Yokohama Adds Orange Oil-Infused Race Tires to Pikes Peak Electric Buggy

FULLERTON, June 16, 2010: Yokohama Tire Corporation’s ADVAN® ENV-R2™ orange oil-infused race tires have another mountain to conquer…literally. Already the official spec tire in the IMSA Patrón GT3 Challenge by Yokohama and the new ALMS GT3 Challenge (GTC) Class, the ENV-R2 is now poised to take on Pikes Peak in the new Electric Vehicle Class, June 27.

Once again, Yokohama tires will be on a Sanyo battery-powered electric buggy driving a new AC Propulsion engine in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. Last year with Japanese driver Ikuo Hanawa behind the wheel, the Yokohama-sponsored EV buggy sported off-road Geolandar® tires and placed second in its class, just missing the EV world record by 13 seconds. Hanawa is back piloting the new EV Sports Concept HER-02 buggy, but this time it will have the ENV-R2 tires, which cut petroleum use in the manufacturing process by 20 percent by utilizing sustainable resources such as orange oil and natural rubber.

“Yokohama is the only tire company to have perfected this science,” said Mark Chung, Yokohama director, corporate strategy and planning. “The ENV-R2, the world’s only environmentally-friendly race tire, is campaigned on Porsche 911 GT3 cars in two sports cars series, including an endurance race.”

Chung said “the Pikes Peak race is a different beast, but we feel the ENV-R2 will handle the hill quite well. And the fact that the orange oil tires are on an electric race vehicle is perfect for Yokohama. It certainly fits our longstanding commitment to innovation, technology and the environment.”

The orange oil technology developed by Yokohama’s motorsports division is part of the company’s overall global environmental strategy. The proprietary technology, which combines orange oil with natural rubber to form a new compound called “Super Nano-Power Rubber,” is used in race tires and Yokohama’s dB Super E-specTM, an everyday passenger car tire that debuted in July 2009.