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| Woodhouse and Altenburg Look To The Front |
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© Andrew S. Hartwell
This is our first time at Watkins and it is awesome! It's a great track!
We caught up with a very enthusiastic Bob Woodhouse today. He is the owner of the Woodhouse Performance Vipers running in the World Challenge race this weekend.
What I love is how this track has so much gravity in it. That is, it has a lot of elevation changes up and down and from a driver's standpoint that is very thrilling. It is a lot of fun to drive here.
Veteran racer Jeff Altenburg will be making his first race start in the #13 Woodhouse Viper this weekend. Altenburg currently leads the SPEED World Challenge Touring Car point standings, but this race will mark his first start in a GT car since 2002.
I am very excited to be running in the GT race this weekend. I have only made a few GT starts in my career but they haven't been in really competitive rides. I am super pumped about running this weekend with an experienced Viper team in a car has been proven fast by several drivers this season.
The list of drivers who have piloted a Woodhouse Performance Viper this season includes Brian Smith, Kasey Kahne and Bob Woodhouse. Altenburg's name on the entry list this weekend makes him the fourth pilot looking to land on the podium in the beautiful blue and orange sportscar. And Woodhouse feels the team is ready for a good run at the Glen.
We have had a pretty good season so far. We have the two cars - #13 and #99, and we have been in the top 10 the last three races. Here (at the Glen) if we were looking for something that our cars do well it would have to be in taking the high speed turns. The car negotiates turns at speed real well. And while everyone talks about the Viper having a real good motor, the SCCA keeps everybody very competitive through the use of restrictors. If you watch, you will see we have no straightaway speed advantage over anyone else. I am not saying we are last in speed either. We are probably somewhere in the middle.
This season the #13 Viper has finished 6th, 8th, 9th and 25th in the first four races. In each race, except Long Beach, the car has finished at least four places higher than where it started the race. Woodhouse feels the top spot is there for the taking, but others are sure to be aiming for the same prize and he accepts that as a very real part of the game.
You know, everyone says they have to win this one. But there is only guy out of thirty who is going to have that spot. If we can get the cars to finish in the top ten we will be very happy. And we think we have the potential to get into the top five here.
Woodhouse drove this car the last few years and finished seventh in the points last year. He loves the competition in this series.
This is a real great series. Every year you see the lap times coming down. Records fall. It gets tough to just stay in place.
Altenburg is genuinely enthused about his first ride in the big GT Viper.
Oh yeah! It seems like it is always a great run here. The Viper has tons of power and I really enjoy driving it. I haven't driven a Viper, or in this class, for a while so I can't say if this kind of car really has an advantage at this track. It seems to like it but I really don't yet know the nuances that might favor one car over the other. But being behind the wheel will fill in the blanks for me!
Altenburg had two wins in the Touring Car class this season and four wins in his SPEED World Challenge career. He has raced at the Glen ten times in various series from SCCA Club racing to Grand-Am Cup and the Grand-Am Rolex Series. Woodhouse might be thinking a top five finish but we suspect Altenburg will have the nose of his Viper aimed straight ahead for the front of the pack.
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