Tokyo - The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., has announced that it will supply ECO racing tires with improved environmental performance as one-make tires for FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) series from 2010 through 2012.Yokohama Rubber has supplied its "ADVAN A005" for dry surfaces and "ADVAN A006" for wet surfaces to the FIA WTCC since 2006.

The newly developed ECO racing tire uses a revised mixture of oil and rubber, replacing the previous aromatic oil – which will be banned in Europe in 2010 - with low polycyclic aromatic (PCA). Orange oil already used in the company's "DNA Earth-1" tires for passenger cars is also included. Orange oil makes the rubber flexible and improves grip, to the extent that maneuverability and grip on dry surfaces are comparable to those of conventional tires – but with reduced environmental effects.

Under a basic policy of asserting world-class strengths in technologies for protecting the environment, as stated in its "Medium-Range Management Plan: Grand Design 100 (GD100)" the Yokohama Rubber Group aims to make all products "environmentally sound" by FY2017. The development of ECO racing tires by the Yokohama Rubber Company is part of that effort. In 2008, we ran our ECO racing tires using non-petroleum-derived raw materials in the Tokachi 24 Hour Race, and, using data from that experience, we will continue our development of tires offering superior performance, both on the road and environmentally.