Yokohama shares 2022 motorsports activity plan

Yokohama Rubber views motorsport engagement as “crucial” to the development of new tyre technologies for its Advan and Geolandar brands, and this focus is reflected in its motorsports activity plan for 2022. Not only will the company participate in a wide variety of motorsport events in its home market Japan and around the world, from top-level championships to grassroots racing, the tyre maker also intends to begin using its presence in motorsport to further its development of tyres that use renewable and recyclable materials.

GT/touring car races

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. While all GT500 machines must meet certain specifications, GT300 races 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. Yokohama-supported teams participated in all eight GT500 races in 2021, reaching the podium on three occasions.

GT500 class teams supported by Yokohama in 2022

In 2022, Yokohama Rubber will be supporting two teams in their efforts to win the GT500 class championship. In the GT300 class, the company is supporting 15 teams and looks forward to reclaiming the series championship won in 2020.

GT300 class teams supported by Yokohama in 2022

Nürburgring endurance races

Yokohama Rubber will participate in this year’s 50th Nürburgring 24-Hour Endurance Race (ADAC Total 24h-Rennen) and the 2022 Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS) by supporting the three BMW M4 GT3 cars being entered by BMW’s customer racing team Walkenhorst Motorsport, continuing the partnership agreement that began in 2021. Racing on Yokohama’s Advan racing tyres, Walkenhorst Motorsport was the overall winner at the 44th RCM DMV Grenzlandrennen, the sixth round of the NLS. Yokohama will once again supply the team’s three cars with Advan A005 tyres for dry conditions and Advan A006 tyres for use on wet tracks.

Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 (Photo: Yokohama)

TCR regional series

Yokohama Rubber will again supply Advan racing tyres as the control tyre for TCR regional series held around the world, including TCR Scandinavia. The tyres being supplied are Advan A005 for dry tracks and Advan A006 for wet tracks.

Other GT and touring car races

In addition to the above races, Yokohama Rubber will continue in its role as supplier of the control tyres for the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama and the Yokohama Drivers Cup USA, providing its Advan racing tyres to race participants for a second straight year. Yokohama will also continue to supply its Advan racing tyres for use in the Inter Proto Series in Japan.

Formula Races

Japanese Super Formula Championship

Yokohama tyres have been the control tyres for the Japanese Super Formula Championship since 2016. In 2022, it will again supply Advan A005 tyres for use on dry tracks and Advan A006 tyres for use on wet tracks. “From 2023, we plan to provide the Super Formula series with racing tyres made from sustainable materials, including a naturally derived compounding agent and recyclable raw materials. Toward that end, we will be testing tyres now under development in trial runs before and after each of this year’s seven Super Formula series races,” reports the tyre maker.

Yokohama has been the control tyre for the Japanese Super Formula Championship since 2016 (Photo: Yokohama)

Japanese Super Formula Lights Championship

The driver who wins the Super Formula Lights series championship will qualify to participate in the season-ending Super Formula rookie test. Accordingly, the Lights series has become known as a ‘gateway to becoming a top driver,’ and Yokohama Rubber says it is “proud to once again support drivers’ efforts” by supplying Advan A005 tyres for use on dry tracks and the Advan A006 for races on wet tracks.

Rally

Japan Rally Championship

Yokohama Rubber will equip teams participating in several classes with high-performance tyres that can propel them safely to a championship. This year, the company will again supply Advan A08B and Advan A052 for use on tarmac and Advan A053 for use on gravel.

JN-1 class teams supported by Yokohama in 2022

Other rally and rallycross competitions

In 2022, Yokohama will supply developmental Advan A053 tyres to the Subaru Rally Team USA participating in the American Rally Association’s ARA National Rally Championship Series in the USA. It will also supply Advan tyres to teams participating in the Nitro Rallycross (NRX), which was launched in 2021 in North America and is expanding into Europe and the Middle East this year. Yokohama Rubber will provide its Advan tyres to ten vehicles participating in the newly added EV category in addition to continuing its support for several teams racing conventional internal combustion engine vehicles.

Subaru Rally Team USA driven by Travis Pastrana in the ARA Rally race (Photo: Yokohama)

Speed Competitions

Japanese Gymkhana Championship

Gymkhana are time-based competitions in which cars run one-by one over a paved course with obstacles. In 2022, the company will supply its Advan A08B, A052, and A050 high-performance tyres to teams aiming to capture series championships in several Gymkhana classes.

Japanese Dirt Trial Championship

Dirt trial competitions are time-based competitions in which cars run one-by-one over an unpaved course. Yokohama Rubber is supporting teams vying for the series championship in several classes with a line-up of tyres that can deliver superior performance on various surfaces, starting with Advan A053 tyres and then Advan A031 for softer surfaces and Advan A036 for ultra-hard surfaces.

Grassroots motorsports

Yokohama will again supply tyres for the Toyota Gazoo Racing Rally Challenge, HONDA’s N-One Owner’s Cup, and other races open to amateur race enthusiasts at various circuits in Japan.

Off-road races

Here the Geolandar brand comes into play. Yokohama will supply tyres to teams competing in desert races in North America, such as the Mint 400, and in Oceania, as well as cross-country races in Asia and other off-road races around the world. Yokohama comments that Geolandar-equipped machines “turned in brilliant performances in several events” last year, including a one-two finish in the 4800 class at the 2021 King Shocks Area BFE Beatdown in the USA, a first-place finish in the Pro UTV NA class at the 34th Score San Felipe 250 in Mexico, and a first-place finish in the Trick Truck class of the 2021 King Shocks Laughlin Desert Classic, part of the Best In The Desert series held in the USA.

Other events

Hill climbs

Yokohama Rubber will participate in the 100th running of America’s second oldest auto race, the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado, USA. This year, it will provide EV vehicles participating in the exhibition class with Advan tyres made from biomass-derived butadiene rubber, while again supplying our tyres to many teams participating in other classes. In addition, Yokohama will continue its role as provider of the control tyre for the Porsche Pikes Peak Trophy by Yokohama, a hill climb that pits drivers of Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport vehicles against each other. “In 2021, vehicles running on Yokohama tyres finished first in the Pikes Peak Open and Exhibition classes, and we look forward to a Yokohama-equipped car recapturing the overall championship in 2022,” comments Yokohama.

Kart races

The tyre maker will again provide Yokohama tyres to teams and drivers seeking victory in the top-level OK class of the All Japan Karting Championship, the country’s premier kart racing series. Yokohama Rubber also will continue to support the FP-Junior Cadets category of the Japanese Junior Karting Championship by supplying Advan tyres as the control tyre. Overseas, it will supply the control tyre for the Asian Karting Open Championship.