Team Falken Tire took their second American Le Mans Series (ALMS) podium of 2013 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, as Porsche cars ran strong for much of the race.
Bryan Sellers, driver of the Falken 911 GT3 RSR, led 47 minutes of the race, battling with Corvettes, BMWs, Ferraris and Vipers in the Le Mans-styled GT class before coming home in a strong second place.
“It was a great day today,” said Sellers, who shares the driving duties with Wolf Henzler. “To come away with second is fantastic, made possible by another one of those days where everything had to and did go right. The Falken Porsche guys made no mistakes in the pits and we were fast. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough pace to win, but it’s a huge improvement here for us. We’re just really happy and excited. I think we’re moving in the right direction.”
Elsewhere there was a strong drive for the Paul Miller Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, with just bad luck getting between them and a podium finish.
After running in third late in the race, an extra pit stop, followed by a pit-lane speeding violation resulted in the team dropping down to sixth place at the chequered flag.
“I don’t know if I should be happy or disappointed,” said Marco Holzer, driver for Paul Miller Racing. “In the end we know we had a car for the podium for sure, 100% and maybe fight for first or second place. The team did a good job with the pit stops; we got good positions in the pits, but then I was a little bit unlucky with a stop and go penalty for speeding in the pits. The pit-speed limiter button wasn’t in when I left the pits, but I am happy to know that we have a car that we can drive to the podium.”
Finally, the CORE Autosport Porsche had a race to forget, with much of the race spent out of the track limits due to tangles with other cars. Despite the setbacks, Tom Kimber-Smith managed to claw the car back into a seventh-placed finish.
