The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., is pleased to announce that a car fitted with Yokohama Rubber’s global flagship ADVAN brand tires finished first in the GT300 class in the finale of the 2025 AUTOBACS SUPER GT Series, Japan’s ultimate GT (Grand Touring) car racing series. The final Round 8 was held on November 1-2 at Mobility Resort Motegi in Tochigi Prefecture, with the finale on November 2 a 300km race. The GT300 class victory was the fifth for an ADVAN-equipped car in this year’s eight-round SUPER GT Series, during which ADVAN tires’ excellent performance supported several teams throughout the season.
The winning car in this year’s final race was TEAM MACH’s No. 5 MACHSYAKEN AIR BUSTER MC86 MACH GO, driven by Yusuke Shiotsu and Iori Kimura. Starting the race from the 2nd position, Shiotsu ran a careful and smooth first stint before coming in for a pit stop with a no-tire-change strategy on the 19th lap. Kimura then took the wheel and maintained a fast pace to reach the checkered flag nearly 9 seconds ahead of the 2nd place car, achieving TEAM MACH’s long-sought first SUPER GT victory. ADVAN tires’ stable grip performance supported the team’s no-tire-change strategy and contributed greatly to the team's victory. In addition to the winning No. 5 MACHSYAKEN AIR BUSTER MC86 MACH GO, cars racing on ADVAN tires included 3rd place (and Round 7 winner) seven × seven Racing's No. 666 seven × seven PORSCHE GT3R (drivers: Harry King and Kiyoto Fujinami) and 4th place KONDO RACING's No. 56 REALIZE NISSAN MECHANIC CHALLENGE GT-R (drivers: Joao Paulo de Oliveira and Kohei Hirate).
While teams running on YOKOHAMA tires fell just short of winning a second straight GT300 class series championship, they monopolized 2nd to 5th place in the season team rankings. By maximizing the performance of various car models, Yokohama Rubber’s ADVAN tires supported the heated battles unique to SUPER GT and contributed greatly to exciting races.
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.
Featured Image: Yusuke Shiotsu (left) and Iori Kimura celebrate their GT300 class win in the year’s final race
