Yokohama’s Support for Motorsports in 2021
24 Mar 2021

Yokohama today announced its plans for supporting motorsports events in 2021. The consumer tyre strategy in our recently announced new medium-term management plan, Yokohama Transformation 2023 (YX2023), aims to maximize the sales ratios of high-value-added YOKOHAMA tyre brands, namely the global flagship ADVAN brand, the GEOLANDAR brand of tyres for SUVs and pickup trucks, and various winter tyres. YX2023 positions participation in motorsports activities as crucial to our effort to develop new tyre technologies that will further strengthen the ADVAN and GEOLANDAR brands. Yokohama therefore will again participate in a wide variety of motorsports events in Japan and around the globe, from top-category races to grassroots races. Event reports and results will be posted on Yokohama’s motorsports website as well various SNS specializing in motorsports topics. This release briefly introduces some of the main events Yokohama will be participating in this year.

SUPER GT races are contested in two classes, GT500 and GT300. GT500 is dominated by works teams from major automakers while GT300 teams tend to be more varied and individualistic. GT500 machines must meet certain specifications. GT300 races, however, are open to a variety of cars made in Japan and overseas. The GT300 machines can broadly be divided into three types: (1) automakers’ production cars that meet the international FIA GT3 specifications, (2) unique JAF-GT machines, and (3) the so-called “Mother Chassis" group of machines. In 2020, KONDO RACING’s Realize Nissan Automobile Technical College GT-R (drivers: Kiyoto Fujinami, Joao Paulo de Oliveira), equipped with ADVAN racing tyres, captured the GT300 series championship. In 2021, Yokohama will support two GT500 teams while also supplying YOKOHAMA tyres to 19 machines competing in the GT300 class. In 2021, all eight SUPER GT races are scheduled to be held in Japan.

KONDO RACING’s Realize Corporation ADVAN GT-R competing in the GT500 class

TGR TEAM WedsSport BANDOH’s WedsSport ADVAN GR Supra competing in the GT500 class

KONDO RACING’s Realize Nissan Automobile Technical College GT-R , competing in the GT300 class

*All photos were taken at the 2021 SUPER GT official test held in Okayama

Yokohama has entered into a partnership with Walkenhorst Motorsport to supply YOKOHAMA tyres for the BMW customer racing team’s three BMW GT3 cars that will compete in the 49th Nürburgring 24-Hour Endurance Race (ADAC TOTAL 24h-Rennen) and the nine races of the 2021 Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS). We will supply ADVAN A005 tyres for use in dry conditions and ADVAN A006 tyres for wet conditions. In 2020, the team’s No. 34 BMW M6 GT3, was the champion in the NLS series’ top-level SP9 Pro class.

Walkenhorst Motorsport’s BMW M6 GT3–2020 NLS SP9 Pro class champion

Yokohama will again supply ADVAN racing tyres as the control tyre for TCR regional and national series held in countries around the world. In addition to the TCR Japan Series, we will supply YOKOHAMA tyres for the TCR Scandinavia, TCR Denmark, TCR Germany and TCR Russia series races. The tyres being supplied are ADVAN A005 for dry tracks and ADVAN A006 for wet tracks.

TCR Japan Series (2020)

In addition to the above races, Yokohama will supply its ADVAN racing tyres as control tyres for a number of other races around the world, including the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama, the Yokohama Drivers Cup USA, and the INTER PROTO Series in Japan.

YOKOHAMA tyres have been the control tyres for the Japanese SUPER FORMULA Championship since 2016, and we will be supplying our ADVAN racing tyres again in 2021. ADVAN A005 tyres will be used on dry tracks and ADVAN A006 tyres will be used on wet tracks.

Japanese SUPER FORMULA Championship (2020)

We again will supply our ADVAN racing tyres as the control tyre for the Japanese SUPER FORMULA LIGHTS Championship series. This series was inaugurated in 2020 as the successor to the Japanese Formula 3 Championship series, which had become known as the “Gateway to becoming a top driver”. Once again, we will supply the ADVAN A005 for use on dry tracks and the ADVAN A006 for races on wet tracks.

Japanese SUPER FORMULA LIGHTS Championship (2020)

Yokohama will again supply its ADVAN racing tyres as the control tyre for Japan’s Super-FJ Formula racing series, a domestic regional championship established by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF). The annual series includes races held at major circuits throughout Japan, from Tohoku in the north to Kyushu in the south.

The 2021 Japanese Rally Championship Series has 10 races* scheduled. Yokohama will support competing teams by supplying ADVAN A08B and ADVAN A052 for use on tarmac and ADVAN A053 for use on gravel. In 2020, teams supported by Yokohama captured the championship in three classes—the team of Hiroki Arai and Noritaka Kosaka won the championship in the series’ highest JN-1 class, Shintaro Meiji and Kenta Satonaka won the title in the JN-6 class, and Keiichi Kofuji was the JN-4 class champion. In 2021, we hope to again support champions in multiple classes. Among the JN-1 class competitors we are supporting, three teams are changing machines this year—the Fumio Nutahara/Shungo Azuma team and the Yuta Yamamoto/Kazuko Tachikui team will be driving TOYOTA GR YARIS cars and the Hiroshi Yanagisawa/Takahiro Yasui team will race in a ŠKODA FABIA R5. *The series’ first event was cancelled.

The ADVAN KYB AMS WRX driven by the 2020 Japan Rally JN-1 class championship team of Hiroki Arai and Noritaka Kosaka

Gymkhana are time-based competitions in which cars run one-by-one over a paved course with obstacles. In 2021, a number of cars equipped with our high-performance ADVAN A08B, ADVAN A052, and ADVAN A050 tyres will be competing for the series championship. In 2020, the series champions in the PN-1 and SA SAX-1 classes adeptly sped to victory on YOKOHAMA tyres.

The ADVAN08B Roadster driven by 2020 All-Japan Gymkhana PN-1 class champion Kunio Saito

Dirt trial competitions are time-based competitions in which cars run one-by-one over an unpaved course. We are supporting teams vying for the series championship in several classes with a lineup of tyres that can deliver superior performance on various surfaces, starting with ADVAN A053 tyres and then ADVAN A031 tyres for softer surfaces and ADVAN A036 tyres for ultra-hard surfaces. In 2020, teams rode YOKOHAMA tyres to championships in four classes—PN-2, SA SAX-1, SA SAX-2, and SC-2. In 2021, Kenshiro Takarada will compete in the JD6 class and has changed his machine to a TOYOTA GR YARIS.

The ADVAN Okuyama GR YARIS being driven by Kenshiro Takarada in JD6 class in 2021

We also will supply tyres for the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing 86/BRZ Race, the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Rally Challenge, HONDA’s N-ONE OWNER'S CUP and other races open to amateur race enthusiasts at various circuits throughout Japan.

We will be supplying our GEOLANDAR brand tyres for SUVs and pickup trucks to teams competing in desert races in North America and Oceania and in off-road races in Southeast Asia and other parts of the world. In 2020, the BlueWater Desert Challenge, the final event of North America’s ultimate off-road racing series, Best In The Desert 2020, was won by Justin Lofton driving a vehicle outfitted with specially strengthened versions of the commercially available GEOLANDAR M/T G003 tyres.

Trick truck driven by Justin Lofton captured the overall championship at the 2020 BlueWater Desert Challenge

Yokohama will again participate in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado, USA, aiming for wins in many classes and a second straight overall championship. In 2020, the overall championship was won by Clint Vahsholtz, driving a 2013 Ford Open outfitted with ADVAN A005 tyres. We also will once again provide ADVAN A052 street sports tyres as the control tyre for the Porsche Pikes Peak Trophy by Yokohama, a hillclimbing that pits drivers of Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport vehicles against each other.

We will again provide YOKOHAMA tyres to support teams and drivers seeking victory in the top-level OK class of the Japanese Karting Championship, the country’s premier kart racing series. Yokohama also will continue to support the FP-Junior Cadets category of the Japanese Junior Karting Championship by supplying ADVAN SLJ (ADJ) tyres as the control tyre for use on dry tracks. Outside of Japan, we again will be supplying the control tyre for the Asian Karting Open Championship, as well as various tyres for circuit races in the Philippines and other countries.

Croc Promotion kart driver Sotaro Mimura in an OK Class race during the 2020 Japanese Karting Championship series