Driver Interview: Team Falken driver, Bryan Sellers

  The level of competition in the ALMS GT2 category has been on the rise in recent years with more and more manufacturers joining the fray. The category boasts entries from Ferrari, Porsche, BMW, Corvette, Ford and this year, Jaguar.
  Joining such a competitive class may intimidate some teams, but Team Falken strives on high levels of competition and their D1 drifting results speak for themselves.2010

marks Falken's first full season entry into the world of sports car racing.
The company first dabbled in le mans style racing in 2008, supplying
tires and funding to a Ford GT team. 2009 saw Falken form their
own team around the proven Porsche GT3 RSR platform and
competed in 3 races. The team has committed to a full season of racing
this year and logged many miles on new tire compounds over the winter break. Their pace in the early rounds of 2010 definitely speaks very strongly for their level of commitment.
  The team also has the benefit of having two very experienced drivers in Wolf Henzler and Bryan Sellers. Bryan was kind enough to take some time out of his busy schedule to answer some questions.



Joey Selmants- How did you get involved in racing?

 Bryan Sellers- My dad raced when he was younger so I grew up looking at pictures of him and his brothers hanging in my grandparents house.  When I was nine we switched school districts and the curriculum was much more difficult. I struggled for a while and then my dad offered me a deal; keep above a B average
and you can drive. So I did!

Selmants- What lead you to Team Falken?

Sellers- I had heard rumors that Team Falken Tire was getting ready to do a
racing program so I found a way to get contact information and basically
cold called them.  I called on the day that they were discussing driver
names for a test and as you can guess the timing was perfect.  They flew me to a test a couple of weeks later and fortunately decided to have me for the year.

Selmants- Have you picked up anything driving alongside one of the best Porsche drivers in the business, Wolf Henzler?

Sellers-  Wolf is one of the best drivers I have ever been put up against. He is great in all aspects of driving, from being technical with the car all the way to the strategy.  I have been able to learn a lot from him already and we are just getting started.  My answer to most people is he is one of the best Porsche has, if not the best, so if I cant learn something then shame on me.

Selmants- With it's engine in the rear of the car, did you have to make any changes to your driving style to be fast in the Porsche?

Sellers-  With the engine in the rear of the car there are certainly some
differences compared to other cars, however it seems to fit my style pretty well. I haven't had to
change a whole lot, just fine tuning techniques.

Selmants- Going from Sebring to a tight street circuit with so many entries, what was the biggest challenge to deal with?

Sellers- The largest problem at all street courses is passing. In Long Beach, as you saw, we lead the race for a very long time but as soon as we fell behind in the pit stop it was impossible to make up positions, even though I was 1.5 seconds faster than the BMW leading us.

Selmants- What has it been like driving in what is arguably the most competitive class in series history?
 
Sellers-  It's great to be involved with such a great class of drivers, and the reason being is... If you win against this group you have beat the best in the business, and that is saying something.

Selmants- Thanks for you time and best of luck at the next races!

Sellers- Thanks Joey.Hopefully we can continue to improve, everybody wants results now, so hopefully it doesn't take too much longer!

photo credits: John Dagys of Speedtv.com