The Falken Porsche 911 GT3 RSR achieved the first GT class win for Porsche in the fifth race of the 2011 ALMS season. Falken drivers Wolf Henzler and Bryan Sellers emerged victorious at the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) by virtue of their driving skills and perfect choice of tyres.
Wolf Henzler and Bryan Sellers are the new ALMS ‘rain masters’ after their storming finish at the Mid Ohio round of the ALMS. After a very mixed practice and qualifying, they kept their nerve in the rain-drenched fifth ALMS round at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge to bring home the first victory for Falken and Porsche in the 2011 season. “We weren’t that happy with our practice and qualifying performance,” according to Falken driver Bryan Sellers, “but the Falken crew worked hard to improve the car, and we seemed to be faster the longer the race went.”
Monsoon conditions for the Falken 911.
Wolf Henzler recounted the critical moments, “When it started to rain, I still had good grip with the slicks, and didn’t want to lose the track position. The team called me in to change, and I disagreed with their decision. Finally, they called me in and we changed to rain tyres. Then the racing line started to dry and I was really upset.” Henzler’s request to go back to slicks was ignored in favor of the crew’s strategy, “Then it rained really hard and, of course, the team was right. On the last lap, all the guys spinning were taking the inside line, but I found grip on the outside line and passed all those cars. Falken had tested in the rain at Mid-Ohio, but Bryan had done all the testing. Still we had confidence in the rain tyres and they helped us win.”
The US Team Falken Tire will take part in the next race of the American Le Mans Series in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, this weekend.
