Falken Factory Effort Fights from Last on the Grid to Lead; Ninth at Checker
There is no denying that the weekend leading into Sunday's Orion Energy Systems 245 was a struggle for Bryan Sellers and his longtime American Le Mans Series (ALMS) presented by Tequila Patrn race team, Team Falken Tire. The No. 17 Team Falken Tire Porsche 911 GT3 RSR the Braselton, Ga.-resident co-drives with Germany's Wolf Henzler had struggled for speed at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin's Road America.
When rain began to fall heavily in the hour before the start of the two-hour and 45-minute sports car race, things took a sudden look up for the operation that enjoys the sport's best rain tire. Within 40-minutes of the wet start, Sellers had pushed the Porsche from the back of the grid, tenth, to the GT class lead. However, when the rain cleared, the car fell back to ninth where it would finish.2013- Bryan Sellers- Road America- Rain- Falken PorscheBryan Sellers used the rain and the Falken Azenis tire to lead at Road America. Image courtesy of PCNA.Like most drivers, Sellers loves the "old school" speed and challenge of the 4.048-miles and 14-turn Road America circuit. However, despite being the package of choice in the rain or on street circuits, the combination has lacked overall speed at the last two natural terrain venues. Despite a concerted push in Friday and Saturday practices, the program was unable to close the gap to the other GT competitors. Sellers, who was next in rotation to qualify the car, turned the tenth-quickest time in the 15-minute qualifying session on Saturday morning. Overnight, the team made several changes to the car in hopes that it would help but nothing raised spirits and chances more than a storm front that descended on the eastern-Wisconsin area on Sunday morning.Much to the delight of Sellers, Henzler and the Falken team, race officials declared the race a "wet start" mandating that each car start on grooved rain tires rather than racing slicks. The Falken Azenis wet weather rubber helped the team win the first of its three ALMS victories at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in 2011. Maximizing his advantages, Sellers quickly moved from 10th on the grid to seventh before a yellow flag flew 20-minutes into the race. The Falken team opted to keep Sellers on track while others pitted moving the 2012 ALMS "Most Popular Driver" Award Winner to third. Within five minutes of the green flag waving again, Sellers had caught and passed both the leading cars to take the point of the race as the first 45 minutes came to a close. As the track dried, the No. 17 was forced to pit for the slick tire and the green flag stop dropped the car to ninth. With one-hour and 15-minutes remaining, Sellers turned the Falken Porsche over to Porsche factory driver Henzler who drove the final stint on the now completely dry racecourse.Sellers and Team Falken Tire turn the page from Road America and focus on the track that the team has found its most success, Baltimore's city street circuit. The race had its first running near the city's Inner Harbor district in 2011 when Sellers drove a masterful final stint to put the car into victory lane. The scenario was again repeated in 2012 with Sellers/Henzler taking their third and most recent ALMS race win together. The Grand Prix of Baltimore will be held August 31. Television coverage will again be on ABC on a one-day, tape-delay, September 1 at Noon Eastern time.QuotesOn the Falken Rain Tire: "We were praying for rain this weekend. We know we have a strong tire in the wet and the Team Falken Tire Porsche needed a little bit of an equalizer as we were struggling for outright speed. The rain came just in time for the race. Unfortunately, it was a little bit too early. For this weekend we actually changed the rain tire to try and give it less overall performance and better longevity. It worked very well. As you could see when the conditions were wet, we were strong, and as it started to dry we became even stronger. It was a good first part of the race and a good development for the future."On the importance of getting through the field early: "It was extremely important for us to make track position while we were able too. We knew we were weaker in the dry conditions so we had to take advantage of our strengths. Unfortunately, the track dried much quicker than we would have liked or expected and we were not able to open a gap to help us sustain track position later in the race."On the passes to take the lead: "We were very strong in the drying conditions and I was able to set up both of the second-place car and the leader and move my way to first. The Corvette pushed a little wide in the Carousel and I was able to squeeze my way up the inside and hold him off. The Viper went defensive into turn eight but I had a good run and knew I wouldn't have many more opportunities so I needed to make the pass then and make it stick. I was able to do so and take the lead. It felt good to put the Team Falken Tire Porsche back into the lead of an ALMS race."On staying positive during the struggles of the weekend: "You have to keep a positive mindset! There is nothing good that comes from being negative. I am a firm believer that you have to take what you learned from the weekend, try and apply it to the future and move forward. A lot of the energy of a team feeds of its drivers and we need to hold our heads high and be proud of what we do as a program."On returning to Baltimore at the next ALMS round: "We cannot wait to get back to Baltimore! Team Falken Tire would love nothing more than to win another race there and say we are the only GT ALMS team to ever win in the city. However, it is very difficult to repeat anything in sports and even more difficult to three-peat. We will have a target on our backs but we are going to go in and fight as hard as we can for every inch and hope we have a little luck and fortune on our side."
