Tokyo - The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., announced today that it would again support the cycling road race team formed by former F1 race driver Ukyo Katayama in 2014. The team plans to participate in races in Japan and overseas during 2014, and Yokohama Rubber will be an avid supporter of its participation in races around the world. Cycling road races, including the world famous Tour de France, are popular around the world, and Yokohama Rubber expects its support of Team UKYO will help further raise its global name recognition. This will be Yokohama Rubber's third year as a sponsor of Team UKYO.

Team UKYO formed a professional road race cycling team in 2012 and has participated in the JBCF Road Series each of the past two years. In 2013, Team UKYO captured the team and individual titles, making it Japan's champion road race cycling team. This year's team is targeting even better results with an even stronger lineup of cyclists.

Team UKYO is a sports team formed by Ukyo Katayama in 2001. In addition to motor sports and cycling road race teams, Team Ukyo operates the Team UKYO Challenge School, which aims to uplift the spirits of children through camping, wall climbing and other sporting and nature activities. Reflecting its support of Team UKYO's goals of seeking new challenges, promoting sports, and contributing to children's development, Yokohama Rubber has supported Team UKYO activities in various ways over the past years.

■Team owner/manager: Ukyo Katayama
■Technical advisor: Daisuke Imanaka
■Cyclists: Tomoya Kano, Yukihiro Doi, Jose Vicente, Ricardo Garcia, Flavio Barsachhi, Kazushige Kuboki, Eiichi Hirai, Kouta Sumiyoshi, Jun Yamamoto, Ryo Hata