First ever GT victory for FALKEN Porsche in American Le Mans Series

Wolf Henzler and Bryan Sellers are the new ALMS ‘rain masters’ after a storming finish at the Mid Ohio round of the American Le Mans Series (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.”

Wolf Henzler recounts 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 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 favour 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, from 18th to 20th August 2011.