The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. is pleased to announce that a car equipped with its global flagship ADVAN brand tires won the GT300 class in Round 3 of the 2025 AUTOBACS SUPER GT Series, Japan’s ultimate touring car racing series. Round 3 was 55 lap/300km race held on June 26-28 at the Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit. With this victory in Round 3, vehicles running on ADVAN tires have now finished first in the GT300 class for two consecutive rounds. ADVAN tires’ excellent performance was again demonstrated, as it supported the winning car in this year’s SUPER GT’s only overseas race. Yokohama Rubber now looks forward to winning a second consecutive series championship in the GT300 class this year as part of its ADVAN CHALLENGE, which seeks to maximize sales of ADVAN tires.

The winning car at the Sepang round, which was held for the first time in 12 years, was TEAM UPGARAGE's No. 18 UPGARAGE AMG GT3, driven by Takashi Kobayashi and Yuto Nomura. After setting a course record in the qualifying round, the No. 18 UPGARAGE AMG GT3 started the race from the pole position with Nomura at the wheel. Although he surrendered the lead during the first lap but his cool and calm driving kept him in second place until the middle of the race, and he passed the baton to Kobayashi after 26 laps. When the leading car lost time due to an accident during a pit stop, No. 18 UPGARAGE AMG GT3 was able to retake the lead with quick and error-free pit work and hold it for the rest of the race. On the final lap, the second-place team closed to within one second of Kobayashi, but he calmly pulled away to achieve a pole-to-win victory. The victory is Kobayashi’s first since the 2023 Suzuka round and Nomura’s first in a SUPER GT race.

Among the other teams racing on ADVAN tires, GOODSMILE RACING & Team UKYO’s No. 4 GOODSMILE HATSUNEMIKU AMG, driven by Yuhki Nakayama and Shunji Okumoto, finished third, enabling Okumoto to take the podium in his SUPER GT debut.

Third-place finisher GOODSMILE HATSUNEMIKU AMG

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: From the left, winners Takashi Kobayashi and Yuto Nomura and third-place finishers Yuhki Nakayama and Shunji Okumoto

Tagged: touring car racing series

Car Running on YOKOHAMA’s Global Flagship ADVAN Brand Tires Races to a Pole-to-Win Victory in GT300 Class at SUPER GT’s 3rd Round Held in Sepang