Their name and green/blue livery has been associated with drifting, Super Taikyu, and the 24 Hours of the Nurburgring (with a R34 GT-R most notably). But Falken Tire is now assaulting the American Le Mans Series.

Ok, so their Ford GT isn't exactly SCC material. But the Ford halo car is undeniably cool and fast, and we're interested in the rubber. Falken is supposedly designing a new slick racing tire for the GT2-class Ford.

Falken tells us, "[we] have teamed with Black Swan Racing in a Doran Enterprises built Ford GT-R to compete in the GT2 class currently flooded with Porsche and Ferrari entries. Historic in its own right, the new Ford GT-R’s legacy began in the late 1960’s with the mythic Ford GT-40. Although 2008 will be considered a development year in regards to both chassis tuning and race tire development, Falken Tire and Black Swan’s vision is to emerge triumphant in the U.S. made GT-R as its predecessor did between 1966-1969 in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

With an intense tire testing schedule and dedicated technical engineers working on-site at each and every race weekend and private testing days, Falken is poised to further expand its presence in the series within the next 12-24 months."

They'll have a tough fight ahead of them, with the class filled with sorted Ferraris and Porsches, but if this means R&D time for a new Falken r-comp, then we're all for it. Bring on the race tires.