Story by Team Oreca
 
   The only team who drove viper like it should be driven Chrysler Viper Team
 ORECA rounded off a spectacular career for the Viper GTS R/T, winning the final
 round of the American Le Mans Series in Adelaide at the New Year. Fittingly, it was
 Olivier Beretta, Karl Wendlinger and Dominique Dupuy who crossed the line in the
 Viper for the final time, the trio that has scored Chrysler's most prestigious
 victories to date including class wins at Le Mans forthree consecutive years and
 outright victory at Daytona. The Adelaide win ensured the championship for
 teams', the championship for manufacturers for DaimlerChrysler, and Beretta's
 second championship for drivers. Adelaide also brought Viper Team ORECA's
 race-winning tally to 16 wins from 18 starts in the ALMS.
 
  Beretta, Wendlinger and Dupuy won the opening round of the ALMS at Sebring, a 
 race that began the ALMS campaign with a Chrysler Viper 1-2-3. David Donohue,
 Tommy Archer and Marc Duez were second, Jean-Philippe Belloc, Ni Amorim and
 Anthony Beltoise third.
 
  At the second round in Charlotte, North Carolina, Wendlinger and Beretta won
 again as their team-mates Archer and Donohue finished third after suffering a
 rare gearbox failure.
 

   Both of the Chrysler Viper Team ORECA cars were in the victory circle at Silverstone, Britain, the first of two rounds held in Europe,
 Wendlinger and Beretta heading Archer and Donohue over the line. After winning at Le Mans in June, Wendlinger, Beretta and Duez went
 on to win the six hours at the Nürburgring, Germany, despite a collision that damaged the front of Wendlinger's Chrysler Viper. Belloc was
 less fortunate, taking to the grass to avoid a spinning prototype car and retiring.
 
   The ALMS returned to America in July and the Californian circuit of Sears Point, where Donohue and Archer recorded their first victory.
 Beretta slid off the circuit at mid-distance, again to avoid of a spinning prototype, though recovered to finish second with Wendlinger.
 
   Mosport, Canada, was the series' first rain-hit race in the US, and the weather turned the race into a classic battle. The GM Corvette
 team arrived with an updated car but it was still Chrysler Viper Team ORECA that crossed the line first. The wet and dry conditions ensured
 Chrysler's Michelin rain tires were tested to the limit, but Wendlinger held hold off Corvette's challenge for his and Beretta's fifth win.
 Donohue and Archer were third in class.
 
   Texas, the seventh round of the series, was the hottest ALMS weekend on record. Outside air temperatures were recorded at around 110
 degrees Fahrenheit during the day and 100 degrees during the race on Saturday evening. Broken cool suits hampered both Beretta and
 Wendlinger in the intense heat of the Chrysler Viper cockpit and both needed medical treatment after driving. They battled to second
 position in class and Beretta recorded the fastest lap to collect more points. Donohue and Archer finished third after Archer ran out of fuel.
 
   One week later the teams moved to the cooler climate of Portland, Oregon, for the eighth round. Beretta survived a scare when
 following a prototype that blew a tire in front of his Chrysler Viper, peppering the front with rubber. It was his, and Wendlinger's, only worry
 during the race as they went on to record their sixth win. Archer was the innocent victim of a prototype running out of fuel, hitting the back
 of it and damaging the cooling system of the Chrysler Viper GTS R/T. The team re-filled the system at each subsequent stop, and Archer
 with Donohue went on to second position in the race.
 
   At the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta, Viper Team ORECA was once again struck by bad luck that cost them victory. Wendlinger, Beretta
 and Marc Duez led comfortably when a battery failed, losing the car five laps and the lead of the class. Archer, Boris Derichebourg and
 Patrick Huisman took over the lead, though a late pace car period allowed the competition to close dramatically on the class leading car
 and Archer was unable to hang on to his lead, finishing second at the end of the 1000-mile event.
 
   Viper Team ORECA exacted revenge on the GM team at the tenth round at Laguna Seca, Beretta and Wendlinger comfortably outpacing
 their American rivals though not without a degree of luck. Beretta felt what he thought was a puncture, pitted immediately and his front
 wheel fell off. The car lost minimal time and went on to win by 73 seconds.
 
   At Las Vegas, the penultimate round of a fantastic season for the team, Chrysler Viper Team ORECA again faced the might of the
 Corvette team, and defeated it, Beretta and Wendlinger going on to record their ninth win, ahead of team-mates Donohue and Archer.
 
 Dodge Viper Official Website
 Team Oreca Official Website