Team Falken Tire at Sebring

Happy St. Patty's Day!

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

TEAM FALKEN TIRE PREPARES FOR DEBUT ASSAULT WITH NEW PORSCHE AND TEAM
DRIVERS FOR SEBRING IN GT2 CLASS

 

FONTANA, CA (Mar. 17, 2010) - Porsche Works Drivers Wolf Henzler and Patrick
Pilet and returning Falken Driver Bryan Sellers will lead Team Falken Tire's
expanded race program, debuting the tire company's brand new 2010 Porsche
911 GT3 RSR in the American Le Mans Series GT2 class at Sebring.

 

This will be the third year for Team Falken in ALMS, and its most aggressive
program to date.  "We're using the ALMS to compete against our competitors
as well as utilize the highly organized race program as a formal testing
ground for continued tire development," said Mark Richter, Falken Senior
Manager of Dealer Marketing.  "As we compete throughout the season, we will
build upon race and test data learned from our efforts with last year's
Porsche."

 

"As we prepare for Sebring, it's great to have Wolf on our team for the full
season, as well as have Bryan return, along with Rod Everett, our veteran
team manager, who has overseen the development of Falken's new race car, the
only Porsche 911 GT3 RSR earmarked for racing delivered to North America
this season," said Falken's Director of Marketing Andrew Hoit.  "We continue
to believe ALMS is the perfect venue to profile Falken's brand and
demonstrate the company's capabilities to our customers, retailers and
media, and that's why we have made the significant commitment to
motorsports."

 

The new GT3 RSR was hand-built in Porsche's Weissach, Germany, Motorsports
facility, and then air- freighted on a 747 cargo plane to LAX, close to
Falken's Corporate offices in Fontana.  The car is the latest generation
water-cooled 4.0-Liter Porsche Flat six boxer engine.

 

Both Henzler, a veteran of many ALMS races, and one of only eight Porsche
factory drivers, and Sellers, who drove Falken's entry in 2009, have tested
the new car prior to its debut next week at Sebring.  Pilet, another Porsche
Works driver, joins the team to contest Sebring.

 

"We showed steady improvement throughout last year, and anticipate even
stronger results in 2010," Richter added.  "I'm confident Falken, our
drivers and our car are ready for the challenge."


Falken Tire Corporation, based in Fontana, California, was introduced to the
North American market in 1985.  Falken focus on UHP (Ultra High Performance)
products and utilizes pro drifting and American LeMans race programs to
further develop, improve and market passenger vehicle products for worldwide
distribution.  For more information, visit Falken Tire's new website at
<http://www.falkentire.com> www.falkentire.com.

 

Falken Media Contacts:


Nick Fousekis
James Yim

  nfousekis@falkentire.com
 jyim@falkentire.com