SANTA ANA, Calif. — Yokohama Tire Corp. is expanding its motorsports presence with the Porsche sports car brand, agreeing to take over as title partner and exclusive tire provider for a pair of racing series organized by Porsche Motorsport North America (PMNA).
Yokohama is taking over as tire supplier for the series — Porsche Sprint Trophy USA West and Porsche Air-Cooled Cup USA series — from Pirelli Tire North America Inc., which has had that distinction for the past eight seasons.
These new affiliations are in addition to Yokohama's partnerships with the International Motor Sports Association's Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge series in the U.S. and Canada and its role as sponsor and sole tire supplier for the Porsche Pikes Peak Trophy.
Los Angeles-based PMNA is the sole importer of Porsche race cars and parts in the U.S. and Canada and is dedicated to supporting numerous customer-racing platforms from the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship to PCA Club Racing.
Newport Beach, Calif-based Competent Motorsports L.L.C. is the organizer/sanctioning body for the Sprint Trophy and Air-Cooled Cup series.
Andrew Briggs, Yokohama's vice president of marketing and product management, said the new venture with Competent Motorsport and PMNA "fits perfectly within our motorsports strategy and continues to fortify Yokohama as a key supplier for another exciting Porsche one-make series."
The partnership also includes the Porsche Sprint Trophy USA West Invitational, which comprises a select number of special events that will take place on the East Coast, YTC said.
The partners have designated Yokohama's Advan A005 slick as the spec tire for all the events.
The Porsche Sprint Trophy USA West features a field of Porsche racing platforms from the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup and Cayman GT4 Clubsport cars to the newly announced Porsche 911 GT2 RS Clubsport. The series consists of multiple car classes, including: The Platinum and Platinum Masters Class (Porsche 991.2 GT3 Cup), Gold Class (Porsche 991.1 GT3 Cup), Diamond Class (991.1 GT3 R and 997 GT3 R), Emerald Class (Porsche 991.2 GT3 Cup MR), Silver Class (Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport SRO and Clubsport Comp) and Bronze Class (Porsche GT4 Clubsport with Trophy Kit and Clubsport MR).
The 2019 Sprint Trophy West featured as many as 65 entrants in the series' nine events.
The Porsche Air-Cooled Cup USA series features four classes consisting of Porsche 964/993 Cup cars, Porsche 3.0/3.2L G series cars, Porsche Spec 2.0L platforms, as well as an Exhibition Class for air-cooled track-prepared cars, (non-turbos) to participate in sprint races.
Gregory Franz, founder and president of Competent Motorsport, said: "We are coming around full circle with the return of Yokohama Tire as our new title partner for 2020."
Other motorsports activities YTC is involved in include: Global Time Attack and Super Lap Battle USA; 24 Hours of Lemons; Crandon International Raceway partnership; Subaru Motorsports USA partnership; Spec Mazda MX-5 Challenge; TrophyLite; One Lap of America, Yokohama NORRA Mexican 1000; and Yokohama Sonora Rally.