Announcing Our 2021 DUNLOP & FALKEN Motorsports Activity Plan
Mar. 05. 2021
Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. is pleased to announce that we have finalized our motorsports activity plan for 2021. This year, we will once again be supplying our high-performance tires to drivers competing on two wheels and on four wheels in various races and racing categories—from beginner-level competitions to world-class tournaments—both in Japan and worldwide. Through our active participation in motorsports, we aim to further enhance the value of our DUNLOP and FALKEN brands and augment our overall tire development capabilities while also supporting car lovers the world over and contributing to the advancement and popularization of competitive motorsports in general.
1. Four-Wheel Motorsports Activities
○DUNLOP
![]() |
TEAM Red Bull MUGEN Honda NSX-GT
In addition, we will also be supplying tires to many more racing teams competing in various classes in a wide range of races and racing categories throughout Japan, including the All-Japan Rally Championship, the All-Japan Gymkhana Championship, the All-Japan Dirt Trial Championship and the All-Japan Karting Championship.
At the same time, with an eye toward lowering the barriers to entry so that more and more people can enjoy competitive motorsports, we will be providing one-make tires for the Formula Regional Japanese Championship (a new FIA Global Standard tournament introduced in 2020) and other entry-level formula racing tournaments such as the FIA-F4 Championship and JAF-F4 Championship, as well as for open-participation competitions such as the VITA RACE and MINI CHALLENGE JAPAN. In addition, we will also be working to support the cultivation of young, up-and-coming drivers by sponsoring and providing tires for races that are open to amateurs, including the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing 86/BRZ Race and the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Rally Challenge.
○FALKEN
![]() |
FALKEN Porsche 911 GT3R
This year, FALKEN will once again be competing in the legendary ADAC TOTAL 24-Hour Race (commonly known as the Nürburgring 24h-Race due to its venue: the famed Nürburgring Course in Nürburg, Germany), which is widely considered to be the world’s toughest endurance race. This year, Team FALKEN Motorsports will once again be competing for glory with not one, but two Porsche 911 GT3R racecars. Through these activities, we aim to further enhance the value of the FALKEN brand, which is already quite well regarded in Europe and North America thanks to its high performance, while at the same time contributing to the overall advancement of motorsports in general.
▷FALKEN Official Website
2. Two-Wheel Motorsports Activities
○DUNLOP
![]() |
Scene from 2020 FIM Endurance World Championship
We will be supplying one-make tires to support riders competing in the Moto2 and Moto3 Classes at the FIM Grand Prix World Championship, which ranks among the world’s premier two-wheel racing tournaments. At the same time, we will also be supplying tires to three teams competing for glory in the FIM Endurance World Championship. Meanwhile, when it comes to off-road racing activities, after setting a new record by dominating in all classes at the AMA Supercross Championship (USA) for eleven consecutive years, we will once again be gunning for victory in all classes for our twelfth straight year while also aiming for the title of World Champion in the Motocross World Championship.
Here in Japan, we will be supporting many riders as they compete in a wide range of races and racing categories, including the All-Japan Road Race Championship. We will also be supplying one-make tires for 250cc motorbikes to support younger riders competing in the Junior Class at the “NSF100 HRC Trophy Championship” and other competitions held to cultivate up-and-coming riders competing in the globally popular 250cc Class. Through these activities, we hope to contribute to the creation of an environment that is more conducive to the cultivation of world-class riders right here in Japan.
■2021 DUNLOP Four-Wheel Motorsports Activity Plan Overview
SUPER GT
Team |
Vehicle |
Driver |
|
GT500 |
Modulo Nakajima Racing |
Honda NSX-GT |
Takuya Izawa |
Hiroki Otsu |
|||
TEAM Red Bull MUGEN |
Honda NSX-GT |
Ukyo Sasahara |
|
Toshiki Oyu |
|||
GT300 |
GAINER |
NISSAN GT-R NISMO GT3 |
Katsuyuki Hiranaka |
Hironobu Yasuda |
|||
NISSAN GT-R NISMO GT3 |
Kazuki Hoshino |
||
Keishi Ishikawa |
|||
R&D SPORT |
SUBARU BRZ GT300 |
Takuto Iguchi |
|
Hideki Yamauchi |
|||
K-tunes Racing |
LEXUS RC F GT3 |
Morio Nitta |
|
Sena Sakaguchi |
|||
LM corsa |
TOYOTA GR Supra GT |
Hiroki Yoshimoto |
|
Shunsuke Kohno |
All-Japan Rally Championship
Class |
Team |
Vehicle |
Driver |
JN1 |
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing |
TOYOTA GR YARIS GR4 Rally |
Norihiko Katsuta |
itzz Rally Team |
SUBARU WRX STI |
Takuma Kamada |
All-Japan Gymkhana Championship
Class |
Team |
Vehicle |
Driver |
JG1 |
TEAM URGENT |
Mitsubishi Lancer |
Shinji Tsugawa |
JG3 |
Okinawa Exciting Motor Sports Club |
SUZUKI SWIFT |
Jun Takae |
JG5 |
T.ASSIST |
TOYOTA GR YARIS |
Shigeki Kayano |
TEAM ETOILE |
TOYOTA GR YARIS |
Takashi Asayama |
|
JG6 |
Kanetsu Sports Club |
MAZDA ROADSTER |
Takahiro Nojima |
JG7 |
Obelisk Racing Team |
ABARTH 124 spider |
Yohei Omata |
JG8 |
MAZDA ROADSTER |
Tadashi Kawakita |
All-Japan Dirt Trial Championship
Class |
Team |
Vehicle |
Driver |
JD4 |
MJT・HKS・DL LANCER |
Mitsubishi Lancer |
Kazuhiro Kitamura |
JD1 |
Team Kuribara Auto Kikaku |
SUBARU BRZ |
Takuma Kamada |
ZEAL by TS-SUMIYAMA |
Mitsubishi Mirage |
Yuya Sumiyama |
All-Japan Karting Championship
Class |
Team |
Driver |
OK |
MASUDA RACING PROJECT |
Turbo Asahi |
Yuto Nomura |
||
TAKAGI PLANNING |
Fuki Tanaka |
|
Yusuke Watanabe |
||
Keito Matsui |
||
CROCPROMOTION |
Shunsuke Minagi |
|
CUORE |
Taiga Imoto |
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing 86/BRZ Race
Class |
Team |
Vehicle |
Driver |
Professional |
OTG Motor Sports |
TOYOTA 86 |
Naoki Hattori |
TOYOTA 86 |
Ritomo Miyata |
||
TOYOTA 86 |
Togo Suganami |
||
TOYOTA 86 |
Remei Ito |
||
RECARO RACING TEAM |
TOYOTA 86 |
Kota Sasaki |
|
SUBARU BRZ |
Takashi Kogure |
||
Access Racing Team |
TOYOTA 86 |
Hiroyuki Saka |
FIA-F4 JAPANESE CHALLENGE
Team |
Driver |
OTG Motor SPORTS |
Remei Ito |
One-Make Tire Racing Category
Series Name |
Formula Regional Japanese Championship |
FIA-F4 Championship |
JAF-F4 Championship |
VITA RACE |
MINI CHALLENGE JAPAN |
EXGEL NEXT CUP with DUNLOP 2021 Series |
■2021 FALKEN Four-Wheel Motorsports Activity Plan Overview
ADAC TOTAL 24-Hour Race
Class |
Team |
Vehicle |
Driver |
SP9 (FIA-GT3) |
FALKEN Motorsports |
Porsche 911 GT3R |
Klaus Bachler |
Dirk Werner |
|||
Sven Müller |
|||
Alessio Picariello |
|||
Porsche 911 GT3R |
Klaus Bachler |
||
Martin Ragginger |
|||
Lance David Arnold |
|||
Thomas Preining |
■2021 DUNLOP Two-Wheel Motorsports Activity Plan Overview
【Road Racing World Championships】
FIM Endurance World Championship
Class |
Team |
Vehicle |
Rider |
EWC |
BMW MOTORRAD WORLD ENDURANCE TEAM |
BMW |
TBD |
VRD IGOL PIERRET EXPERIENCES |
YAMAHA |
TBD |
|
WOJCIK RACING TEAM |
YAMAHA |
TBD |
One-Make Tire Racing Category
Series Name |
Class |
FIM Grand Prix World Championship |
Moto2 / Moto3 |
【Off-Road Racing World Championships】
Motocross World Championship
Class |
Team |
Vehicle |
Rider |
MX1 |
Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team |
KAWASAKI |
Romain Febvre |
Ivo Monticelli |
|||
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing |
HUSQVARNA |
Arminas Jasikonis |
|
Thomas Kjer Olsen |
|||
Standing Construct GsaGas Factory Racing |
GASGAS |
Pauls Jonass |
|
Brian Bogers |
【International Road Racing Tournaments】
One-Make Tire Racing Category
Series Name |
Class |
FIM CEV Repsol International Championship |
Moto2 / Moto3 |
Red Bull MotoGP ROOKIES CUP |
Moto3 |
NORTHERN TALENT CUP |
Moto3 |
FIM Asia Road Racing Championship |
ASB1000 / SS600 / AP250 / UB150 |
IDEMITSU ASIA TALENT CUP |
Moto3 |
【National Road Racing Tournaments】
All Japan Road Race Championship (Japan)
Class |
Team |
Vehicle |
Rider |
JSB1000 |
Waveinn-R |
YAMAHA |
Shinichi Nakatomi |
J-GP3 |
41Planning |
IODA |
Yoichi Ui |
Sunny moto Racing |
KTM |
Akira Komuro |
|
Team P.MU 7C |
HONDA |
Hiroki Ono |
One-Make Tire Racing Category
Series Name |
Class |
Country |
MOTO AMERICA |
SBK / ST1000 / SS600 / Twins Cup / Junior Cup / Mini Cup |
USA |
GP Colombia Championship |
GP3 / 150cc |
Colombia |
Argentina SBK Championship |
SBK / SS600 / R3 / 250cc |
Argentina |
SBK National Championship |
SBK / SS600 / ST1000 / ST600 |
Chile |
Thailand Talent Cup |
Moto3 |
Thailand |
All Japan Road Race Championship |
ST1000 |
Japan |
MFJ CUP / Regionals |
JP250 |
Japan |
HRC NSF250R Challenge |
J-GP3 |
Japan |
NSF100 HRC Trophy |
Junior Championship Class |
Japan |
CBR250R Dream Cup |
Expert Class / Beginner Class |
Japan |
CBR250RR Dream Cup |
- |
Japan |
DUNLOP Gekkan AUTOBY Cup! for Gymkhana |
A Class / B Class / C1 Class / C2 Class |
Japan |
【National Off-Road Racing Tournaments】
AMA Supercross Championship (USA)
Class |
Team |
Vehicle |
Rider |
450SX |
Team Honda HRC |
HONDA |
Ken Roczen |
Chase Sexton |
|||
Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing 450 Team |
YAMAHA |
Aaron Plessinger |
|
Dylan Ferrandis |
|||
Malcolm Stewart |
|||
Monster Energy Kawasaki |
KAWASAKI |
Eli Tomac |
|
Adam Cianciarulo |
|||
Red Bull KTM Factory |
KTM |
Cooper Webb |
|
Marvin Musquin |
|||
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna |
HUSQVARNA |
Jason Anderson |
|
Zach Osborne |
|||
Dean Wilson |
|||
Troy Lee Designs Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing Team |
GASGAS |
Justin Barcia |
|
250SX |
Team Honda HRC |
HONDA |
Hunter Lawrence |
Jett Lawrence |
|||
Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki |
KAWASAKI |
Austin Forkner |
|
Cameron McAdoo |
|||
Jordon Smith |
|||
Jo Shimada |
|||
Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing 250 Team |
YAMAHA |
Christian Craig |
|
Colt Nichols |
|||
Jeremy Martin |
|||
Justin Cooper |
|||
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna |
HUSQVARNA |
RJ Hampshire |
|
Jalek Swoll |
|||
Troy Lee Designs Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing Team |
GASGAS |
Michael Mosiman |
|
Pierce Brown |
All-Japan Motocross Championship (Japan)
Class |
Team |
Vehicle |
Rider |
IA1 |
YAMAHA FACTORY RACING TEAM |
YAMAHA |
Toshiki Tomita |
Yusuke Watanabe |
|||
Team Kawasaki R&D |
KAWASAKI |
Chihiro Notsuka |
All-Japan Trials Championship (Japan)
Class |
Team |
Vehicle |
Rider |
IAS |
TEAM MITANI Honda |
HONDA |
Tomoyuki Ogawa |
Team FwO with YAMALUBE |
YAMAHA |
Fumitaka Nozaki |
|
YAMAHA FACTORY RACING TEAM |
YAMAHA |
Kenichi Kuroyama |
Japan Enduro Championship (Japan)
Class |
Team |
Vehicle |
Rider |
IA |
Blue Riders with YAMALUBE |
YAMAHA |
Kenji Suzuki |
BIVOUAC OSAKA with RG3 Racing |
GASGAS |
Yoshikazu Hosaka |
※Note: The above activity plan is based on the racing schedule as of the issue date of this News Release. Please understand that plans may be changed without notice.
![]() |