2012 Indycar Series champion Ryan Hunter–Reay is to return to SRT Motorsports after being named as the third driver in one of the team’s GT Le Mans class Vipers for the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Hunter-Reay drove for the team at Petit Le Mans at the end of the 2012 American Le Mans Series season, before going on to drive for Level 5 Motorsports in the LMP2 class of the series in 2013.
“The SRT Motorsports program has come such a long way in a short period of time,” said Hunter-Reay. “This is truly one of the most competitive forms of GT class racing in the world and for the Viper GTS-R team to earn three poles and a win last season is outstanding. I have a long history with the Riley Technologies family and am looking forward to working with the same group in 2014 to again represent SRT on the track.”
Hunter-Reay will join Dominik Farnbacher and Marc Goossens in the #91 SRT Viper for the race, which starts the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship season. Both Farnbacher and Goossens remain with the team as the regular drivers of the car in the TUDOR Championship.
In the sister #93 entry regular wheelmen Jonathan Bomarito and Kuno Wittmer will be joined by Briton Rob Bell. Unlike Hunter-Reay who has raced with the SRT and Riley squads before (winning for Riley Technologies in the 2007 Grand-Am race in Utah) the Rolex 24 will be Bell’s first race with the team. However, he has previous experience of the Rolex 24 having entered the race in 2012. He has also made starts in the 12 Hours of Sebring, Petit Le Mans and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in a carrer that has included stints driving Porsches, Aston Martins and Ferraris as well McLaren, for who he is a works GT driver in Europe.
“After seeing the steady progress the SRT Motorsports team has made, I can’t wait to get behind the wheel at Daytona and compete against some of the best GT class teams in the world,” Bell said. “Being the new kid on the block that is joining a team as it continues to grow and get better with every race, I’m confident it won’t take long to feel right at home.”
The entire SRT Motorsports team will be part of the Roar Before the 24 test days (January 3-5) at Daytona International Speedway as they prepare for the Rolex 24 itself, scheduled for January 25-26.
