That number – eight – represents the Dunlop tires that will be helping to grip the Sebring pavement at any given time during the season opener for the team’s two BMW M3 race cars.
Dunlop race tires were an important part of the BMW Rahal Letterman Racing success in ALMS competition in 2009, when the team captured one victory, five other podium finishes and two poles – all in its debut season.
The team spent the winter preparing for Sebring and the other eight races of the ALMS season, with various tests, including a 12-hour simulation at Sebring in January and two more days at the ALMS Winter Test.
“Dunlop was instrumental in the success of our first preseason test of 2010, in which we undertook a 12-hour simulated race at Sebring. Not only did the Dunlop tires perform exceedingly well during the 12 hours, but the Dunlop engineers were on hand for every minute of the test. The car and the track change dramatically over a 12-hour race and one of the keys to doing well is having a race tire that can adapt to those conditions. Dunlop showed that it was ready for the challenge,” said Bobby Rahal, president of Rahal Letterman Racing.
“The BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team has probably worked harder than anyone since the end of the 2009 ALMS season, because we know that while we had a good first season, the expectations are to continue improving,” Rahal said. “The effort that Dunlop gave to the program in 2009 was a big part of our success, and they worked every bit as hard as we did to help the BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team M3 get to the front of the grid. Dunlop was there every step of the way, at every test and every on-track session, continually looking for ways to give us the competitive advantage we wanted from our tires.”
