Yokohama’s Home WTCC Stage to Equal Japanese Entrant Record

Japanese racing talent will go head-to-head with some of the world’s best touring car drivers when the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) returns to Okayama, Japan, on 31 October, 2010. The home race of official tyre supplier Yokohama will have four local drivers competing, equalling the 2008 record for the most Japanese entries in a WTCC race.

Two leading drivers from the Yokohama-equipped Japanese Super GT series will line up on the WTCC grid at Okayama. Nobuteru Taniguchi is currently second in the GT300 category of the Super GT championship and is a three-time champion of the Super Taikyu series in the ST1 class. Okayama will mark Taniguchi’s third WTCC outing, following last year’s Japanese and Macau rounds. “As YOKOHAMA kindly gave me a second opportunity this year, I would like to show my best possible performance against the world’s famous top drivers to know how good I am in that level,” said Taniguchi. The 39-year-old will race with Scuderia Proteam Motorsport, partnering Yokohama Independents’ Trophy front-runners Sergio Hernández and Stefano D’Aste.

Another Super GT pilot, Masataka Yanagida, will join Wiechers-Sport alongside WTCC regular Mehdi Bennani for his series debut. Yanagida is currently fourth in the GT300 class of the Super GT series and claimed the championship title in 2003. “I would like to show good races for the fans with strong determination to be competitive against foreign drivers,” said Yanagida. The third local pilot to be added to the competitive line-up is Yukinori Taniguchi, who competed in the German rounds this season and will return with bamboo-engineering for his home event. The final Japanese added to the Okayama roster is Yoshihiro Ito, who will make his first WTCC appearance with Liqui Moly Team Engstler. Ito has mainly raced in Japanese single-seater series and has competed in the Race of Regional Champions several times.

Okayama will be a special race for Japanese tyre manufacturer Yokohama, as employees and managers from the production plants, warehouses, sales and logistics offices will visit the circuit to experience Yokohama’s success in the WTCC first hand. This year is the last opportunity for guests and fans to see the FIA WTCC Race of Japan at Okayama, as the event moves to the Suzuka Circuit in 2011.

As well as BMW, Chevrolet and SEAT Customers Technology, Swedish car manufacturer Volvo will be represented on the Japanese grid through Polestar Racing’s entry of a bio-ethanol powered, low CO2 emissions Volvo C30. Akin to Yokohama’s commitment to green racing, Volvo also brings an environmentally friendly approach to motorsport. As the Swedish team has recently signed up for the entire 2011 season, next year will mark the first time that a bio-ethanol powered car will contest a full world championship season on eco-racing tyres. Polestar Racing recently claimed the Teams’ Championship title in the Swedish Touring Car Championship and both titles in the Scandinavian Touring Car Cup, all of them on Yokohama rubber.

The race action from Okayama will be broadcast across Eurosport’s channels, with Qualifying aired live at 08:30 (CET) on Saturday 30 October 2010 on Eurosport 2. Coverage of Warm Up will begin at 05:45 (CET), followed by Race One at 06:15 (CET) and Race Two at 07:45 (CET) on Sunday 31 October on Eurosport. The WTCC’s behind-the-scenes programme, ‘Inside WTCC with…’, will be shown first on Wednesday 3 October at 13:00 (CET) on Eurosport 2.