Bryan Sellers and Falken Porsche Squad Fight to Third at Sebring 12 Hour
Falken Tire Performance Key in TUDOR Championship Podium Run
SEBRING, Florida, March 23, 2015 – The Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh from Florida is considered the most daunting and demanding endurance race in North America, perhaps the world. Covering 1,230-miles on the bumpy, fast Sebring International Raceway in half a day takes its toll on all involved. For Bryan Sellers and his Team Falken Tire teammates, it was a joint effort worth all the pain, paying off with a third-place finish in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship’s GT Le Mans (GTLM) category. The No. 17 Team Falken Tire entry was the highest finishing Porsche 911 RSR in Saturday’s 63rd running of the United State’s oldest sports car race in the hands of the Braselton, Georgia-resident and teammates Wolf Henzler (Germany) and Patrick Long (Manhattan Beach, California).
From the start of the race, the sole Falken Tire-shod car in the field was on pace with the other GTLM leaders. Henzler started the car in eighth and began a steady move towards the front. Sellers took the second stint and continued the forward momentum in a car that was stable and consistent across the full stint despite near record track and ambient temperatures. Long was third in the rotation keeping the car in the top of the standings during his stint as well. The trio eventually moved the Falken Porsche into the class lead and held the top spot, or near it, for the remainder of the race. Proving the car and tire’s consistency, Sellers set the team’s fastest race lap, a one-minute, 59.681-second lap of the 3.74-mile facility, in his final stint on lap 206 of 329 completed. The lap was quicker than the car’s qualifying time of 1:59.787 set on Friday demonstrating the team’s continuous progress throughout the weekend.
Round Three of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship is scheduled for April 18 in Long Beach, California. The Grand Prix of Long Beach was Sellers first race with Team Falken Tire in 2009 and is always a special event for the multi-time GTLM race winner. The street course has been, traditionally, a strong event for the California-based company.
Quotes
On the race: “It was a good day for everyone at Falken Tire. We fought hard. The Porsche was fast and showed good speed all day long. It was definitely an improvement from where we were in qualifying. It shows good focus for the future for the Team Falken Tire Porsche.”
On the Falken Tires: “The Falken tires were very strong through the heat of the day. We seemed to have great pace compared to the other cars as well as longevity. We could really abuse the tire and push very hard and it was able to take the abuse and continue to hold good lap times. We made the decision to run the same tire in the night conditions and we were slightly slower than during the day but the overall performance was great!”
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 TUDOR SportsCar Championship, please visit www.IMSA.com .
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