Toyo’s sponsored drivers are celebrating a series of fine racing performances over the April 17-18 weekend.
Ken Motonishi took the win in Round 1 of the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) ProSolo National Series in the STR (Street Touring R) class, beating 10 other cars while piloting his Mazda on Proxes R1R extreme performance tires.
In addition to Motonoshi’s victory, other cars running on R1Rs captured checkered flags in ST (Street Touring) and Ladies Class 1 while finishing second in STX at the El Toro Airfield track in Irvine, Calif.
“The 2009 Mazda MX-5 running on 255/40-17 R1Rs feels great,” says Motonishi. “Over this past weekend – the El Toro Pro Solo – the grip level of the Toyo was huge, allowing me to concentrate on the driving aspect,” he reports.
“One of the biggest advantages the tire gave me over my competitors is its forward tractive bite at the Pro Solo launch,” explains Motonishi. “I could consistently put time on anyone who wasn’t on the Toyo from the very beginning because of this.”
Competing on the quarter mile, Thomas Bayer was barely edged out in the final round of Super Comp to finish runner-up in the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Nationals at The Strip in Las Vegas.
His dragster rolls on Proxes Drag Slicks, the same tire brand that has delivered 2006 and 2009 Pacific Division Championships for Bayer in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series.
In off-road racing on April 17, Kyle LeDuc scored a second place finish in the Pro 4 Unlimited race during the Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series in Surprise, Ariz. Piloting his No. 99 Ford F-150 equipped with Open Country M/T-R tires, LeDuc was followed closely by his father Curt in the No. 43 F-150. The elder LeDuc finished fourth both Saturday and Sunday.
The Toyo Tires World Challenge road race at Long Beach in California saw a packed 36-car field take the green flag, and all were competing on spec Proxes R888 street legal, r-compound tires.
During Round 3 of this professional SCCA series, three class winners were crowned. In the high-horsepower GT class, Kuno Wittmer scored a flag-to-flag win driving his Dodge Viper. The GTS and Touring Car classes were both captured by rookies: Tyler McQuarrie piloted a Lotus Exige S to the GTS win while 18-year-old Robert Stout took the top spot for Touring Car in his Scion tC.
“We congratulate Team Toyo’s Ken Motonishi for his win in the STR class of ProSolo, and all of the drivers that captured wins and podiums on Toyo tires this past weekend,” says Stan Chen, manager of events and motorsports. “Once again,” he adds, the company’s tires “have proven themselves in autocross, road racing, at the drag strip and off-road racing.”
For more information, visit www.toyotires.com.
