WAYNE, N.J. (Feb. 17, 2006) — Hankook Tire America Corp. has entered an exclusive sponsorship of the Kaaz USA Motorsports Competition Team for 2006.
Under terms of the agreement, Kaaz USA Team vehicles will be competing in a series of professional drifting events and exhibitions with Hankook Ventus RS2 Z212 tires.
“Drifting is one of the fastest-growing automotive competitive events in the world,” said Bill Bainbridge, Hankook marketing director. “We're excited to be partnered with Kaaz USA and their stable of some of the top drivers in the sport. We expect great things from our sponsorship in terms of brand awareness with sport compact enthusiasts and showcasing the performance of our Ventus line of ultra-high performance tires.”
Kaaz USA, headed by Ray Nakadate and based in Costa Mesa, Calif., will field a team of three drift vehicles that will be used for D1 events and all Formula D events. Both the Kaaz 180 and Kaaz Sil80 were built in-house at Kaaz USA. The Kaaz AE86 is imported from Japan and built by Kimihiro Obata and Hiromi Kajikuma at Winds Auto, according to Hankook.