Yokohama cutting back on racing presence

For the remainder of the 2008 American LeMans Series season, Yokohama Tire Corporation (YTC) will reduce its presence at races to concentrate on tire development and testing for the future. During this time the Mazda LMP2 team will be using other tires.

"Our short-term ALMS results with the Mazda LMP2 team have been a little disappointing, but we're confident our long-term goals will be fulfilled, including helping a team consistently reach the podium in the near future," says Mark Chung, YTC director, strategic marketing. "We're working diligently on tire development and will examine all ALMS options for 2009.

"Yokohama has a long history of international racing success, so we're going to take some extra time to focus on development, constructing new tires that will live up to our heritage of championship racing," he adds. "In fact, more tire tests are planned in the coming weeks and we plan to continue until we can deliver the lap times and reliability we expect from our products."

For more information, visit www.yokohamatire.com.