LONG BEACH, CA Fontana,
CA-based Falken Tire, well regarded for its high performance tires,
officially entered the 2009 American Le Mans Series highly competitive
GT2 class by competing at Long Beach with its in-house-prepared
Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. The car was driven by veterans Dominic Cicero &
Bryan Sellers & ran on specially prepared Falken AZENIS RT slicks.
Qualified in eighth position by Sellers, the Team Falken Tire RSR ran
within a second of the race podium-winning #92 BMW car, a considerable
accomplishment for a br& new team & tire that has never previously
experienced the unforgiving Long Beach street course. The Porsche
moved to seventh on the grid after the pole-winning car was sent to
the rear for a ride height infraction. Sellers started the race, but
reported shifting problems early on. He continued to nurse the car for
30 laps, maintaining his position of seventh, but eventually had to
retire the Porsche. The team finished 20th overall & 12th in class.
The car was extremely consistent for a long time, Sellers said. I was
able to run a steady pace for the whole stint never dropping off more
than four-tenths of a lap until we had transmission problems.
Co-driver Cicero agreed: The tires were consistent & held up very well
in our practices. We feel we have a great product for the 2010 season.
Despite our race difficulties, our drivers were very happy with the
Falken Azenis RT slicks, added Stephen Mitchell, Falkens Motorsports
Manager.
The team worked very well together for being our first race. Weve done
a lot of testing, but this was a good experience under extreme
pressure, stated Rod Everett, Falken team manager. We noticed
vibration on very high speed during practice on Friday, & we pulled
the transmission & examined it. Its a shame that we finished where we
did, but thats racing. Well learn from this, move forward & do better
next time.
Long Beach also saw the debut of Falkens new tire team booth with a
constant flow of traffic to the Falken paddock Friday & Saturday.
Falken awarded a specially designed Falken collectible guitar to Tom
Crowe as part of its at-track promotional efforts.
The Porsche 911 GT3 RSR is painted in traditional Falken teal & blue
livery, now highlighted by its new sponsor, Clevel& Golf of Huntington
Beach, CA. Clevel& Golf, a force on the PGA tour, embraces many of the
same product development ideologies which Falken Tire Corporation
applies to their Azenis RT Slick tires used for ALMS competition.
The American Le Mans is an excellent series & the perfect platform for
Falken to demonstrate the strength & capabilities of our technology &
capabilities, noted &rew Hoit, Director of Marketing, Falken Tire. The
competition this year is extremely tough, & we knew that going in,
because we wanted to be able to challenge the factory teams as well as
the privateers & our competitors, the other tire manufacturers. Were
running a shorter season this year, in preparation for a full assault
in 2010.
The Falken Tire/Clevel& Golf team will next compete at Petit Le Mans
at Road Atlanta in September. |
