The Hankook-Farnbacher Racing Team locked up a podium finish in the GT2 class in its sophomore run at this weekend’s famed 24 Hours of Le Mans, one of the world’s finest 24-hour endurance races held at the Le Mans Sarthe Circuit, France.
Drivers Dominik Farnbacher of Germany, Allan Simonsen of Denmark and Lehman Keen of the United States drove their Ferrari F430 GTC to a second place class finish in the highly competitive GT2 category. The success comes on the heels of an overall second place finish and class victory last month on the German Nurburgring track in the Le Mans Series.
“This is another thrilling motorsports achievement for Hankook Tire,” said Bill Bainbridge, director of brand communications for Hankook Tire America Corp. “To climb onto the podium in just our second outing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans against an impressive competitive set in the GT2 class is a thrilling achievement. We’ve invested a great deal into our motorsports programs as we look to grow our brand recognition and market share in the U.S., and globally, so this is quite a cap to the that effort.”
The Hankook-Farnbacher Ferrari F430 GTC was equipped with Hankook Ventus F200 slicks. The team chose from various tread compounds designed for each axle positions and specially aligned to the track conditions on the circuit. To maximize the car’s balance with the tire performance, the front tires were of a softer compound to the rear tires. Tire partner Hankook Tire provided the team with about 400 tires at the track.
“We are pleased to promote Hankook Tire’s R&D prowess and advanced technologies as demonstrated by the great performance at this top-class motorsports event,” said Se Heon Kim, vice president of Hankook Tire’s Brand Dept. “We will continue to invest in motorsports and pull in efforts for technology innovation to develop tires that meet the demand of motorsports fans and as well as our 60 billon customers worldwide.”
In recent years, Hankook Tire has expanded its investment in motorsports and has taken a part in a number of renowned motorsports events. Recently, Hankook-KTR Team accomplished the pole-to-one with the Porsche GT3 RSR model at Japan’s Super GT and sponsored Germany’s VLN series in 2009. In March, the Hankook Tire-sponsored racing team, Sierra Sierra, set a new track record at Buttonwillow Raceway during the season-opener Redline Time Attack event.
In the United States, Hankook is offering amateur and professional racing enthusiasts the chance to earn dollars off Hankook’s Ventus R-S3 or Ventus Z214 R Compound tires based on their performance at specific racing circuits. Racers have an opportunity to earn incentives during each individual competition event. Interested competitors can learn more about this grassroots motorsports program at Hankooktireusa.com or contact Hankook directly at [email protected].
