By Chrysler
Monterey, Calif., – The Street and Racing Technology (SRT) team from Chrysler Group LLC arrived at Laguna Seca raceway today on a mission – to recapture the production car lap record at the world-renowned road course in Monterey, Calif.

Chris Winkler, an SRT vehicle dynamics engineer piloted a black and red 2010 Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR (American Club Racer) to a lap record of 1:33.915 as recorded by Motech in-vehicle data recorder (1:33.944 – as unofficially recorded by trackside clock) around the 2.238-mile, 11-turn course, shattering the previous lap record by more than 1.1 seconds.

“It was definitely exciting but a somewhat uneventful lap overall from behind the steering wheel,” said Winkler, who is still learning the intricate details of Laguna Seca raceway, having spent only one other session on the course. “The Dodge Viper ACR has amazing power and handles like a dream, so following my first practice here last month, I came away pretty confident that we’d be able to set a new record.”

In 2008, professional road racer Randy Pobst, drove a 2008 Dodge Viper ACR to a one-lap, production car record of 1:35.117 at Laguna Seca raceway while working with Motor Trend. That record stood until August 6, 2009 when the most recent record of 1:35.075 was established by a one-off exotic prototype.

Ralph Gilles, President and CEO, Dodge Brand and Senior Vice President, Product Design Office, Chrysler Group LLC, was impressed with the Viper’s performance. “I’ve been closely tied to this car my entire career and even after owning one myself for some time, I’m still amazed with what the Dodge Viper can do on and off the race track,” Gilles said. “After our record-setting lap at the Nürburgring circuit, we’re excited to set a second performance benchmark record at another world-famous road course.”

The Dodge Viper is going into the final year of production for the current-generation model. Approximately 500 Vipers will be produced in 2010.

“We’re going to keep Dodge’s performance icon alive and well by not only producing some of the most special Vipers ever built, but we’re also investigating what the next-generation Viper is going to be,” added Gilles. “When we have partners across the ocean who are known as the best sports carmakers in the world, the future opportunities are huge.”

The Dodge Viper ACR remains the ultimate purpose-built, street-legal track car since its introduction in 2008.