Victory in Last ALMS-Sanctioned Sebring Would Be Hallmark Win for Bryan Sellers
Falken Works Driver To Open 2013 ALMS Season at Classic Florida 12-Hour
SEBRING, Fla., March 11, 2013 – Bryan Sellers is beginning his ninth season in the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón (ALMS) on Saturday with the 61st Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh from Florida. In that time, the March 16 endurance classic at Sebring International Raceway has always carried the ALMS banner. That will all change in 2014 when it and the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series merge into a single unified North American operation. Little would please the Braselton, Ga.-resident more than add the coveted Sebring title to his roster of major sports car racing victories. Sellers will attempt to take this hallmark win at the Sebring, Fla. track in the No. 17 Team Falken Tire Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. He shares the car with full-season co-driver Wolf Henzler (Germany) and Nick Tandy (United Kingdom).
Sellers, the 2012 ALMS Most Popular Driver Award recipient, is in his fifth season as a factory driver for Falken Tire and is making his seventh start in the cornerstone ALMS event. His first two starts came as a works driver for Panoz Motor Sports. The former open wheel champion has become one of the standout examples of American driving skill and fan popularity in professional road racing. Sellers won his first race at Sebring in 2002 with a victory in the USF2000 support series event. That win spurred him onto an USF2000 championship that year, a series that inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 2012.
The 12 Hours has become one of the pinnacle events in motorsports since its first green flag in March 1952. The 3.74-mile, 17-turn course is widely recognized as one of the most challenging circuits on the planet. To capture a victory here, particularly against the most intense sports car competition in the world, draws racers from around the globe. The track’s unique layout on the World War II-era airbase demands intense focus and skill along with a strong ability to balance the car through the fast and slow corners and the infamous bumps around the course.
41 cars are entered for the ALMS season-opener, 12 of those come from the GT class in which Sellers will compete. No less than five of the teams entered – accounting for 75 percent of the field – are factory efforts from Corvette, BMW, SRT, Ferrari and Aston Martin. Team Falken Tire is joined by Paul Miller Racing as the only two Porsche customer teams entered in the class. Despite this, Porsche’s pedigree at Sebring with 18 overall and 67 class wins, offers a much stronger chance for a podium result than the odds might suggest.
Sellers has already spent a great deal of time in the “Sunshine State” since the first of the year. He competed in the 51st running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona in January driving the legendary Brumos Racing No. 59 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup entry. He has tested with Team Falken Tire on multiple occasions at Sebring leading into this week and will return to Ocala for his first triathlon on March 27. Sellers began training for triathlons late last year as a means to strengthen his physical and mental acuteness in the racecar.
SPEED Channel returns as the live television broadcast partner for the 61st running of Sebring. Live coverage begins at 10:30 a.m. ET on March 16. That segment will run through noon before it returns at 1 until 7:30 p.m. The final three hours of the race will be shown on tape delay beginning at 10:30 p.m. the same day. Multiple in-car cameras and full international coverage will be available at www.ALMS.com.
Live coverage of qualifying in all classes can also be found at the Series web site beginning with the GTC class at 1:05 p.m. Friday, March 15. Official practice begins on Thursday with testing Monday through Wednesday. Live timing and scoring of all sessions, including qualifying and the race, is offered at www.ALMS.com.
Quotes
Bryan Sellers:
On the importance of winning the 12 Hours of Sebring: “I think that there is something always special about winning the first or last of something. It is no fluke that there are some heavy hitters coming to the race, everyone wants to be able to say they won the final ALMS race at Sebring. This has always been such a special event to me personally and I would love nothing more than to be able to say WE won the last one.”
On being a factory driver: “It is a huge honor to remain a factory driver for Falken Tire. Along with all factory backed programs comes a huge weight to carry on your shoulders to perform and get results. Fortunately, I love that side of motorsports. I really enjoy when the pressure rises and you have to raise the bar. Being a part of Falken for the past years has really allowed me to add to my book of knowledge. Doing as much tire development as we have has really opened a whole new world. That kind of experience can only come from being a part of a factory effort for a number of years.”
On what makes the 12 Hours of Sebring so challenging: “What is there that doesn’t make this event so challenging would be a better question. There is a multitude of reasons that Sebring is difficult beginning with the track itself. There is no other track that is quite as bumpy and hard on equipment and tires. It really puts everything to the test. Because it is such a difficult race all the best people show up which is another reason it such a difficult race. Everyone is pushing as hard as they can for 12 hours!”
On the physical preparation for Sebring: “The hardest race physically is the first race of the year. Luckily, I already have [the Rolex 24 At] Daytona under my belt, which should help prepare me for this race. I have been training a lot lately to do a triathlon and remarkably the training between motorsports and triathlon is very similar. Hopefully that helps as well.”
For more on Bryan Sellers, please visit him on the web at "> www.BryanSellersRacing.com . Follow Bryan on Twitter ("> www.Twitter.com/BryanSellers ) and LIKE him on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/BryanSellersRacing . Tune-in to Bryan’s YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/BryanSellersRacing.
Visit www.FalkenTire.com for more on Team Falken Tire. Learn more about the American Le Mans Series at www.ALMS.com.
Go R/C racing with Bryan at www.HPIRACING.com.
Stayed charged with Batter Tender at www.BatteryTender.com.
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