With his full-season IMSA plans already in place for next season, GT Daytona driver Ben Keating is working on a return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans for another crack at winning the GTE-Am class with his Riley Technologies Dodge Viper.

“That’s the goal,” the Texas-based Dodge Viper dealer (LEFT) told RACER. “Things right now are very different from last year. I had a lot of hoops to jump through – I didn’t own the car, I had to get an entry, I had to get a sponsor, and had a lot to do to try and put a Le Mans effort together. Now, I own the car, and because I own it, a lot of other doors have opened up, and the only question mark now is getting an entry.”

The No. 53 Viper GTS-R was originally listed as an alternate entry for June’s 24-hour classic, and only received an invitation after one of the 56 official entries withdrew. Starting fourth in GTE-Am, Keating, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Marc Miller impressed during the event, but were disappointed to finish 10th in class after mechanical woes intervened late in the race. The unsatisfying outcome spurred Keating to craft a plan for a second visit to La Sarthe, and provided the ACO extends another offer to compete, he says he’s ready go for glory with the V10-powered coupe.

“We’ve got the car, we’ve got the sponsorship, and we’re ready to go,” Keating continued. “The fans seemed to love having our Viper there to spice things up so it wasn’t just a bunch of Ferraris and Porsches, and we’re hoping to get an invite.”

Turning back to IMSA, Riley Motorsports fielded the No. 33 GTD Dodge Viper at every TUDOR United SportsCar Championship round in 2015 for Keating, and also entered the No. 93 Viper at select events. With the No. 33 confirmed for a full season in GTD, Keating hopes to run the Rolex 24- and Watkins Glen-winning No. 93 at more than just the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup rounds next year.

“It doesn’t look like the second car will be there for the full season, but it does look like it will be there for the NAEC races,” Keating said. “We’re still trying to fill a little bit of sponsorship there and to find a talented [Pro-Am] driver to fill the gap. We’ll be meeting with several people at SEMA and hope to put something together so we can have a two-car team on a more usual basis.”