Yokohama Rubber Chosen as Sole Supplier of Control Tires for 2016 Sepang 12 Hours Race

Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., has announced that the company’s renowned “Advan” racing tire has been selected as the control tire for the 2016 edition of the Sepang 12 Hours, an endurance race to be run on Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit from December 8 to 11. The control tires that will be used for the event will be the “ADVAN A005” and the “ADVAN A006”, which will be used on wet surfaces. Both these tires provide outstanding grip while minimizing the environmental impact due to the use of Yokohama’s proprietary orange oil compounding technique.

It is a notable achievement for Yokohama Rubber to be selected as supplier of control tires for the race as this is the first year that all the vehicles contesting in the the Sepang 12 Hours endurance race will be using control tires supplied by a single tire manufacturer. Earlier, the teams participating in the race were free to use tires from any one of several designated tire manufacturers.

Yokohama’s case to become the sole supplier was strengthened by the fact that vehicles using Yokohama tires have won the overall championship in the race for five consecutive years from 2011. This created a favorable impression on the race organizers, especially when Yokohama tires were used by winners in other top-class races also, like, the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC).

The Malaysia Merdeka Endurance Race was renamed as the Sepang 12 Hours in 2013 and taken on a more international tone in recent years, with teams belonging to Europe and Europe joining those from Asian countries like Japan, Taiwan, China, Malaysia and Thailand to contest for a place on the winner’s podium. A wide range of vehicles including sports cars and low-exhaust touring cars, participate in different categories in the Sepang 12 Hours, with the top category being FIA-GT3 machines. From the 2016 edition of the race, SUPER GT GT300 class vehicles will also be allowed to participate, raising hopes that this time round, the race will be even more exciting for both the participants and the spectators.