Tokyo - The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., announced today its plans for supporting motor sports events in 2014. Support for motor sports in Japan and overseas is a key element in the improvement and development of tire technology, globalization of the Company's tire business and helps to raise recognition of the YOKOHAMA tire brand. In addition, participation in motor sports events enables the Company to contribute not only to the motor sports scene but also to the growth, development and revitalization of the automobile industry as a whole.

YOKOHAMA looks forward to participating in many events this year. A brief summary of the main events follows.

YOKOHAMA has been the FIA WTCC's official tire supplier since 2006. Since 2010, the Company has supplied the WTCC with its YOKOHAMA ADVAN racing tires, which use the Company's proprietary orange oil compounding technology to enhance environmental performance while maintaining superior grip performance. Following a contract extension last year, YOKOHAMA is pleased that it will be supplying tires to the WTCC through 2015, which will be our relationship's 10th consecutive year. In 2014, new regulations for the racing cars have led to the introduction of a new car classification, TC1. Cars in this class will feature greater engine power and larger aerodynamic parts, increasing their speed. As a result, TC1 cars will use 18-inch tires with larger widths as well as inner and outer diameters than the previous norm, 17-inch tires, which will be used on TC2 class cars, which are built to previous specifications. The WTCC will again consist of 24 races staged at 12 events, kicking off with the series only event on the African continent, the annual street circuit race in Marrakech, Morocco, then that will travel in Europe, South and North America, and Asia.

Once again in this year's SUPER GT series-Japan's most popular motor sports event-YOKOHAMA will support two GT500 class teams: KONDO RACING's NISSAN GT-R and the LEXUS TEAM WedsSport BANDOH's LEXUS RC-F. In the GT300 class, where supercars from overseas and Japanese GT cars engage in fierce competition, the majority of cars are equipped with ADVAN racing tires and many of those YOKOHAMA equipped cars have won the series championship or finished high in the rankings.


The ADAC GT Masters is Germany's most popular FIA GT3 sprint race, contested by FIA GT3 regulated machines supplied with YOKOHAMA's ADVAN racing tires as race control tire.


YOKOHAMA once again will supply ADVAN racing tires as control tires for the FIA GT3 sprint race series, with races in Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Macau. The final round will be the Macau GT Cup, one of the races held during the Macau Grand Prix.


YOKOHAMA will supply tires to many of the racing teams competing in this year's VLN Endurance Series and the annual 24-hour race held at Germany's Nürburgring.


The Malaysia Merdeka Endurance Race (MMER), won by cars equipped with ADVAN racing tires over the past three years, has been renamed the Sepang 12-Hour Race. YOKOHAMA looks forward to extending its winning streak in the race's first competition under the new name.


YOKOHAMA's ADVAN racing tires will once again be the control tires for this race held in Japan. From GT-X class by FIA GT3 to GT-5 class of under 1500cc cars are participating, increasing interest in the Japan-based series of endurance races.

< Other GT and Touring Car Races >
In addition to the races noted above, YOKOHAMA will be active again in 2014 as a tire supplier of GT and Touring car races around the world.

-FIA European Touring Car Cup (ETCC)
-FIA Lotus Ladies Cup
-IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge - U.S.A.
-Australian V8 Ute Racing Series - Australia
-V8 Thunder Cars - Sweden
-Norwegian Thunder Car Championship
-Danish Thundersport Championship
-Inter Proto Series - Japan
-Super Car Series - Japan
-Scandinavian Touring Car Championship (STCC)
-Russian Touring Car Championship (RTC)
-Irish Touring Car Championship (ITCC)
-Yokohama 1600 Challenge - Denmark
-Circuit Touring Car Championship - Peru
-LADA Granta Cup - Russia
-Aussie Racing Cars - Australia

YOKOHAMA will again supply tires to many teams participating in the APRC, hopefully including the series champion.


YOKOHAMA is aiming for championship in the JN6 class with partner ADVAN PIAA LANCER (ADVAN PIAA Rally Team) and team leader Fumio Nutahara. The Company also supports teams in other classes, and looks forward to winning the championship in each class.


-YOKOHAMA also supports top drivers seeking to win the championship of other rally series around the world, including the Italian Rally and the Canadian Rally Championship.
-From 2014, YOKOHAMA tires will be used as the control tire for the Swedish Rallycross Championship.

The Macau Grand Prix celebrates its 61st year in 2014 and YOKOHAMA tires will again be at the forefront, serving as the control tire for the event's headline Formula 3 race for a 32nd straight year. Many cars in the Grand Prix's support races including the WTCC and GT Asian races, will compete on YOKOHAMA tires.


Top drivers from Japan and overseas will vie for the Japan's F3 championship on ADVAN racing tires provided by YOKOHAMA as the series' control tire.


YOKOHAMA will also supply its ADVAN racing tire as the control tire for cars driven by top drives competing at the highest level in this race in Germany.


YOKOHAMA tires are also supplied to junior formula races, such as the Super FJ in Japan and the British BRDC F4.

YOKOHAMA will support drivers seeking the championship in all classes of this competition by supplying the high-performance "ADVAN A050" and "ADVAN NEOVA AD08R."


YOKOHAMA looks forward to supporting a number of championship cars with its lineup of ADVAN rally tires featuring tires suitable to a wide range of road conditions, including "ADVAN A031" for use on soft road surfaces, the "ADVAN A036" for harder surfaces, and the latest addition to the series the "ADVAN A053" as new generation standard gravel tire.

"Team YOKOHAMA EV Challenge" will be at Pikes Peak again this year, with its original electric vehicle (EV) running once again on YOKOHAMA's "BluEarth-A" tires. Providing exceptional fuel efficiency and maneuverability, the "BluEarth" brand is designed to realize the joy of driving on environmentally friendly tires.


YOKOHAMA will once again have a strong presence at off-road races around the world, beginning with the Baja 1000 and other races in North America's SCORE World Desert Championship series. YOKOHAMA's "GEOLANDAR" tires for SUVs are popular with many teams participating in these off-road races.


YOKOHAMA will once again be found on karts competing in the KF1 category of the All Japan Karting Championship. YOKOHAMA tires will continue to be the control tire for the FP-Junior CADET category of the Japanese Junior Karting Championship and Asian Karting Open Championship. YOKOHAMA will also continue supplying its tires to circuit races in the Philippines, Indonesia and elsewhere.

Once again this year, YOKOHAMA will be an enthusiastic supporter of racing teams competing in events across all motor sports categories and in countries around the world. The data gathered from the use of the Company's tires under the demanding conditions of motor sports will contribute to the development of tires for everyday drivers around the world. Updated information on sponsored races and their results will be posted on YOKOHAMA's motorsports web site as well as via the Company's official Twitter site (https://twitter.com/YRC_Global) and the Yokohama Rubber Channel on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/TheYokohamaRubber/).