Motor sports relation
Hiratsuka, Japan—The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., announced today that it will supply its GEOLANDAR M/T G003 mud-terrain tires for SUVs and pickup trucks to 12 teams entering 20 vehicles in this year’s Asia Cross Country Rally (hereafter AXCR), Asia’s largest cross country rally, which is scheduled to be held during August 10–15. Vehicles running on GEOLANDAR tires have had a dominant presence in recent AXCRs, winning the overall championship in 2022, 2023, and 2025. Yokohama Rubber is again supporting several leading teams, including last year’s overall champion Team Mitsubishi Ralliart, and looks forward to another victory by a GEOLANDAR-equipped vehicle.
Yokohama Rubber supported Team Mitsubishi Ralliart as it raced to the overall championship in 2022, a third-place finish in 2023, and another overall championship in 2025. This year, Team Mitsubishi Ralliart is aiming for a second straight victory on GEOLANDAR tires. Team Mitsubishi Ralliart is entering three Tritons, Mitsubishi Motors’ global strategic one-ton pickup truck. The lead drivers for each vehicle will be Chayapon Yotha, the overall champion in 2022 and 2025; Katsuhiko Taguchi, who finished 5th last year; and Kazuto Koide, who has successfully completed the race in two consecutive years since his AXCR debut in 2024.
In addition, Yokohama Rubber will again supply its GEOLANDAR tires for the Toyota Fortuner, a frame-type SUV being entered by TOYOTA GAZOO RACING INDONESIA, which used the same model to achieve the overall championship and a 2nd place finish in 2023. Other leading teams using GEOLANDAR tires include GEOLANDAR FORTUNER takuma-gp, supported by TOYOTA GAZOO RACING INDONESIA and driven by 2023 overall champion Takuma Aoki; the ISUZU SUPHAN TRANE TITANIUM YOKOHAMA NEXZTER RALLY TEAM, which finished 4th last year and is entering three vehicles this year; and CUSCO Racing, which is entering two vehicles, including a Mitsubishi Triton driven by Akira Bamba, who is also active in Japan rally races. Furthermore, Yokohama Rubber supports a wide range of challenges from the ground up, including those of teams with female drivers.
YOKOHAMA’s GEOLANDAR M/T G003 tires deliver superior performance on the full range of off-road surfaces over an exceptionally long lifespan. In addition, the tire features a sturdy and aggressive design that enhances the off-road driving sensation. The superior off-road performance of YOKOHAMA’s GEOLANDAR brand tires, including the M/T G003, has been demonstrated in many off-road races held around the world, including the AXCR.
First held in 1996, AXCR is an FIA (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile) officially sanctioned race, similar to the Dakar Rally. This year’s AXCR will be staged completely in Thailand on a course covering about 2,000km from Pattaya to Phitsanulok that will take drivers through a diverse and challenging range of terrains, from mountains and jungles to beaches and plantations.
The consumer tire strategy in Yokohama Rubber’s three-year (2024–2026) medium-term management plan, Yokohama Transformation 2026 (YX2026), aims to maximize the sales ratios of high-value-added tires by expanding sales of YOKOHAMA’s global flagship ADVAN brand, the GEOLANDAR brand of tires for SUVs and pickup trucks, winter tires, and 18-inch and larger tires. Yokohama Rubber positions participation in motorsports activities as crucial to its effort to further strengthen the ADVAN and GEOLANDAR brands. Yokohama Rubber therefore is again participating in a wide variety of motorsports events around the globe, from top-category to grassroots events.
