Racers competing on Toyo Tires had big success on both coasts this past weekend. During Round 2 of the SCCA’s 2009 Solo National Tour in San Diego, California, Team Toyo’s Ken Motonishi scored a decisive victory in the Street Touring (ST) class over a field of 18 cars while running on Toyo Proxes R1R extreme performance tires. Finishing in second and third places were Jeff Wong and Sebastian Rios, also competing on Proxes R1R tires.
In the Street Touring Ladies category, the entire class competed on Proxes R1R tires. Nicole Nagler won, with Lily Liu finishing in second and Shauna Rios in third. In the Street Touring Sport (STS) class, Jaime Mendoza scored a victory while Michael Heinitz finished second on Proxes R1R tires. The Proxes R1R also performed well in Street Touring Extreme (STX), as Mihai Surubariu finished second in class.
While autocross racers were winning on Toyo tires on the West Coast, road racers kicked off the first event of the SPEED World Challenge racing season at the SPEED World Challenge Sebring Intl. Raceway presented by Toyo Tires. The Sebring, Florida event is the first of the nine event series for cars competing in both the Touring and GT classes. As the Official Tire of SPEED World Challenge, every car is equipped with Toyo Proxes R888 street legal competition tires. Toyo Tires has held this honor since 2001.
Two new faces stood on top of their respective class podiums at the end of the weekend’s races at Sebring. Seth Thomas, driving his Bimmer World/Gear Wrench BMW 328i, beat a 14-car field of racing veterans to score his first-ever Touring class victory. Even more remarkable was the finish in the GT class at Sebring. Rookie driver, Tony Rivera, piloted his Tax Masters/Mirage Group Porsche GT3 to a victory over a field of 19-cars. Rivera is the first SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT driver to win in his series debut in five years.
“We congratulate all of the winning drivers in both autocross and SPEED World Challenge,” said Stan Chen, manager of motorsports and events, Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp. “The Proxes R1R and Proxes R888 tires prove time and again they are ideal for capturing podiums, whether in amateur or professional competition.”
