American Driver Impresses by Leading Rolex GT in Developing Fall-Line Audi R8
A top-five performance in GRAND-AM competition is tough. Two top-five results in one day in two of the most competitive sports car racing divisions in the world is downright impressive. Bryan Sellers did just that on Saturday at Kansas Speedway helping give Fall-Line Motorsports its highest-ever GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series finish, a fifth-place, in Saturday's SFP Grand Prix in the process. It was the second race of the day for the Braselton, Ga.-resident to co-drive a Fall-Line prepped machine at the Kansas City, Kan.-area track with Mark Boden (Winnetka, Ill.). Earlier in the day, the second-year pairing raced to fourth in the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge (CTSCC) on the 2.37-mile racecourse. The two-hour and 30-minute CTSCC race in the late afternoon of August 17 was the team's primary target for a victory. The No. 46 Trim-Tex Drywall Products/BCKSTGR Fall-Line Motorsports BMW M3 has taken the Sellers/Boden combination to two victories this season (Watkins Glen and Indianapolis) and was proving a strong performer on the combination oval-road course in practice. Boden started the car 14th and raced up to the top-five, even leading for a brief time. When Sellers took over for the final one-hour, 30-minute stint, he was eighth. Within 30-minutes Sellers had moved into the top-three where he would become embroiled in a nose-to-tail dogfight that would last until the checkered flag.The top six cars rotated through the running order as each driver took advantage of their car's particular strengths. The No. 46 BMW was in fourth place as a final yellow flag came with 15-minutes to go. When the green flagged waved for a last shot at the top three, Sellers was perfectly placed to take the last step on the podium by virtue of his uncanny restart ability. Sellers made the move into third coming to the white flag. However, the horsepower and momentum of the Ford Mustang he was battling was undeniable. The Fall-Line entry would narrowly miss its third podium in the last four races due to a last lap pass. Sellers would bring home fourth-place in the first race of the day.The CTSCC race will be broadcast on FOX Sports 1, Sunday August 25 at 3 p.m. ET.Race two, the "main event" GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series race, had much lighter expectations for Fall-Line and Sellers. The team is still developing its Audi R8 GRAND-AM for GT competition and the car's small rear-wing made finding a setup to balance the speed of the oval with the tightness of infield road course challenging. Boden qualified and started the car 10th in the GT class field.The night race made for a dramatic light show for the fans in attendance but Sellers and Boden needed no additional drama. Once in the car, the visibly loose condition of the Audi made Sellers performance even more impressive. The Team Falken Tire factory driver manhandled the mid-engine machine in the infield and held-on at full throttle on the oval - which made up the bulk of the lap. Sellers blended his racecraft and car control perfectly. Despite being his first race in the car, he was able to predict the car's nervous character and perfectly position it for overtaking maneuvers. To the amazement of those in attendance and watching at home on the live FOX Sports broadcast, Sellers moved the car from tenth into the lead of the race. He would only relinquish the top spot when he pitted for fuel and tires. As the night came to a close, Sellers brought the No. 46 under the checkered flag in fifth.Sellers will now enjoy a rare weekend away from the track. However, he is quickly back into the groove as the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrn returns to competition on August 31. The Labor Day holiday weekend will take Sellers with Team Falken Tire co-driver Wolf Henzler (Germany) to Maryland for the Grand Prix of Baltimore in the city's Inner Harbor district. The No. 17 Team Falken Tire Porsche 911 GT3 RSR has won the only two sports car events held on the street course in 2012 and 2013.For the GRAND-AM series, the September 8 race weekend at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif. is next.
QuotesBryan Sellers:On the Kansas performance of Fall-Line Motorsports: "To be honest, I am not too terribly surprised by how Fall-Line performed in both races this weekend. Every time I am in a Fall-Line Motorsports car, whether it's the BMW or the Audi, I feel like I have a chance to win or be on the podium. They do such a great job as a program, they prepare well and execute even better. It was a very solid weekend for all of us.I think the Fall-Line crew flies very low under the radar, but I think that's they way they want it. They work very hard and it's not for people to give them credit or a pat on the back. They work hard because they want to be the best and they want to win races, and that's why they are great! I am very proud to be a part of this group."On the challenges of running in both the CTSCC and Rolex races in one day: "One of the most difficult things about running two series throughout the weekend is the time allotment. There is very little time between sessions and even less time to sit and debrief with the engineers. You have to really be diligent with your time and make sure you are covering all of your bases. Jumping between the two cars was not too terrible, they were both pretty well balanced, so it made adapting between the two much easier."On the performance of Mark Boden: "Mark was strong in both races. For two races in a row in he has done the lion's share of the work it terms of overall laps, and he was great! Quite often it gets overlooked how important the combination of drivers in a car truly is. It goes much further than just being able to race the car well. Mark brings a lot of experience and is quite good technically so we are always moving forward with car development no matter who is driving. He has been a great co-driver and offers a lot!"On the CTSCC race: "We were very strong in the infield with the Trim-Tex BMW but for some reason we were extremely weak on the banking. I had a very difficult time keeping cars behind me because our midrange speed was so much slower than the others. We expected this to be a very strong race for us and to be honest are not 100 percent sure why we were not stronger."On the Rolex race: "I had some very good battles in the Audi. It was great to be back in a GRAND-AM GT car. The racing is great and the cars are all strong in their own sections which makes it difficult but intense racing. We still have a lot to learn in race trim with the Audi but I think we had a good start. With Mark being able to run strong and longer than the other drivers during his stint, we were able to have less fuel time in one of our stops, which jumped us a few positions on track, and from there I was able to pick up a few more and hold strong for a decent finish."On the Audi R8 GRAND-AM: "Audi is a proven winner in motorsports and the R8 is and will be no different. It is obviously a much different car than they run in their GT3 spec so we have some learning to do but we are getting better every lap. I think the car will win races in a short amount of time."
