Hiratsuka, Japan—The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., announced today that its US tire sales subsidiary Yokohama Tire Corporation (YTC) is serving as a supporting sponsor of the American Off-Road Racing Championship (AORC), launched in the United States in 2026 as the premier desert off-road racing series in North America. YTC also will be supplying participating racers with Yokohama Rubber’s GEOLANDAR brand of tires for SUVs and pickup trucks.

AORC is a newly formed racing series established by a partnership between Unlimited Off-Road Racing (UNLTD) and Best in the Desert Racing Association (BITD). The new AORC series brings together several world-class off-road races, including BITD’s Best in the Desert series, which is the longest-running off-road racing series in the United States, and UNLTD’s Mint 400. The AORC series is a five-race points championship run over challenging desert courses in the United States, beginning with the Parker 400 held in Arizona on January 14–18. YTC, as a supporting sponsor, will provide marketing and motorsport support for all races in the series.

YTC also will be supplying tires with specs for off-road racing based on Yokohama Rubber’s GEOLANDAR M/T G003 mud terrain tire for SUVs and pickup trucks as well as GEOLANDAR SD off-road racing tires sold in overseas markets. Given the excellent results achieved by GEOLANDAR tires in past races now included in AORC, TEAM YOKOHAMA is aiming to win series championships.

The consumer tire strategy in Yokohama Rubber’s three-year (2024–2026) medium-term management plan, Yokohama Transformation 2026 (YX2026), aims to maximize the sales ratios of high-value-added tires by expanding sales of YOKOHAMA’s global flagship ADVAN brand, the GEOLANDAR brand of tires for SUVs and pickup trucks, winter tires, and 18-inch and larger tires. Yokohama Rubber positions participation in motorsports activities as crucial to its effort to further strengthen the ADVAN and GEOLANDAR brands. Yokohama Rubber therefore is again participating in a wide variety of motorsports events around the globe, from top-category to grassroots events.

January 14–18: Parker 400 (Arizona)
March 4–8: Mint 400 (Nevada)
April 22–26: Silver State 300 (Nevada)
July 23–26: Vegas to Reno Legends Rally (Nevada) *Not included in AORC series points
August 13–16: Vegas To Reno (Nevada)
October 15–19: Laughlin Desert Classic (Nevada)