Yokohama is ready to roll for the March 18 American Le Mans Series (ALMS) race in Sebring, Fla.
This year the company is partnering with a new team in the GT2 class and is broadening its “eco racing” program by upgrading its orange oil-infused race tires in the Patrón GT3 Challenge by Yokohama series and the GT Challenge class.
“Last year at Sebring we introduced our Advan ENV-R1 slick in the GT3 Challenge series,” recounts Mark Chung, Yokohama’s director of corporate strategy and planning. He points out that it was the first environmentally-friendly tire used in any racing series.
“This year we’ll have a new tire that’s not only faster and grips better, but will have even more orange oil and natural rubber in it, further reducing the petroleum use in the tire,” Chung says.
“The orange oil technology in the original ENV-R1 cut petroleum inputs by 15 percent while performing at the same – or better – level as regular racing compounds,” he continues. “We had nothing but positive feedback from Porsche GT3 racers last season, and the new Earth-friendly tire will be even better.”
Yokohama will once again be the spec tire in the Patrón GT3 Challenge series, and will also run in the new ALMS GT Challenge (GTC) Class. A field of about 10 GTC cars will compete at each of the ALMS events, including endurance races such as the 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans.
The seven-race Patrón GT3 Challenge, which Yokohama is sponsoring for the second straight year, features a fleet of Porsche 911 GT3 race cars competing at U.S. tracks including Sebring, Laguna Seca and Road Atlanta. There will be a field of up to 35 cars vying for championships in two divisions: Platinum (for 2010 GT3 Porsches only) and Gold (2005½-2009 GT3s).
In addition, the tire maker and Jaguar are partnering to field a Jaguar XKR entry, which will run on Advan A005 slicks. No. 75 will be piloted by Trans-Am racer Paul Gentilozzi and sports car veterans Marc Goossens and Ryan Dalziel. They’ll be battling against the likes of Ferrari, Porsche, BMW, Corvette, Viper and Ford.
The nine-race GT2 series travels to venues such as Sebring and Road Atlanta, where Yokohama is the “Official Tire.”
For more information, visit www.yokohamatire.com, www.imsaracing.net, www.imsachallenge.com and www.americanlemans.com.
