Riley Motorsports Confirms Full-Season, NAEC Programs

Riley Motorsports has formally confirmed its full-season return to the 2015 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, as a privateer effort following the withdrawal of Chrysler’s SRT Viper program at the end of 2014.

The team will run one full-season Dodge Viper GT3-R along with a second Viper for the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup in the GT Daytona class.

The No. 33 car is chassis No. 001, the car that burned to the ground at Sebring last year, but suffered only cosmetic damage. The No. 93 is chassis No. 004, which was the car the team ran the remainder of the 2014 season after Sebring.

Bill Riley told Sportscar365 in November the team was poised to continue even after the Chrysler pullout, as the team tested at Daytona International Speedway.

Today’s announcement sees TI Automotive take on a greater role with the team as new primary sponsor of both cars for the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup. ViperExchange.com will be a prominent associate for those races and primary for the No. 33 for the remaining full-season events.

Jeroen Bleekemolen and Ben Keating will continue for a second full season together in GT Daytona in the No. 33. The pairing won twice in 2014.

Incidentally, neither was on site for today’s announcement as Bleekemolen is racing in the Hankook 24 Hours of Dubai, and Keating had a separate conflict this weekend.

Beyond the full-season drivers, three of the former four SRT Motorsports factory aces have found rides for at least the Rolex 24 at Daytona, with the specific lineups to be determined after the Roar this weekend.

Kuno Wittmer, Dominik Farnbacher and Marc Goossens all join the team for the Roar and the Rolex 24. The remainder of their seasons are still to be determined.

Additional drivers being brought in include Al Carter, Sebastiaan Bleekemolen and Cameron Lawrence, the latter of whom is the two-time defending Trans-Am TA2 champion.

“We were able to retain most of the same crew from the championship-winning team (in GTLM),” Riley said. “Having these three guys together is always great.”