Yokohama Tire Eyes Pikes Peak Repeat

Shute to Thrill

Heading into the 101st Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, Yokohama Tire is looking to repeat as King of the Mountain. The tiremaker, which overpowered the field last year on ADVAN® tires (overall champion, 10 podium finishes, four division wins and four of the top five overall finishers), will field 27 drivers in multiple divisions during the 12.42.-mile legendary “Race to the Clouds,” on June 25 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Yokohama also returns as the exclusive tire supplier of The Porsche Pikes Peak Trophy by Yokohama for the sixth straight year – all the Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport vehicles will be competing on ADVAN A052® tires.

Robin Shute, the 2022 overall champion, will compete on specially produced ADVAN tires made with increased usage of sustainable materials from various naturally derived compounding agents, including oil produced from oil palm nuts and orange peels, as well as recycled iron and rubber recycled from waste tires. As a result, sustainable materials account for about 33% of all materials used in these tires. The three-time overall champion will again vie for the Unlimited division title in his 2018 Wolf GB08 TSC-FS

“Last year’s run was one for the ages and we’re going for it again,” said Drew Dayton, Yokohama’s senior product planning manager, consumer tires. “This event is always a difficult challenge, but we have the drivers, the vehicles and, of course, the tires. Our ADVAN tires have proven they have what it takes, no matter the racing conditions.”

Other notable entries include:

– Tanner Foust: The veteran racer will compete in the Exhibition division, taking on the mountain in the 700 horsepower Radford Racing Pikes Peak Special Edition Type 62-2, a vehicle he described as “a beast.” It will be on A005/A006s.

– Randy Pobst: The 2021 Exhibition division champion returns in the Unplugged Performance 2021 Tesla Model S Plaid on ADVAN A005 slicks utilizing Biomass butadiene rubber made from sustainable materials. These tires replace the petroleum-derived butadiene rubber with biomass-derived butadiene rubber and have achieved a high recyclable material content.

– Loni Unser: She made an impressive debut last year taking second place in the Porsche Pikes Peak Trophy by Yokohama field. This year she’ll drive a 2024 Acura Integra Type S (on A005/A006s) built by Honda Performance Development (HPD) in the Exhibition division. All four HPD cars in the race will be on ADVANs, including the Acura NSX Type S (project name YAMABIKO), which will also be sporting the iconic ADVAN livery.

– Dai Yoshihara: Last year he took second place in the Exhibition division. This time he’ll power the Evasive Motorsports 2005 Honda S2000 in the Pikes Peak Open division on A005/A006s.

– Lucy Block: She’s honoring her late/great husband Ken Block by driving the single seat Sierra Echo EV fitted with A005/A006s in the Unlimited division.

– Returning winners: Cody Vahsholtz, the 2022 Open Wheel division winner will defend his title in his A005/A006-shod 2013 Ford Open and 2022 Time Attack 1 champ David Donohue is back with his 2019 Porsche GT2 RS Clubsport on A005/A006s.

– Porsche Pikes Peak Trophy by Yokohama field: Chris Becker, Hayden Bradley, George Hess III, Hutton McKenna and Gilles Nadeau will compete on A052s.

Yokohama will also participate again at Fan Fest, Friday, June 23 in downtown Colorado Springs, where 40,000-plus fans congregate. At the Yokohama display, there will be a meet-and-greet with drivers, cool cars on display and more. For more details on the Pikes Peak race, visit here. For live streaming of the race, go here.

Along with the Porsche Pikes Peak Trophy by Yokohama, Yokohama’s extensive list of 2023 North American-based motorsports activities – both on- and off-road – includes the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama, Global Time Attack and Super Lap Battle USA, Nitrocross, NASA, SCORE, King of the Hammers, Yokohama NORRA Mexican 1000, Crandon International Raceway sponsorship, 24 Hours of Lemons, Ultra4 National Series, Brenthel Industries partnership, Yokohama Tire Jeepspeed Race Series, TrophyLite Series and the Championship Off-Road Series partnership.