avions plus aucun soutien d'Oreca ou de Chrysler, et comme il n'y avait plus de développement sur la voiture, elle fut bientôt dépassée. »
Les pilotes de l'équipe se rappellent le temps passé avec la Viper Oreca :
Anthony Kumpen : « J'ai commencé en 2000. 2002 était donc ma troisième saison sur la Viper. J'avais piloté avec l'écurie de Paul Belmondo, avant de passer chez Toine Hezemans, au Team Carsport Holland, en 2002.»
« Le Team Carsport Holland développait la Viper, et bien que tout le monde ait commencé à se servir de la Viper, on avait probablement la plus rapide du lot. Mike Hezemans et moi faisions vraiment une bonne équipe. On a perdu le championnat d'un rien. On était toujours au top et 2002 a donc été ma meilleure saison.»
« Il y avait des rumeurs qui couraient dans le paddock. On se demandaient pourquoi notre Viper était si rapide. Et il y a encore des rumeurs qui vont bon train aujourd'hui, plusieurs années après, se demandant toujours comment on a pu construire une voiture aussi rapide. Toine n'avait pas le même constructeur de moteur que les autres, il allait chez Mader pour mettre ses moteurs au point. Plus tard, on l'a fait en interne, parce qu'on avait notre propre banc et nos propres développeurs sur place, et tout le monde a commencé à venir nous voir pour régler son moteur de Viper. Mais Toine a été le type qui avait rendu tout ça possible. Il avait réuni les meilleurs. Avant, tout le monde emmenait ses moteurs chez Caldwell, le préparateur attitré pour les Viper. C'est Toine qui a apporté le plus gros changement pendant la période Viper.
« J'ai eu un moment terrifiant au cours de cette saison, aux 24 heures de Spa. Je me souviens qu'on menait avec un tour d'avance, devant tous les autres, c'était donc confortable. C'était la nuit, vers 23 heures, et je me rappelle que je descendait vers Eau Rouge, j'ai doublé une Porsche. J'ai passé la voiture, mais elle m'a talonné. Ça a été un gros crash, le réservoir a explosé et tout ce que les gens ont vu c'est une grossse boule de feu qui descendait de la colline vers Eau Rouge. La voiture était bien abimée, mais on l'a reconstruite et par la suite on a encore pu gagner à son volant. Avoir un acident avec un retardataire qui fait une erreur stupide quand vous êtes en tête, je peux vous dire que ça n'a rien d'agréable.»
« Mon meilleur moment avec la Viper a été la victoire à Donington. On s'était bataillé toute la saison pour gagner et bien qu'on ait toujours été assez rapide, quelque chose nous empêchait toujours de concrétiser. Finalement, dans l'avant-dernière course, on a gagné comme on le méritait et ça, on ne peut pas l'oublier. »
« Piloter pour Toine Hezemans était assez particulier. En dehors de son fils, j'ai été son pilote le plus régulier. Il était très dur et si vous n'êtiez pas assez rapide il vous le faisait savoir. Mais on avait une bonne voiture avec un bon moteur, et on avait une bonne équipe, celle qui l'avait construite. »
Jeroen Bleekemolen : « À l'époque, j'étais un jeune pilote qui allait et venait, courant essentiellement sur des voitures de Formule, lorsque j'ai eu l'opportunité de courir en GT. Ma toute première GT était la Viper, elle était incroyable. Pour moi, la puissance était ce qu'il y avait de plus stimiulant. La première fois que j'ai appuyé sur l'accélérateur, c'était extraordinaire, tellement il y avait de puissance à contrôler. Mais ça m'a vraiment plu. On est allé à Zandvoort, chez moi, en plein hiver, il y avait de la neige partout. Mon premier tour a été une vrai boufée d'adrénaline et je suis tombé amoureux de la catégorie GT. À partir de ce moment-là, j'ai arrêté de courir en Formule et je n'ai plus couru qu'en endurance parce que j'adorais piloter ces voitures.»
« On a eu deux victoires dans la saison (2001) en GT FIA, à Budapest et dans la dernière course à Estoril. À l'évidence, gagner en GT FIA, c'était comme gagner en championnat, alors pour nous c'était vraiment spécial. C'était ma première année en GT, et je suis encore le plus jeune à avoir remporté une course en GT FIA. J'étais vraiment heureux de pouvoir gagner devant tous ces grands noms de l'endurance à mon âge. »
« Le plus intéressant à l'époque, c'est qu'on pouvait développer sa voiture soi-même, tandis qu'aujourd'hui, même si vous pouvez acheter une voiture, vous ne pouvez plus la toucher. On a beaucoup travaillé sur l'aérodynamique. Toine a conçu un nouveau séparateur qui est tombé à plusieurs reprises au début, mais on l'a renforcé. On s'est arrangé pour obtenir le maximum de puissance du moteur, elle était vraiment amusante à piloter, sa vitesse de pointe était très élevée. À la fin du jour, j'adorais cette période parce qu'on pouvait jouer avec la voiture et l'améliorer. Je pense qu'on avait la voiture la plus rapide de toutes. »
« Parce qu'on l'avait trop développé la voiture pendant l'hiver, elle n'était plus fiable. On a complètement loupé la première course à Monza. On a éclaté le moteur parce que de l'huile entrait dedans. Donc pour la première course, on a marqué zéro point et ce fut le plus dur. On a alors fiabilisé la voiture, puisqu'on pouvait le faire. »
« C'était très amusant de courir pour Toine Hezemas. Mon père avait commencé dans les années 1970 quand il courait pour Toine. On a tellement de souvenir de ces années-là. C'était une vraie expérience. Ils ont développé la Viper de la meilleure façon pour la rendre plus rapide. Nous en avons parfois payé le prix, car au début certaines pièces cassaient, mais plus tard on a réussi à la fiabiliser. Il y avait toujours de l'action, il se passait toujours quelque chose avec ces deux-là.»
« La Viper était très performante et on se bagarrait surtout contre d'autres Vipers. On a fait sept podiums dans la saison avec deux victoires, mais je crois que la plupart des autres courses ont été gagné par une autre Viper. C'était vraiment la plus performante des GT à l'époque. J'ai couru sur de nombreuses muscle cars et ça m'a vraiment installé dans l'endurance. C'est une voiture très spéciale, les gens l'aiment beaucoup et ceux qui les ont pilotées en course les adorent. C'était alors la plus spéciale des GT et ça l'est toujours. »
Resultats en GT FIA :
2000
A1 Ring 1e Mike Hezemans / Tom Coronel
Brno 1e Mike Hezemans / David Hart
Magny-Cours 2e Mike Hezemans / Tom Coronel
2001
Test Monza 2e Mike Hezemans / Jeroen Bleekemolen
Brno 3e Mike Hezemans / Jeroen Bleekemolen
Zolder 2e Mike Hezemans / Jeroen Bleekemolen
Hungaroring 1e Mike Hezemans / Jeroen Bleekemolen
A1 Ring 2e Mike Hezemans / Jeroen Bleekemolen
Nürburgring 2e Mike Hezemans / Jeroen Bleekemolen
Estoril 1e Mike Hezemans / Jeroen Bleekemolen
2002
Magny-Cours 2e Mike Hezemans / Anthony Kumpen
Jarama 2e Mike Hezemans / Anthony Kumpen
Anderstorp 3e Mike Hezemans / Anthony Kumpen
Donington 1e Mike Hezemans / Anthony Kumpen
Estoril 2e Mike Hezemans / Anthony Kumpen
Reconstruit à neuf en 2002 après l'accident des 24 Heures de Spa, C38 remporta l'épreuve en GT FIA à Donington Park et termina 2e à Estoril. En 2010, la voiture fut à nouveau complètement refaite, y compris moteur et boîte et fut pilotée par Rüdiger Klos en Allemagne.
Les caractéristiques les plsu remarquables sont :
• Chrysler Viper GTS-R Oreca originale
• Moteur, boîte, suspension complète et amortisseurs tous refaits à neuf en 2010
• Élargisseurs de carrosserie en fibre de carbone
• Moteur complètement refait en 2010 (35 000 €) aux dernières spécifications Oreca avec la meilleure culasse de Grasser Racing
• Entièrement équipée du système Motec
• Échappement disponible avec ou sans silencieux
• Moteur et boîte ont tourné 11 heures depuis la reconstruction en 2010
• La voiture appartenait alors à Klos Racing qui ne l'a engagée que dans quelques courses
• Poids 997 kg
Moteur
• Reconstruit : Mader (2002) / Grasser Racing (2010)
• Constructeur : Chrysler / Dodge
• Cylindrée : 8 000 cm3
• Puissance : 940 ch (non bridé)
• Couple : 1053 Nm (non bridé)
• Culasse : GTS-R
• Bloc : GTS-R
• Vilebrequin t: GTS-R
• Bielles: GTS-R
• Pistons: JE
• Arbres à cames GTS-R
• Soupapes: GTS-R
• Embrayage : carbone AP
• Disque d'embrayage : AP
• Volant moteur : AP
• Échappement : GTS-R
• Temps total : 11 heures
Transmission
• Constructeur : Quaife
• Type : séquentielle
• Nombre de rapports : 6
• Radiateur de transmission
• Temps total : 11 heures
Pont arrière
• Constructeur : Dana
• Type : 60
• Radiateur : oui
• Essieu : Pankl
Alimentation
• ATL fuel cell
• Capacité : 100 litres
• Pompe : Bosch
• Type de carburant : standard
Système électrique
• Allumage : Motec
• Enregistreur de données : Motec
• Ordinateur : Motec
• Affichage de données : système 2 d'origine, très rare
Carrosserie
• Construction : élargisseurs en carbone
• Couleur : blanc, livrée « Route 66 » de Spa 2002
• État: superbe
Châssis
• Type : châssis Oreca original
• Constructeur : Oreca
• Matériau : acier
• État : superbe
• Freins : Brembo
• Volant : Tilton
• Roues : BBS
La voiture est vendue avec les versions digitales du catalogue client Oreca Viper et le le manuel System 2. Le Goodwood Road Racing Club a récemment annoncé qu'une démonstration spéciale de GT1 sera l'un des points forts du 80e Goodwood Members' Meeting, qui se tiendra les 15-16 avril 2023. Cette Viper Oreca GT1 pourrait être votre ticket pour y participer. L'équipe de Goodwood nous a confirmé qu'elle serait ravie de prendre contact avec le nouveau propriétaire pour estimer le potentiel de la voiture en vue de sa participation à la démonstration.
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