The Winternats saw a great result for Serpent in Florida at a race that was the first big event with the new Serpent 977 Viper. Mark Green, Michael Salven and Paolo Morganti were the three lucky ones to give it a go at the Fort Myers track. Around 120 drivers entered for the event amongst which was Mike Swauger, Ralph Burch, DJ, Elias, Rick-V and more fast guys. Qualifying day one was fine with sunshine and a high grip track. Salven qualified second, Green third and Morganti in sixth, trying various set-ups to learn the car better and better. The second qualifying day was spoilt by rain and also Friday morning was still wet, so no chances to take TQ, although Salven was clearly up for it with superb lap times and a very fast, stable car. The lower finals took place on Friday afternoon with the main final on the Saturday over 45 minutes.
Morganti won the eighth final in great style, coming from ninth after the start, and taking victory ahead of Swauger and DJ. Salven was on fire in the first half of the main final with his Xceed-powered Viper 977. After five minutes he had a two lap gap to second, after ten minutes it was almost five laps and after 20 minutes over eight laps – truly amazing. Green was third for a while, then took second place from Burch and kept second until bad luck hit him. After five minutes more of bad luck when Salven had to stop. His engine came loose in the car and broke the flywheel. It was great that Morganti showed that the Serpent 977 Viper was a deserved winner in the end.

Source: Serpent