Falken team gets New factory driver, Nick Tandy for Petit

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Team Falken Tire Brings Nick Tandy and New Livery to Petit Le Mans

 

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Rancho Cucamonga, CA. (Oct. 8). The 2013 American Le Mans Series is drawing to a close, ending with the 16th Annual Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. Team Falken Tire is pleased to have Porsche’s newest Factory Driver, Nick Tandy, return to the 17 Team Falken Tire Porsche 911 GT3 RSR.

The 10 hour endurance race is the second longest race on the ALMS calendar, requiring all teams to increase their two drivers per car minimum to three drivers. Tandy joined veteran Team Falken Tire drivers Bryan Sellers and Wolf Henzler for the 12 Hours of Sebring in March of 2013, where the privateer team finished third amongst a field of factory teams.

“I’m really looking forward to coming back to the American Le Mans Series, back to Falken and also back to Road Atlanta,” said Tandy. “After the team’s great performance and result at Sebring when I last competed with Falken I’m hoping for more success and will be pushing flat out to achieve this.”

“It’s great to have Nick Tandy back,” said fellow Porsche Factory driver Wolf Henzler. “He is a good addition and is a perfect fit to us. Many months have gone by since Sebring. We had many races and did quite a number of tire tests on various tracks in the US. We’ve made progress in some areas since he last drove with us, and now we have the 2010 car for him to race as well.”

“It’s great to have Nick returning to our program,” said Bryan Sellers. “We had a great result in Sebring with him accompanying us. He brings a lot of experience and knowledge. He fits in great and is fun to have around.”

Another change for team will be the iconic Falken Tire livery. Earlier this year, Falken Tire joined forces with Microsoft and Turn 10 studios to utilize the popular Xbox 360 game Forza Motorsport, for a worldwide contest. The month-long competition called for Xbox users to use the game to submit their own livery designs for the Team Falken Tire Porsche GT3 RSR. Over 200 designs were submitted, then narrowed down to six finalists which were posted on Falken’s Facebook page, where fan voting determined the winner.

In the 2013 Petit Le Mans, the 2010 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR will trade its iconic teal and blue livery to the winning Forza design by Kevin Neuville of Belgium. The new look will also be on display at SEMA November 5-8th.

The 16th Annual Petit Le Mans will be the final race of the American Le Mans Series before merging with GRAND-AM Road Racing for the Tudor United SportsCar Championship in 2014.
“Petit Lemans always a very special event, and challenging track with some great racing,” said Team Manager Derrick Walker. “This year is extra special with it being the last official ALMS race. Thanks to ALMS and all the hard working staff for giving us lots of great memories.”

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