PHOTO GALLERY: Yokohama revs up auto racing sponsorship

SANTA ANA, Calif. — There's a place where performance meets dirt, mud and grit, a place where precision meets velocity. That is where Yokohama Tire Corp. (YTC) thrives, right in the middle of adrenaline rush.

In the last two years, the Santa Ana-based tire maker has revved up its motorsports sponsorships and participation, adding events such as the TrophyLite R4 Series and Sonora Rally.

It also inked some less traditional sponsorship deals with competitions that emphasize endurance, including the 24 Hours of Lemons, which challenges drivers to put ordinary and well-worn vehicles — purchased for $500 or less — to the test.

While Yokohama was shoring up those deals, it extended its partnership with "thrill games" organizer Nitro Circus Live and was named an official sponsor of Easter Jeep Safari. It also continued as the official spec tire and presenting sponsor of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA and the Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada series, extending a partnership that is entering its second decade.

The moves, though, should come as no surprise, according Fardad Niknam, YTC's senior director of consumer product planning and consumer marketing. He said the company's growing and diversifying presence in the motorsports arena perfectly parallels what is happening within its consumer tire portfolio.

"Yokohama has a long heritage in U.S. motorsports dating back to 1980 when there were few companies that could produce tires to perform in race conditions," Mr. Niknam said. "What has been changed is our product portfolio. We had expanded our (light truck) product portfolio significantly. We also are bringing several new ultra-high-performance products to the market in the next 24 months, which will allow us to invest more in motorsports and provide our customers what they are looking for."

Since 2016, YTC's offerings have been expanded and refined through the additions of the new LT and UHP tires while phasing out others. As the offerings adapt, so do to the ways in which the company's products are showcased.

Perhaps the best example is the Geolander M/T G003 LT tire, which debuted in July 2017. Since its introduction, the tire has been put to the test in a variety of conditions ranging from Easter Jeep Safari's weekend events for off-road enthusiasts in Moab, Utah, to the desert terrain in the TrophyLite series.

Its performance to date has been impressive, Mr. Niknam said, especially for a line of newly introduced products.

"Our whole light truck segment portfolio is less than four years old, with most of our products introduced in the past 18 months," Mr. Niknam said. "We want to show our light truck product performance at the track, where dirt, mud and rock collide. That is why we have partnered with the TrophyLite series: Yokohama is the official spec tire, and all racers are using the Yokohama Geolandar M/T G003 to race."

So far, Mr. Niknam said, the Geolandar has performed well in the extreme conditions of the TrophyLite off-road racing series, which reported 70 percent fewer flat tires since designating the Geolandar M/T G003 as the competition's spec tire.

TrophyLite racers, fitted with 33x12.50R15 tires, can compete on a national scale as part of the Best in the Desert (BITD) series and/or regionally at selected BITD and/or Southern Nevada Off-road Racing events.

One year after Yokohama launched its Geolandar M/T G003, it rolled out the Ascend GT for luxury cars and sports coupes and unveiled plans to phase out its UHP-oriented Avid ENVigor tire. It is offering its AdvanSport A/S, an all-season, UHP tire as an alternative.

As Yokohama works to bring new UHP products to the market, it has continued and expanded its partnership with Porsche GT3 and GT4 events. In addition to the Porsche GT3 series in the U.S. and Canada, it sponsored the Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport Pikes Peak Hill Climb Trophy.

"We believe our products are the best in the tire industry, and nowhere is better to prove it than on an actual race track," Mr. Niknam said. "Our vision is to show product performance at the race track where ultimate product performance is needed to win."

For YTC, stepping up its motorsports exposure is as much about product research and development as it is about brand marketing. By pushing its tires to their limits, Yokohama said it gleans valuable information about what works well and where improvements can be made. That ultimately plays into the design and manufacturing of tomorrow's street-ready products.

"Race tracks are tire playgrounds where you can put your product to the ultimate test," Mr. Niknam said. "We use this knowledge to develop our future products.

"This is an investment on the brand and proof of performance to people who are looking to switch to Yokohama," he said. "It's a long-term investment which will yield results in years to come."