Riley Motorsports Pit Stop Propels No. 33 ViperExchange.com/ Gas Monkey Garage Dodge Viper GT3-R to Race Lead and Podium FinishBen Keating, Jeroen Bleekemolen and the No. 33 ViperExchange.com/ Gas Monkey Garage Dodge Viper GT3-R worked their way to the lead of the Northeast Grand Prix after another top pit stop by Riley Motorsports but in the end settled for a third-place finish in Saturday’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race at Lime Rock Park.Lacking the pace to go any faster than 13th in the 14-car GT Daytona (GTD) field in Friday qualifying, ViperExchange.com knew the only chance they had to do well in the Northeast Grand Prix would be a combination of race strategy and mistake-free execution.For the fifth-straight race, the Riley team delivered just that, getting Bleekemolen out of the pits first after the No. 33’s final stop with just over one-hour remaining in the race.“All of our finishes, all of our points, all of our performance really stand squarely on the team,” Keating said. “They are fulltime, they practice their pit stops every day in the shop, and I don’t think there is any team that practices their stops the way that Riley practices their stops.”Bleekemolen led 43 laps for 40 minutes in the race’s final hour before the race-winning No. 44 Audi slipped by for first around the same time Bleekemolen was hit from behind by the No. 23 Porsche.“For me, it was a tough day again,” Bleekemolen said. “It’s now three races in a row where the guys give us such a good pit stop to get us in front, but then we don’t really have a fair chance to fight some of the other drivers around you. I am happy we got the podium in the end, we all deserve it, but it is so hard. Even in traffic you just can’t get by other cars.”The driver of the No. 23 apologized to Bleekemolen after the race for the contact incident.“He hit me pretty hard,” Bleekemolen said. “Unfortunately I had to go straight and cut the chicane, and that cost us another position. That was a shame because I think we would have been second in the end.”Today’s podium result was the second visit to victory lane this season for Keating, Bleekemolen and ViperExchange.com. The team won four races ago in Detroit early last month where the Riley team put the No. 33 in first after a pit stop and Bleekemolen defended was able to defend the position to the finish.That proved to be tougher task at Lime Rock today and in the two races leading into the Northeast Grand Prix at Watkins Glen and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

“I am especially frustrated with today’s race,” Keating said. “It’s the fifth race in a row where our team has had unbelievable pit stops. We were the slowest car at Laguna Seca but ended up in sixth because of flawless execution. More flawless execution in the pits got us in first place in Detroit, up to second in the last two races and, miraculously, up to first here today.“We have literally had a flawless execution five races in a row, but this one was particularly frustrating for me because we could have won, but we just had no chance.” The third-place finish did keep ViperExchange.com in the hunt for the 2016 IMSA GTD driver and team championships, which tightened up after the Northeast Grand Prix.Keating, Bleekemolen and the No. 33 remain fourth in both the GTD team and driver standings with 186 points, one point ahead of the fifth-place team. The No. 23 team is third with 189 points, the No. 44 team is second with 199 points and the first-place No. 63 Ferrari team saw its lead decrease at 212 points. “It was a good points day and the top-five cars in the championship battle are just a lot closer now,” Keating said. “The next four races are good for the Viper. The only thing that gives us any benefit at all has been long straights. Road America, VIR, COTA and Road Atlanta all have long straights that should help some." Next up for ViperExchange.com is the Continental Tire Road Race Showcase, August 5 – 7, at Road America. The weekend’s featured IMSA WeatherTech race can be seen live on FOX Sports (FS1) Sunday, August 7, at 4 p.m. EDT.“Historically, Road America has always been a strong track for the Viper but who knows with today’s cars,” Keating said. “We are definitely looking forward to it, we won there last year, and I enjoy being there.”Noteworthy- Riley’s top-performing pit crew is rooted directly to the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class Viper GTS-R team that won the 2014 championship. “This is the same exact team that in the GTLM class in 2013 were getting beat by Corvette at every stop,” Keating said. “They completely reengineered everything to make sure that their stops were improved. They got to where they could match Corvette stop-for-stop, won the 2014 GTLM championship, and it is the exact same group of people today.” - Bleekemolen is hopeful for more competitive performances in the year’s final four races. “They are definitely tracks I like and the car likes,” Bleekemolen said. “We should do better but we depend a lot on how fast the car will be. We have been doing so well with a slow car in the last few races, if we just do our thing, make no mistakes, we should be able to be on the podium again.”- A rare occurrence, Keating ended up driving more than Bleekemolen at Lime Rock, wheeling the No. 33 through a 95-minute double stint to start the race. “The strategy was totally fluid,” Keating said. “The GTLMs were so close to our lap times, they had to be really aggressive, and going into the chicane I had one of the GTLM cars muscle me into the dirt. We were overheating and needed to clean the grill in the pits.”- After a spate of yellows in the race’s first 40 minutes ViperExchange.com had committed to a one-stop strategy. “After the yellow flags at the beginning, the plan was to do one stop and try to make it to the end. More of a fuel economy race, but when I got pushed off into the dirt it forced our hand and I had to come in. Under green flag racing, we were able to stay on the lead lap, which is tough to do at Lime Rock, took on tires and fuel and I went out and did another full stint. By the time the next yellow flag came out I had made it all the way up to third place. It wasn’t our plan but it turned out to be the right strategy.”