Yokohama looks forward to motorsport calendar
Following a hugely successful year of motorsport in 2012, Yokohama, is looking forward to another noteworthy season this year. Continuations of existing relationships and new race series will see even greater penetration for the brand in motorsport, both globally, regionally and in the UK throughout 2013.
Last season was the seventh year for Yokohama as control tyre for the FIA World Touring Car Championship, as it travelled the globe generating some of the closest touring car racing possible. There were no less than six race winners throughout the season, including two drivers from the Yokohama Independent’s Trophy but it was British driver Rob Huff who eventually took the crown, with Chevrolet dominant in the manufacturers’ title. In the Yokohama Independent’s Trophy, Norbert Michelisz won the drivers title while the Lukoil Racing Team was triumphant in the Team’s category.
During 2012 Yokohama was the Official Tyre Supplier to the FIA Formula Two championship, which saw drivers competing on some of Europe’s most iconic circuits in their identical 500bhp single seaters. The double-header rounds visited Spa-Francorchamps, Monza and the Nürburgring and the championship went down to the final race of the season, with early leader Luciano Bacheta claiming the overall honours and with it, his FIA Superlicense, necessary to race in Formula One and a test in the Williams F1 car.
Yokohama was also busy in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, working with series organisers Eurosport Events as an official tyre partner and as the chosen tyres for former Production Cup champion Toshi Arai and up-and-coming Finnish star, Jarkko Nikara on their Tommi Makinen-run Subaru Imprezas. Arai finished the season second in the Production Cup, thanks to consistent top two finishes and a win on the final round, Cyprus Rally while Nikara was fifth, following a win on the San Marino Rally.
The Japanese brand also returned to endurance racing, with the in-house Aston Martin team at the Nürburgring 24 Hour race on both the near-standard Aston Martin Zagatos, as well as the marque’s works GT3 cars. The in-house team finished an impressive second and third in class, thanks in part to the car’s ability to run triple stints on a single set of Yokohama racing tyres.
For 2013, the WTCC looks to be even more interesting, with the news that Honda and Lada will be joining in the action and the likelihood that Citroen will be developing a team for the 2014 season, with the involvement of multiple World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb forming part of the operation, after announcing a semi-retirement from the WRC.
Yokohama will continue in rallying, as an official tyre partner to the new-for-2013 FIA European Rally Championship, formed from the IRC, which has evolved for next season. The series is already generating excitement, with the first round in Austria already won by Jan Kopecky and names such as Francois Delecour and former F1 driver and rally convert, Robert Kubica touted as competitors for the season.
In the UK, the brand has been selected as control tyre for two of the newest and potentially most exciting formulae for the 2013 season. Formula 4 is a new series, run by the British Racing Drivers’ Club, the BRDC. Based on identical cars owned and run by teams or individual drivers, the series is based on three races per weekend at some of the UK’s most prominent circuits. Identical engines, transmissions and chassis but with huge set-up options mean that the emphasis will be on drivers feel and ability, generating what promises to be exceptional racing.
Another new series to feature Yokohama as control tyres is the Atom Cup, the first race series created for race-prepared versions of the legendary high-performance Aerial Atom road cars. The series will feature two races over each race weekend and visit eight circuits around the UK. The series will be run under three packages, catering for drivers with a wide range of budgets and based on the success of similar series run in America, should provide excellent, cost effective racing for experienced, as well as novice, drivers.
Yokohama will continue with its numerous relationships with race and rally series in the UK, including Formula 1000, which allows young drivers to start in rallying before they turn 17, the Caterham Academy and of course, Sports 2000. It will also continue as tyre supplier to the Irish Touring Car Championship, which sees exciting racing in a two-class structure in Ireland, for Touring and Super Touring-specification cars.