CARSON, Calif. — Porsche Motorsport North America has selected Yokohama Tire Corp. to be the "premier" partner of the Porsche Carrera North America, a racing series for Porsche's 911 GT3 Cup models, starting in 2024.
Yokohama will replace Michelin North America Inc. as the competition tire supplier for the series, which was created just three years ago by Porsche Motorsport and the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA).
The deal covers multiple seasons, although the partners declined to say how many or what the contract is worth.
The designation expands Yokohama's motorsports relationship with Porsche North America, which just two weeks ago renewed the tire maker's status as title sponsor and supplier of the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama and Porsche Sprint Challenge USA West by Yokohama for an additional year.
When it was announced in 2020, the Carrera Cup replaced the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge — supported by Yokohama for the 12 years prior to that — in the IMSA calendar. The Sprint Challenge series are sanctioned by the U.S. Auto Club.
The new deal for the Porsche Carrera series calls for Yokohama to supply series competitors with its Advan A005 racing slicks and A006 tires for wet conditions. The series next year will feature 16 races on eight circuits throughout North America.
The deal also calls for Yokohama to be the official partner of the Porsche Female Development and Porsche Junior programs for both Porsche Sprint Challenge North America and Porsche Carrera Cup North America.
"Yokohama and Porsche have a long and successful history in North America," Volker Holzmeyer, Porsche Motorsport North America president and CEO, said. "We are excited to re-establish this relationship at the highest level of one-make racing. …"
The partnership calls for Yokohama to be involved in a focused marketing and branding program that will benefit the series' competitors and teams as well as Porsche and Yokohama.
Andrew Briggs, Yokohama's vice president of marketing and product management, called the Carrera Cup a "highly competitive, exciting series that aligns with our overall motorsports program and offers more opportunities to showcase our Advan racing tires in some of the most awesome racing in North America."
