Tokyo - The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., announced today that its racing team will participate with its original electric vehicle (EV) in the 2012 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. The event will take place on July 8 in the state of Colorado, U.S.A. The team refers to the race as the "Team Yokohama EV Challenge." Its unique EV racing car is equipped with BluEarth-A tires, a new product in the BluEarth fuel-efficient tire line incorporating the latest environmental technologies, including orange oil compounding technology. Yokohama will thus be competing with a zero-emission vehicle running on fuel-efficient tires.

The "Challenge" is just one of Yokohama's many environmental activities based on the BluEarth concept, which the company seeks to share with the world under the theme "environmentally, human and socially friendly." This will be the fourth year for Yokohama to participate in the race. In each of 2010 and 2011, the team accomplished the outstanding feat of substantially besting the previous all-time record for an EV. By taking on the challenge of the world's most iconic hill climb race, Yokohama seeks to further the research and development of eco-friendly, fuel efficient tires, while pushing the boundaries of performance.

The team will compete using the same EV car painted in BluEarth colors that shattered the world record for EVs at last year's event. It will again be driven by Mr. Ikuo Hanawa, a skilled, world-class off-road racing driver.

This year also supporting the "Show Aikawa World Rally Team," managed by the famous Japanese actor and rally driver Mr. Show Aikawa and competing in the EV class, Yokohama will supply ADVAN A048 tires under its global flagship ADVAN brand. Mr. Fumio Nutahara, a world-class rally driver, will drive the team's EV developed by Toyota Motorsport GmbH.

Marking its 90th year, the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb - also called the "Race to the Clouds" - is the one of the most difficult motorsports challenges in the world. Racing to the 4,301-meter (about 14,110.8 feet) summit, participants cover a 20-kilometer (about 12.4 miles) course beginning at the 2,862-meter (about 9,389.7 feet) level. Starting this year, the surface will be tarmac all the way up, but the course and conditions remain daunting, with 156 turns and rapidly changing temperatures and weather.

A video on the 2011 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb and the Yokohama Challenge can be seen on YouTube (Only in Japanese):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VFf0OvK8Eo