Tokyo—The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., today announced that it will support four teams in the 71st 24 Hours of Le Mans race. This endurance event will be held for two days from June 14 at the Sarthe Circuit in Le Mans, France.

The company will support KONDO Racing in the LMP900 class and TEAM TAISAN ADVAN, SEIKEL MOTORSPORT, and ACEMCO (RISI COMPETIZIONE/USA) in the LM-GT class. Yokohama Rubber will provide KONDO Racing with about 400 specially designed tires. The company will provide a total of around 450 tires to the other three teams. The tires feature reinforced wear resistance for Le Mans, based on models that the company developed for the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship.

The 24 Hours of Le Mans began in 1923. It ranks alongside the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps and the 24 Hours of Daytona as one of the world's premier endurance races. The roughly 50 cars competing every year are mostly in two categories. The first is the Proto Class (LMP900/LMP675) for cars that are specially designed for racing. The second is the Grand Touring (GT) class (LM-GTS/LM-GT) for cars that are available on the street.

At last year's Le Mans, Yokohama Rubber supported two teams in the LM-GT class. Most teams avoided crashes and other problems in a race that fully tested the performances of vehicles and their tires. The Yokohama tire-equipped TEAM TAISAN ADVAN and SEIKEL MOTORSPORT finished third and fourth, respectively, in their class. It was the third straight year in which Yokohama Rubber-supported teams stepped up to the podium.

Yokohama Tire-Mounted Car List for Le Mans