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We’ve taken a lot of joy from the Dodge Viper over the years at Goodwood, the sound of that 8.0-litre V10 engine is like nothing else on the planet. So every time they come back to see us the childlike excitement returns without fail.
Video: PlayStation‑liveried V10 Viper brought back to life at FOS
We had three of them on the Motor Circuit at once during the GT1 demonstration at the 80th Members’ Meeting presented by Audrain Motorsport, a group that included this particularly special car that we first saw back at the 2022 Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard.
So enthralled were we with this car that we cornered its owner, Flourent Moulin, to tell us all about it, and of course he had some pretty interesting things to say. From its career in top-level motorsport, it eventually became a track day car in France, and in Florent’s own words: “it was worn out”.
He took it upon himself to restore it to its original glory, and so he purchased all of the spare parts left on the Oreca shelf and put it back together as it would have raced 20 years earlier. He says that Benoit Treluyer, who drove the car at Le Mans in 2002, was stunned at how accurately restored it was.
With that PlayStation livery, this has to be one of the coolest cars to ever race at the Le Mans 24 Hours, doesn’t it? And that’s before it starts moving, and the sound of that 700PS (515kW) V10 begins to rattle your ear drums. We hope to see this back at Goodwood before long.