Yokohama Enters Partnership with Mazdaspeed

Mazda’s motor racing support operation in North America, Mazdaspeed Motorsports Development, has announced Yokohama Tire as a new partner for the B-K Motorsports Lola B07/46-Mazda MZR-R LMP2 team as of 2008. The multi-year partnership is, according to Mazdaspeed, more than just a sponsorship arrangement, with Yokohama acting as a key contributor to the team’s overall programme in terms of technical and marketing collaboration. The announcement of Yokohama’s partnership was made simultaneously to a similar agreement with BP.

“A key to Mazdaspeed’s motorsports success has been with strategic partners who have same passion for excellence as Mazda,” commented Robert Davis, and the man responsible for Mazda’s North American motorsports operations under the Mazdaspeed Motorsports Development banner. “BP and Yokohama will be active partners in our ALMS program as we enter our sophomore year with our Mazda MZR-R powered program, and we look forward to our most successful ALMS project yet.”

Referring to Yokohama’s history of ALMS participation, including the 2004 LMP2 Championship, Fred Koplin, director of Marketing Communications for Yokohama Tire Corporation said: Yokohama is happy to be reunited with our friends at Mazda. There are many who recall our past successes with RX-7s in IMSA GTU racing. The challenges in ALMS are huge, but we are looking forward to the opportunity to showcase our latest Advan tyres against the best in the world.”

Yokohama will engineer and construct an all-new purpose-built LMP2 tyre under the company’s flagship Advan brand name, and will support the BK Motorsports Team at all races and tests with a full engineering and service team hailing from the United States and Japan.

In 2007 the team was supplied with tyres and support under an arrangement with Kumho.