Jun 24, 2012 6:31:56 PM
- Spyderidol
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Jun 25, 2012 11:39:01 PM
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FalkenALMS
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Re: 2012 997 GT3 RSR
Spyderidol:
Guys, Team Falken Tire Motorsports has an excellent blog with a very intersting interveiw with Porsche Motorsports North America President Jens Walther.
Thanks for sharing, Spyderidol!
We're still in the process of wrapping up Part II of the Porsche blog, but in the meantime, here's a look into the relationship between Falken co-drivers Bryan Sellers and Wolf Henzler. These two are an absolute blast to work with and are also incredibly professional. They make a great team racing for Falken and hopefully this year, they'll be able to bring home a few more wins!
http://bit.ly/KY8xj0
Jun 26, 2012 5:48:20 AM
- Spyderidol
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Jun 29, 2012 9:28:12 PM
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FalkenALMS
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Re: 2012 997 GT3 RSR
Ferdie:
First of all, a very warm welcome indeed. Very happy to hear from you via this thread. Guess there will be plenty of questions coming up in the near future. Until then, could you shed some light on the qualities of your drivers? Ragginger and Henzler have been well known in the Carrera and Supercup and, being Porsche works drivers, seem to make a very good job. How is it possible to receive works drivers from Porsche? I guess providing a great team makes that decision very easy...
I had a sit down with Program Manager Derrick Walker this afternoon, so I thought I'd also get an official quote from him regarding Bryan Sellers and Wolf Henzler. Here are his thoughts:
"They’re two very different individuals. They have different personalities and they’ve arrived at Falken motorsports from different directions. The good thing about both of them is they’re ideally suited for sports car GT racing, for more than one reason. One of the main reasons they’re ideal for us as a team is they work really well together. The like similar aspects of the car set up, they describe the car in different ways but their combined input is very helpful. They’re tireless workers. They never give up. Not even when we’re maybe not running as quick as we should be. They never give up on trying to improve. They’re just two racers. They’re professional. There’s not much of a separation between the two of them. If there is a difference, it’s more from experience. Wolf has come with a different experience level than Bryan, but they complement each other when you wouldn’t sense it because they work so well together in the process of not only driving but helping the team to understand how to improve the tires, the car, and maximize our potential. Although they’re quite different, they have a lot of similarities in the way they deal with the job of racing in the job of co drivers for Falken Motorsports.
As for Wolf, I can’t think of another driver in the field that is so hard to pass or so hard to get by. He can pass people in so many places that you didn’t think were possible. He’s a devil. There’s just no way he can’t driver around somebody. Or if the pack is coming down on him, and he’s at the end of his run and he’s not able to stay ahead, there’s nobody better than to have holding up the pack until it’s time for us to pit so we don’t lose so much ground. They’re both very similar and we’re fortunate to have both of them.
Of the two, Bryan is extremely valuable when we do a lot of tire testing. Bryan as an ornate amount of feedback. His recalling a lot of small details is quite exceptional. Wolf can be that detailed, but it’s not as spontaneous. Whereas Bryan, it just rips out of him. When you’re doing tire testing, it’s fractions. It’s very small amounts: little bits of grip, little bits of behavior changes. It’s not a ‘wham bam, oh we’re two seconds quicker’ it’s one tenth at a time. Feedback from a driver that can give you a lot of detail, even at small increments, that’s very important. For a Falken tire development program, Bryan has been a big asset there. His feedback and approach to the job is coming from an open wheel perspective, it’s very detailed.
They’re both driving the car wherever they have to drive it to make it quicker. They change their lines, breaking points, and a lot of aspects of how they approach a corner to get around it. If it means running a different line, they’ll do it. Some drivers get stuck in a rut and never do that. These guys are always searching"
Jul 3, 2012 1:39:11 PM
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FalkenALMS
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Re: 2012 997 GT3 RSR
FalkenALMS:
Spyderidol:
Guys, Team Falken Tire Motorsports has an excellent blog with a very intersting interveiw with Porsche Motorsports North America President Jens Walther.
Thanks for sharing, Spyderidol!
We're still in the process of wrapping up Part II of the Porsche blog, but in the meantime, here's a look into the relationship between Falken co-drivers Bryan Sellers and Wolf Henzler. These two are an absolute blast to work with and are also incredibly professional. They make a great team racing for Falken and hopefully this year, they'll be able to bring home a few more wins!
http://bit.ly/KY8xj0
Part II of Team Falken Tire and Porsche is up! Here it is!: "Team Falken Tire and Porsche Part II: Fans Ask The Questions"
Jul 3, 2012 2:32:52 PM
- Spyderidol
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Jul 3, 2012 2:49:37 PM
- bobr
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Jul 3, 2012 2:55:55 PM
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FalkenALMS
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Re: 2012 997 GT3 RSR
bobr:
Thanks !!! Looking forward to seeing you at Lime Rock this weekend.
Likewise! Be sure to stop by and say hi!
Also, every race event, we hold a contest on twitter and allow the winner and a friend to have lunch with Bryan Sellers and Wolf Henzler at the track. This event, it will be a caption contest on Thursday July 5th and the lunch will be Friday, July 6th. I don't want to get spammy on the forum, so if you're interested, just follow on twitter @FalkenALMS for details. It'd be great if a forum participant won! (You of course, have to be attending Lime Rock in order to win)
Jul 8, 2012 3:13:35 PM
- Ferdie
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Re: 2012 997 GT3 RSR
FalkenALMS:I had a sit down with Program Manager Derrick Walker this afternoon, so I thought I'd also get an official quote from him regarding Bryan Sellers and Wolf Henzler. Here are his thoughts:
Thanks very much for your effort. Almost thought that you overlooked my request but obviously you just prepared an elaborate answer. 
Jul 28, 2012 8:14:49 PM
- Boxster Coupe GTS
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Re: 2012 997 GT3 RSR
Porsche pilots yield best result of the season...
American Le Mans Series, round 5, Race report (22 July 2012)
With the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of the Falken Tire squad, Porsche works driver Wolf Henzler (Germany) and his American teammate Bryan Sellers secured the fourth place in the GT class at round five of the American Le Mans Series at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park near Toronto. This marks their best result of the season in the race series with the world’s fastest sports cars. “In qualifying we were not as fast as expected, but our race set-up worked well,” said Wolf Henzler. “Our strategy was good and we could turn consistently fast lap times which is very positive. I think we’ve taken a large step forward today. Still, we have to work hard in order to have any real chance at achieving a podium result.”
After a heart-stopping finale on the challenging, traditional 3.957 kilometre race track, known as the Mosport International Raceway, Porsche works drivers Joerg Bergmeister (Germany) and Patrick Long (USA) were the first to cross the finish line, but because of a defect air inlet system, the Flying Lizard Motorsport 911 GT3 RSR was disqualified after the race. The Lizards have filed an official protest of the decision.
Behind Wolf Henzler and Bryan Sellers, Sascha Maassen (Germany) and Bryce Miller (USA) finished fifth in Paul Miller Racing’s Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. Americans Seth Neiman and Andy Lally brought the second Flying-Lizard Porsche home in sixth to round out the great weekend result of the Porsche teams.
The sixth round of the American Le Mans Series is contested on 4 August on the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington in the US State of Ohio.
Race Result
GT class
1. Sharp/van Overbeek (USA/USA), Ferrari F458 Italia, 112 laps
2. Magnussen/Garcia (DK/E), Chevrolet Corvette, 112
3. Hand/D. Müller (USA/D), BMW E92 M3, 111
4. Henzler/Sellers (D/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 111
5. Maassen/Miller (D/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 110
6. Neiman/Lally (USA/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 110
GTC class
1. Di Guida/Pumpelly (VEN/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, 104 laps
2. Keen/MacNeil (USA/USA)), Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, 104
3. Cunning/Vaillante (CAN/CAN), Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, 97
Points’ standings
GT class
Driver
1. Jan Magnussen, Antonio Garcia, Chevrolet, 80 points
2. Joey Hand, Dirk Müller, BMW, 73
3. Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner, Chevrolet, 72
4. Scott Sharp, Johannes van Overbeek, Ferrari, 59
5. Bill Auberlen/Jörg Müller, BMW, 40
6. Jörg Bergmeister, Patrick Long, Porsche, 39
7. Wolf Henzler, Bryan Sellers, Porsche, 35
8. Sascha Maassen, Bryce Miller, Porsche, 31
9. Seth Neiman, Porsche, 26
Manufacturer
1. Chevrolet, 94 points
2. BMW, 81
3. Ferrari, 75
4. Porsche, 59
Teams
1. Corvette Racing, Chevrolet, 94 points
2. BMW Team RLL, BMW, 76
3. Extreme Speed Motorsports, Ferrari, 61
4. Flying Lizard Motorsports, Porsche, 50
5. Team Falken Tire, Porsche, 35
6. Paul Miller Racing, Porsche, 31
Aug 3, 2012 11:47:16 PM
- Boxster Coupe GTS
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Re: 2012 997 GT3 RSR
2012 Porsche 997 GT3 R -- VLN race footage...
Video link 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3DbwnmAixM&hd=1
Video link 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5lmA3AR1WU&hd=1
Video link 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awbQVlcVZwo&hd=1
Video link 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwdDYW8maFk&hd=1
Video link 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvPV6daRe00&hd=1
Video link 6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z0Ao49u25E&hd=1
...thanks to Falken Tyre Europe and Porsche Motorsport!
Aug 4, 2012 10:29:59 AM
- Spyderidol
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Re: 2012 997 GT3 RSR
PORSCHE 991 FOR WEC IN 2013? — The word in the ALMS paddock is that Porsche’s new 991 GTE car will debut in next year’s FIA World Endurance Championship as a development program run by a single factory supported team, with a full customer roll-out expected for 2014. It would thus leave Porsche with two distinct GTE models for next year, with both likely present at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. - SPEEDTV.com
Sep 3, 2012 12:59:22 PM
- reginos
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Re: 2012 997 GT3 RSR
reginos:
The Falken Porsche RSR of Henzler/Sellers won the ALMS race at Baltimore.
There is still life in the old 997 based race car, but the new 991 based car can't come soon enough.
Absolutely, 991 RSR can't come soon enough. You have to wonder if the rumored merger of GrandAm & ALMS for 2014 season in the US didn't have an impact on the introduction of 991 RSR to US based teams. Perhaps Porsche, along with the other manufacturers, is working behind the scenes on the regulations for the comnined series.
--
2006 997 C2S Cab, Triple Black, 2006 Cayenne Titanium Iceland Silver Metalic New York
Sep 3, 2012 6:51:40 PM
- bobr
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Re: 2012 997 GT3 RSR
Spyderidol:
Well, I certainly hope so. First reactions to the merger are not very promising.
There is certainly a concern about who will dominate - Nascar or ALMS in the combined series. With DP, LMP1 & LMP2 car counts down, you have to wonder what the class layout will look like. The rumored merger announcement is to take place on Wednesday.So let's just hope ALMS takes the lead in the newly merged series.
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2006 997 C2S Cab, Triple Black, 2006 Cayenne Titanium Iceland Silver Metalic New York
Sep 3, 2012 7:29:10 PM
- bobr
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Re: 2012 997 GT3 RSR
Spyderidol, This piece on GrandAm-Alms merger might be of interest.
http://www.autoextremist.com/fumes1/
--
2006 997 C2S Cab, Triple Black, 2006 Cayenne Titanium Iceland Silver Metalic New York
Sep 3, 2012 8:00:59 PM
- Spyderidol
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Sep 4, 2012 1:06:38 PM
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FalkenALMS
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Sep 4, 2012 1:30:47 PM
- Spyderidol
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Sep 4, 2012 6:20:41 PM
- bobr
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Re: 2012 997 GT3 RSR
FalkenALMS:
Thanks for the well wishes! It's been a crazy weekend and feels amazing to come home with the win for the second year in a row!
Wolf did a great job staying out of the traffic jam in turn 1 at the start. Kind of reminded me of his move at Mid-Ohio last year when he went past the pile up at the restart in the rain to take P1. Let's hope VIR brings another podium finish for Bryan and Wolf..
--
2006 997 C2S Cab, Triple Black, 2006 Cayenne Titanium Iceland Silver Metalic New York
Sep 18, 2012 9:19:43 PM
- Boxster Coupe GTS
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Re: 2012 997 GT3 RSR
2012 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR -- Team Falken -- ALMS Road to Victory at Baltimore...
"With strong performance, driving flair, a flawless pit stop and the experience from last year's victory, Team Falken enabled history to repeat itself by taking the American Le Mans Series GT class win on the streets of Baltimore..."
2012 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR -- Team Falken -- ALMS Road to Victory at Baltimore -- Video Link
American Le Mans Series, Round 8 in Baltimore, USA, Race report
Porsche pilots celebrate second victory at gripping street race
The closed street course of Baltimore is good turf for Porsche. At the second meeting of the American Le Mans Series in the Maryland state city of a million people, Porsche factory pilot Wolf Henzler (Germany) and his teammate Bryan Sellers (USA) repeated their previous year’s victory with a brilliant performance and excellent pit stop strategy. Spectators lining the Inner Harbour track were treated to a thrilling two hour race in the series featuring the world’s fastest sports cars and witnessed the maiden victory for the Falken Tire squad with the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR.
“To win such a great race for the second time in a row is simply fantastic,” said Wolf Henzler. “Our team’s strategy was perfect. We came into the pits when we saw that we could go from there to finish the race and didn’t wait for a safety car phase. That was exactly the right decision.” Matthias Müller, the CEO of Porsche AG, who experienced his first American Le Mans Series race live in Baltimore, said, “I’ve rarely experienced such an exciting two hours. The safety car came out already in the first lap. I headed to the pit wall to share the excitement with the Porsche teams. The competition in the ALMS is impressive. Congratulations to Wolf Henzler and Bryan Sellers on their tremendous victory. Our iconic sports car, the Porsche 911, has once again proven its speed and reliability.”
Matthias Müller for the first time at the American Le Mans Series
At the wheel of the #17 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, Wolf Henzler headed into race from sixth and immediately became stuck in traffic at the first turn caused by a collision involving several cars. “I really had no idea where I could go. There were cars left, right and centre,” he explained. “I was lucky that no one hit me. Somehow I finally found a free line and even managed to make up two places.” For a while he watched the tough fights for positions on the narrow and tricky circuit ahead, but later made his move to take the lead. Henzler’s teammate Bryan Sellers lost several places while in the pits but fought his way back to the front in the first hour of racing. Despite coming under attack, he managed to fend off his pursuers to the flag. “We weren’t always as fast as the Chevrolets and Ferraris,” he said, “but we were fast enough where it counted so that no one could overtake us.”
Underlining how strongly-supported and fiercely-contested the GT class of the American Le Mans Series is was apparent in the fact that the cars on the first four places hailed from four different manufacturers. This performance density also impressed Matthias Müller. The Chairman of the Board at Porsche AG received a particularly insightful look behind the scenes of this exciting and for the fans fascinating race. During the formation lap before the start and in the first caution phase he sat in the passenger seat of the safety car – a Porsche Panamera Turbo.
"That was a strong team effort"
Rounding off Porsche’s strong showing at the eighth race of the season in Baltimore, Joerg Bergmeister (Germany) and Patrick Long (USA) scored fifth place with the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR fielded by Flying Lizard Motorsports. But the Lime Rock winners did not escape the first corner melee entirely unscathed. Patrick Long received a rear end shunt which resulted in slight damage to the car. In the race, the American drove in an uncommon double stint when he replaced Seth Neiman at short notice in the second Flying Lizard cockpit, after the team owner and regular pilot injured his arm during the morning’s practice. Because of the short-term reshuffle of driver pairings, the regulations stipulated that his works driver colleague Marco Holzer (Germany) had to start from the pit lane. Despite this, with a breathtaking chase, they brought their car over the finish line in seventh. In the cockpit of Paul Miller Racing’s 911 GT3 RSR, Sascha Maassen (Germany) and Bryce Miller (USA) were at times running in the lead, but concluded the race in ninth.
“That was not our day. The shunt that Patrick got in the first corner was so hard that not only was our rear suspension damaged, but even the radio was ripped from its mounting. During a caution phase, Patrick had to repair it. There was not a lot we could do today,” said Joerg Bergmeister. While he took over the #45 Porsche, Patrick Long replaced Marco Holzer in the number 44 vehicle. “After sustaining tyre damage in the early phase we had to make an extra pit stop. When you consider where we were sitting when we rejoined the race and that we were only twelfth at the beginning, then seventh place is a solid result,” he said. “I tried to drive a fair race and not risk too much. After all, I don’t normally drive this car in the championship. That was a strong team effort this weekend.” Marco Holzer added, “The Porsche was well balanced and fast. When I handed it to Patrick we were running in the same lap as the leaders of the GT class and Patrick even managed to overtake several vehicles towards the end.”
Patrick Pilet took the GTC win
Victory in the GTC class went to Porsche works driver Patrick Pilet (France), who started for the first time in the American Le Mans Series with a Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, which he shared with Al Carter (USA). “What a great race. It’s unbelievable how fast the GTC cars are on such a narrow street course like the one here in Baltimore,” Pilet said. “I took over the car in second place and quickly managed to slip into the lead. Afterwards I concentrated on holding our position and preserving the tyres because I was aware that it would get really tough again towards the end. I’ve had such a great weekend.”
Round nine of the American Le Mans Series is contested on 15 September on the Virginia International Raceway in Alton in the US state of Virginia.
Result
GT class
1. Henzler/Sellers (D/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 67 laps
2. Gavin/Milner (GB/USA), Chevrolet Corvette, 67
3. Sharp/van Overbeek (USA/USA), Ferrari F458 Italia, 67
4. D. Müller/Joey Hand (D/USA), BMW E92 M3, 67
5. Bergmeister/Long (D/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 67
6. Magnussen/Garcia (DK/E), Chevrolet Corvette, 67
7. Holzer/Long (D/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 67
9. Maassen/Miller (D/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 66
GTC class
1. Pilet/Carter (F/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, 65 laps
2. Keen/McNeil (USA/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, 65
3. LeSaffre/Faulkner (USA/IRL), Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, 65
Points’ standings
GT class
Drivers
1. Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner, Chevrolet, 124 points
2. Jan Magnussen, Antonio Garcia, Chevrolet, 98
3. Dirk Müller, BMW, 94
4. Joey Hand, BMW, 91
5. Scott Sharp, Johannes van Overbeek, Ferrari, 84
6. Jörg Bergmeister, Patrick Long, Porsche, 81
7. Bill Auberlen/Jörg Müller, BMW, 78
8. Wolf Henzler, Bryan Sellers, Porsche, 65
9. Sascha Maassen, Bryce Miller, Porsche, 47
Manufacturers
1. Chevrolet, 145 points
2. BMW, 126
3. Porsche, 133
4. Ferrari, 110
Teams
1. Corvette Racing, Chevrolet, 145 points
2. BMW Team RLL, BMW, 121
3. Flying Lizard Motorsports, Porsche, 104
4. Extreme Speed Motorsports, Ferrari, 86
5. Team Falken Tire, Porsche, 65
6. Paul Miller Racing, Porsche, 45
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