American Le Mans Series (ALMS) and GT Challenge (GTC) Class. This season, Yokohama will partner with Alex Job Racing and supply tires for team Lotus-AJR in the highly competitive ALMS GT Class. The Lotus Evora-based GT entry will ride on ADVAN A005 development tires.
While the 10-race series begins with the 12 hours of Sebring on March 17, the Lotus-AJR team will make its debut on the streets of Long Beach at the Long Beach Grand Prix on April 14. The ALMS season will conclude with the Petit Le Mans 10-hour event at Road Atlanta, where Yokohama is the “Official Tire.” For details, visit www.yokohamatire.com/motorsports or the ALMS web site at http://www.americanlemans.com/.
The orange oil-infused ENV-R2 race tires will again be campaigned in the ALMS GTC Class. A field of approximately 10 cars will compete at all ALMS events, including endurance races, such as the 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans. More details can be found at www.yokohamatire.com/motorsports or http://www.americanlemans.com/primary1.php?cat=schedule|calendar.
IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge by Yokohama
Yokohama’s ENV-R2, the first – and only – environmentally-friendly tire used in a racing series, will campaign in the 15-race series (at eight venues), which YTC is sponsoring for the fourth consecutive year. As the series’ spec tire, the ENV-R2 will be featured on all the Porsche 911 GT3 race cars, which will compete at leading North American tracks such as Sebring, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and Road Atlanta.
“The ENV-R2, which reduces petroleum inputs while performing at the same level as previous compounds, is one of our biggest successes,” said Briggs. “It has surpassed all driver expectations from a performance standpoint.
We expect fields of more than 30 cars vying for championships in two divisions, all on ENV-R2 tires.”
The series begins at Sebring, March 14-17. For details, visit http://www.imsachallenge.com/.
SCORE International Off-Road Racing
Yokohama is coming off a championship season with the Desert Assassins’ Heidi Steele, who captured the Class 6 title in 2011 – her fourth SCORE (Southern California Off Road Enthusiasts) class title. Heidi will miss part of the season as she awaits the birth of her first child, but plans to return in June for the Baja 500, according to husband Cameron Steele, a Trophy Truck class veteran and TV commentator. Desert Assassins’ teammate Rene Brugger will race Heidi’s Ford Ranger, which runs on off-the-shelf Geolandar M/T+ tires. Brugger finished third twice in the two 2012 SCORE season-opening races in Laughlin, Nevada.
Cameron Steele, the San Clemente, California-based off-roader and two-time SCORE Person of the Year, is campaigning two Geiser Brothers Trophy Trucks in 2012. Both ride on newly developed 40-inch Yokohama Geolandar A/T-S R tires specially engineered for extreme off-road conditions. “They are a dream to race on,” said Cameron.
The next race is the San Felipe 250, San Felipe, Baja, Mexico, March 9-10. For details, go to http://www.score-international.com/.
Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series
It’ll be hard to top last season, when YTC-sponsored driver Chad George piloted the Funco Motorsports #42 Kawasaki/Yokohama Super Lite – outfitted with off-the-shelf Yokohama Geolandar A/T-S+ tires – to a Lucas Oil title.
George is back with Yokohama on A/T-S tires for 2012, moving up to the Pro Lite division in the eight-event series that combines the Midwest tradition of short course off-road racing with a West Coast influence.
The season kicks off March 31-April 1 at Firebird Raceway in Chandler, Arizona. For more information, visit http://www.lucasoiloffroad.com.
