Bryan Sellers Ready to Press 'Play' On ALMS at Lime Rock

BRYAN SELLERS READY TO PRESS ‘PLAY’ ON ALMS AT LIME ROCK

Connecticut Road Course Launches U.S.-Driving Star into Heart of Championship

LAKEVILLE, CT, July 5, 2011 – Over two months ago Bryan Sellers matched the highest finish of his American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón (ALMS) career; a fourth at the Grand Prix of Long Beach (CA). Then the 2011 ALMS season was put on ‘Pause’ to allow teams to participate in the 24 Hours of Le Mans icing the momentum gained. Now, the Braselton, GA-resident is eager to press ‘Play’ on his season and continue the strongest start he has had in his sports car racing career. The July 9 American Le Mans Series Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park is an ideal location for the young American to do just that. The intense, “bullring”-like atmosphere of the Lakeville, CT track plays right into the hands of the calm driving style of Sellers. He returns to the cockpit of the No. 17 Team Falken Tire Porsche 911 GT3 RSR he shares with Wolf Henzler (Germany) for Round Three of the championship with growing expectations for the races to come.

Lime Rock launches the endurance sports car series into the heart of its summertime schedule and, with it, the battles that will define the season. The 1.5-mile, eight-turn course - which will utilize the “classic West Bend” layout without the chicane - has often been the site of the resumption of the ALMS season following the “Le Mans Break”. The shortest track on the ALMS calendar always provides fiery competition as the tight confines and pent-up aggression of the layover well up in the heat of early July. The two-hour and 45-minute race can launch the championship pursuit of a driver or someone else’s ill-timed move on the narrow circuit can force a season-long effort to gain back valuable, championship points. Sellers, who finished eighth here in 2010 with Falken, is intent on maintaining the energy built in the first two rounds by keeping his head while those around him lose theirs.

Sellers and Henzler opened the season by running in the top-three at the 12 Hours of Sebring (FL) before a gearbox failure ended their race deep into the classic event. That strong performance vaulted the team to the Long Beach success and raised the flag that the Falken car was going to be a threat in 2011. With 15 cars entered in the GT class - making up nearly half the field - the competition will be intense on the track which is a mile shorter than most of the permanent courses the ALMS runs. The former open wheel champion is hopeful that the short-track character will further balance the playing field against the long-established teams and tire manufacturers. The heat of the battle generated here forces mistakes and makes the heavily funded, factory operations vulnerable; a vulnerability Sellers hopes to exploit to maintain the momentum built by the No. 17.

Sellers has not been resting at home since the April 16th round in California. Instead, he made effective use of the downtime to compete in other race series and to test for Team Falken Tire. The Ohio-native spent three days testing the Falken Porsche at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and Road America. Both tracks appear on the ALMS schedule August 6 and August 21 respectively. Falken Tire, seeing the testing and development skills of the young gun, also flew Sellers to Japan for three days of testing on the Sego International Circuit. The Asian test, though run almost entirely in wet conditions, provided key information engineers will use to build tires for later in the season.

Quotes

Bryan Sellers:

About racing at Lime Rock? “Lime Rock has always been one of my favorite events. The track is famous for the racing that it produces. You are in such tight quarters all the time that every pass made is a big pass. It makes it exciting to drive and even more exciting for the spectators. Lime Rock has always had one of the biggest and most knowledgeable crowds which makes our job even more enjoyable.

Lime Rock is a very difficult place to race. Everyone has to be on their ‘A’ game at all points in time. With the lap being so short it is very easy to go down a lap and take yourself out of the race as quick as it started. The fact that track position is at such a premium, it takes a lot of strategy work out of the game; everyone will do basically the same strategy to try and minimize damages and maximize their gains.”

About the “Le Mans Break”: “My hope is that we are able to come back from the break even stronger than when we started. We were still behind a little bit at the end of the season and with Falken Tire having a new team this year I am hoping that this Le Mans break has given us a chance to catch up. We have made continued progress with the tire. Lime Rock is a very challenging circuit from a set-up perspective, hopefully we have improved tire durability and grip.”

Live coverage of qualifying for the ALMS Northeast Grand Prix can be found on www.ESPN3.com, Friday, July 8 at 3:45 p.m. (ET). Flag-to-flag coverage of Saturday’s race will air live on ESPN3.com at 1:50 p.m. (ET). ESPN2 will broadcast highlights from the ALMS Northeast Grand Prix on Sunday, July 10 at 3:00 p.m. (ET). Live timing and scoring of each session can be found at www.AmericanLeMans.com with audio at www.RadioLeMans.com.

For more on Bryan Sellers, please visit him on the web at www.BryanSellersRacing.com. Follow Bryan on Twitter (www.Twitter.com/BryanSellers) and Facebook.

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