Bryan Sellers and Falken Porsche Squad Fight to Third at Sebring 12 Hour - Speedway Digest

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.

“It was a good day for everyone at Falken Tire,” added Sellers. “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.”

The No. 17 Team Falken Tire entry was the highest finishing Porsche 911 RSR in Saturday’s 63^rd 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.

“The Falken tires were very strong through the heat of the day,” Sellers continued. “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!”

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.

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.

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Adam Sinclair

NHRA, IHRA, Motocross and other forms of motorsports Staff writer
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.