Originally Posted by
SSGNRDZ_28
Racing is inconsistent enough as it is – different track / driver / day / weather / phase of the moon / etc. produces different results. I feel any vehicle lap time should probably have a +/- 5 second window surrounding it just based on the above variables. Now, did the vehicle lap in question get its full potential that day or did conditions not allow that? In the case of the Viper time, we know they got only one lap on a green track, maybe the window should be more like +2 / - 8 because the potential for great improvement is there.
As the Nürburgring “production car record” is not overseen by any sanctioning body there are probably more variables than there are constants. Even with sanctioning bodies present, teams ride the line of legal or knowingly illegal just because of the way a rule is written.
Typically the manufacturer makes an attempt, usually with a pre-production vehicle, probably because they want to use the lap time as marketing material later on when the car is launched. I am sure there are varying degrees of honesty within these manufacturers (tire compounds, shaved tires, gutted vehicles for weight savings, special engine tunes, and so on). At the end of the day nobody knows if these times are from “close enough” production cars or not.
The Viper record effort is one of if not the most open/ public programs to have made the attempt The Viper is doing everything in the opposite manner – the public is funding (on a very limited budget) a production spec vehicle for the attempt as production closes. Every issue or challenge faced is basically public knowledge.
If Viper plays fair and nobody else does – while admirable, it really doesn’t matter. There are no rules to a time being released. Some people are assuming there is some funny business going on with the Vipers anyway. People will try to discredit it because of XYZ reason. The best thing going for the Viper is having the open forum and Road & Track there to add some form of credibility to the whole thing. Either way haters will hate.
All this said, it is super impressive what the car has done on its one and only lap. If it did get the record, or second place, that would make it even more impressive. Add to the fact the car uses only a small percentage of the tech of those others near the top. Since I can’t control what others might do, I choose to focus on what we have done and what the potential could be. I’d love to see the record taken outright without any asterisks required, but either way at least we know, despite the inherent and circumstantial disadvantages, this is one of the fastest production track cars there has ever been. (and while we may never know - if a few of those others cheated, it pushes it even closer to the top)
Bookmarks