News

　Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. is pleased to announce that we have finalized our motorsports activity plan for 2023. As part of our activities to contribute to the further popularization of motorsports in general, we will once again be supplying high-performance tires under our DUNLOP and FALKEN brands for both two-wheel and four-wheel vehicles competing in a wide range of racing categories—from beginner-level competitions to world-class tournaments—both in Japan and worldwide. Last year, many teams and individual racers equipped with DUNLOP tires won national championships in various classes at racing tournaments and other motorsports competitions throughout Japan. This year, we will once again be giving our all when it comes to the development of advanced racing tires so that we may better assist our partner teams and racers along their path to victory.

 

1. Four-Wheel Motorsports Activities 

○DUNLOP

Scene from the 2022 SUPER GT

The SUPER GT Series is widely considered to be the pinnacle of Japanese racing. We will be supporting seven vehicles at this year’s SUPER GT, including a Honda NSX-GT racecar operated by Modulo Nakajima Racing in the GT500 Class as well as five teams and six cars competing in the GT300 Class. In addition, we will also be supplying tires to support many more racing teams competing for titles in various classes in a wide range of 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 in addition to our continuing sponsorship of the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing GR86/BRZ Cup.

Meanwhile, we will also be working to support the cultivation of young up-and-coming racers by providing one-make tires for entry-level races such as the Formula Regional Japanese Championship, the FIA-F4 Championship and the Super FJ Championship, as well as competitions that are open to all comers, including the TCR Japan Series, the VITA RACE, BMW & MINI Racing and more.

At the same time, we have also been working to develop racing tires that feature higher levels of sustainable raw material content with the aim of debuting these tires at actual races in the near future.

○FALKEN

Scene from the 2022 Nürburgring 24h-Race

In 2023, FALKEN will once again be competing in what is widely considered to be the world’s toughest endurance race: the legendary ADAC TOTAL 24-Hour Race (commonly known as the Nürburgring 24h-Race on account of its venue: the famed Nürburgring Course in Nürburg, Germany). This year, Team FALKEN Motorsports will be competing for glory with two brand-new Porsche 911 GT3R racecars. At the same time, we will also be supplying our high-performance FALKEN tires to SUBARU TECNICA INTERNATIONAL as they compete in the SP4T Class with a brand-new SUBARU WRX NBR CHALLENGE racecar. Through these activities, we aim to further enhance the value of our FALKEN brand, which is already quite popular in Europe and North America.

▷FALKEN Official Website

 

2. Two-Wheel Motorsports Activities

○DUNLOP

Scene from the 2022 AMA Supercross

 

We will be supplying one-make tires to support riders competing in the Moto2 and Moto3 Classes at the FIM World ChampionshipGrand Prix, which ranks among the world’s premier two-wheel racing tournaments. We will also be supplying tires to two teams (BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team and KM99) competing at the FIM World Endurance Championship. When it comes to off-road racing, we will be supplying tires for the Motocross World Championship as well as the AMA Supercross Championship (USA), where DUNLOP has dominated in all classes for thirteen consecutive years.

Meanwhile in Japan, we will be supporting many riders as they compete in a wide range of racing categories, including the All Japan Road Race Championship.

We will also be supplying one-make tires to support younger riders competing in the Junior Champion Class at the NSF100 HRC Trophy Championship and other competitions held to nurture up-and-coming riders. 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.

■2023 DUNLOP Four-Wheel Motorsports Activity Plan Overview

SUPER GT

Class	Team	Vehicle	Drivers
GT500	Modulo Nakajima Racing	Honda NSX-GT	Takuya Izawa
			Kakunoshin Ota
GT300	GAINER	NISSAN GT-R NISMO GT3	Ryuichiro Tomita
			Keishi Ishikawa
			Yusuke Shiotsu
		NISSAN GT-R NISMO GT3	Hironobu Yasuda
			Riki Okusa
	SHADE RACING	TOYOTA GR 86 GT	Katsuyuki Hiranaka
			Eijiro Shimizu
			Shinnosuke Yamada
	LM corsa	TOYOTA GR Supra GT	Hiroki Yoshimoto
			Shunsuke Kohno
	R&D SPORT	SUBARU BRZ GT300	Takuto Iguchi
			Hideki Yamauchi
	K-tunes Racing	LEXUS RC F GT3	Morio Nitta
			Shinichi Takagi

 

All Japan Rally Championship

Class	Team	Vehicle	Driver
JN-1	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing	TOYOTA GR YARIS Rally2	Norihiko Katsuta
	SUBARU RALLY CHALLENGE	SUBARU WRX S4	Takuma Kamadata

  

All Japan Gymkhana Championship

Class	Team	Vehicle	Driver
BC3	TEAM URGENT	TOYOTA GR YARIS	Shinji Tsugawa
BC1	Okinawa Exciting Motor Sports Club	SUZUKI SWIFT	Jun Takae
PN4	T.ASSIST	TOYOTA GR YARIS	Shigeki Kayano
PN3	Kanetsu Sports Club	MAZDA ROADSTER	Takahiro Nojima
PN2	Obelisk Racing Team	MAZDA ROADSTER	Tadashi Kawakita
PN1	TEAM ETOILE	TOYOTA YARIS	Takashi Asayama

 

All Japan Dirt Trial Championship

Class	Vehicle	Driver
D	MITSUBISHI MIRAGE	Yuya Sumiyama
	SUBARU BRZ	Takuma Kamada
SA2	MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION X	Kazuhiro Kitamura

 

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing GR86/BRZ Cup

Class	Team	Vehicle	Driver
Professional	OTG Motor Sports	TOYOTA GR86	Togo Suganami
		TOYOTA GR86	Ryo Ogawa
		TOYOTA GR86	Naoki Hattori
		TOYOTA GR86	Remei Ito
	RECARO RACING TEAM	SUBARU BRZ	Takashi Kogure

 

FIA-F4 Japanese Challenge

Team	Driver
OTG Motor SPORTS	Yuto Nozawa

 

One-Make Tire Racing Category

Race

Formula Regional Japanese Championship

FIA-F4 Championship

Formula Beat

Super FJ Championship

TCR JAPAN SERIES

VITA RACE

BMW & MINI Racing

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing GR86/BRZ Cup Clubman Series

All Japan / Junior Kart Championship

 

 ■2023 FALKEN Four-Wheel Motorsports Activity Plan Overview

Nürburgring 24h-Race

Class	Team	Vehicle	Drivers
SP9 (FIA-GT3)	FALKEN Motorsports	Porsche 911 GT3R(#33) Porsche 911 GT3R(#44)	Klaus Bachler
			Sven Müller
			Martin Ragginger
			Joel Eriksson
			Alessio Picariello
			Tim Heinemann
			Nico Menzel
SP4T	SUBARU TECNICA INTERNATIONAL	SUBARU WRX NBR CHALLENGE	Carlo van Dam
			Tim Schrick
			Hideki Yamauchi
			Takuto Iguchi

 

■2023 DUNLOP Two-Wheel Motorsports Activity Plan Overview

【Road Racing World Championships】

FIM World Endurance Championship

Class	Team	Vehicle	Riders
EWC	BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team	BMW	Markus Reiterberger
			Illya Mykhalchyk
			Jeremy Guarnoni
	KM99	YAMAHA	Bastien Mackels
			Lucas Mahias
			Florian Marino

 

One-Make Tire Racing Category

Race	Class
FIM World Championship Grand Prix	Moto2 / Moto3

 

【Off-Road Racing World Championships】

Motocross World Championship

Class	Team	Vehicle	Riders
MXGP	Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP	KAWASAKI	Romain Febvre
			Mitch Evans
	Standing Construct Honda MXGP	HONDA	Brian Bogers
			Pauls Jonass

  

【International Road Racing Tournaments】

One-Make Tire Racing Category

Race	Class
FIM Moto3 Junior World Championship	Moto3
Moto2 European Championship	Moto2
Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup	Moto3
NORTHERN TALENT CUP	Moto3
FIM Asia Road Racing Championship	ASB1000 / SS600 / AP250 / UB150 / TVS
IDEMITSU ASIA TALENT CUP	Moto3
Latin America Talent Cup	Moto3

 

【National Road Racing Tournaments】

All Japan Road Race Championship (Japan)

Class	Team	Vehicle	Riders
JSB1000	Waveinn-R	YAMAHA	Shinichi Nakatomi
	TONE RT SYNCEDGE4413 BMW	BMW	Tomoya Hoshino
J-GP3	Team P.MU 7C	HONDA	Hiroki Ono
			Aoi Uezu

 

One-Make Tire Racing Category

Race	Class	Country
MOTO AMERICA	SBK / ST1000 / SS600 / Twins Cup / Junior Cup / Mini Cup	USA
GP Colombia Championship	GP3 / 150cc	Colombia
SBK National Championship	SBK / SS600 / GP3 / GP2	Chile
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	-	Japan
CBR250RR Dream Cup	-	Japan
HRC GROM Cup	-	Japan
DUNLOP Gekkan AUTOBY Cup! for Gymkhana	A Class / B Class / C1 Class / C2 Class	Japan

 

【National Off-Road Racing Tournaments】

AMA Supercross (USA)

Class	Team	Vehicle	Riders
450SX	Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha	YAMAHA	Eli Tomac
			Dylan Ferrandis
			Justin Cooper
	Monster Energy Kawasaki	KAWASAKI	Jason Anderson
			Adam Cianciarulo
	Rockstar Energy Husqvarna	HUSQVARNA	Malcolm Stewart
			Christian Craig
	Red Bull Troy Lee Designs GASGAS Factory Racing Team	GASGAS	Justin Barcia
	Factory Red Bull KTM	KTM	Cooper Webb
			Marvin Musquin
			Aaron Plessinger
	Factory HRC Honda	HONDA	Chase Sexton
			Colt Nichols
	HEP Motorsports Suzuki	SUZUKI	Ken Roczen
250SX WEST	Factory HRC Honda	HONDA	Jett Lawrence
	Factory Red Bull KTM	KTM	Max Vohland
	Rockstar Energy Husqvarna	HUSQVARNA	RJ Hampshire
	Red Bull Troy Lee Designs GASGAS Factory Racing Team	GASGAS	Pierce Brown
	Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki	KAWASAKI	Cameron McAdoo
	Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha	YAMAHA	Levi Kitchen
			Stilez Robertson
250SX EAST	Factory HRC Honda	HONDA	Hunter Lawrence
	Factory Red Bull KTM	KTM	Tom Vialle
	Red Bull Troy Lee Designs GASGAS Factory Racing Team	GASGAS	Michael Mosiman
	Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki	KAWASAKI	Jo Shimoda
			Seth Hammaker
			Chris Blose
	Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha	YAMAHA	Jordon Smith
			Nate Thrasher
			Haiden Deegan
	Rockstar Energy Husqvarna	HUSQVARNA	Jalek Swoll
			Talon Hawkins

 

 All Japan Motocross Championship (Japan)

Class	Team	Vehicle	Riders
IA1	Team Kawasaki R&D	KAWASAKI	Chihiro Notsuka
	TEAM HAMMER	HONDA	Makoto Ogata
	YAMAHA FACTORY INNOVATION TEAM	YAMAHA	Jay Wilson
			Asato Machida

 

All Japan Trials Championship (Japan)

Class	Team	Vehicle	Riders
IAS	TEAM MITANI Honda	HONDA	Tomoyuki Ogawa
			Seiya Ujikawa
	YAMAHA FACTORY RACING TEAM	YAMAHA	Kenichi Kuroyama
	Team NOZAKI YAMALUBE YAMAHA	YAMAHA	Fumitaka Nozaki

 

Japan Enduro Championship (Japan)

Class	Team	Vehicle	Rider
IA	BIVOUAC OSAKA with RG3 Racing	GASGAS	Yoshikazu Hosaka

※Note: The above activity plan is based on the racing schedule as of the date of issue of this News Release.
　　　　Please understand that plans may be changed without prior notice.