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SUMITOMO RUBBER INDUSTRIES TOP > News > 2024 > 2024 DUNLOP & FALKEN Motorsports Activity Report

2024 DUNLOP & FALKEN Motorsports Activity Report

 Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. is pleased to report the results of our 2024 Motorsport Activities, through which we supported many racing teams and individual racers while supplying our high-performance DUNLOP and FALKEN tires for exciting racing events held all over the world. This year, we developed numerous cutting-edge tires for state-of-the-art vehicles competing at the very pinnacle of racing, all while carefully analyzing the data from each race in order to adeptly supply tires optimized for road and weather conditions at just the right timing to give competitors an edge.

 From amateurs participating in entry-level races to professionals competing in world-class tournaments, we are immensely proud to have supported so many outstanding competitors across such a wide range of racing categories and formats this year. Their daring feats on the racetrack brought fun and excitement to countless fans throughout the world. We are grateful not only to the competitors who gave it their all while working side by side with DUNLOP and FALKEN every step of the way, but also to the many fans throughout the world who cheered them on along the way.

 
SUPER GT Nürburgring 24h-Race AMA Supercross

 The “SUPER GT” is widely considered the pinnacle of Japanese racing. In this year’s series, “Modulo Nakajima Racing” placed 13th overall in the GT500 Class. Meanwhile, “D’station Racing” and “K-tunes Racing” placed 4th and 13th overall in the GT300 Class, respectively. In addition, Teams equipped with DUNLOP tires won the title of Series Champion in four classes of the “All Japan Rally Championship”, where racers competed for the best total time on racecourses composed of closed-off public roads; in three classes at the “All Japan Gymkhana Championship”, where racers competed for the best time by driving one by one on paved racecourses, and in six classes at the “All Japan Dirt Trial Championship”, where racers competed for the best time by drifting on unpaved racecourses.
 Team FALKEN Motorsports fielded two racecars in the Nürburgring 24h-Race, which is widely recognized as the world’s toughest endurance race. Both cars finished in the top ten: one in 6th Place and the other in 10th Place overall. Finally, vehicles equipped with FALKEN tires won the cup in three classes.
 Meanwhile, DUNLOP also had a great year in international motorcycle racing. A rider equipped with DUNLOP tires clinched the Motocross World Championship, which was also the first title for the DUNLOP brand in the MX2 Class. Riders equipped with DUNLOP tires won the title of Series Championship in all classes of the “AMA Supercross” and “AMA Pro Motocross” for the fifteenth consecutive year, setting a new record in both races. In Japan, DUNLOP-equipped riders won Series Championship in three classes of the “All Japan Motocross Championship”. With one-make tires supplied to all classes of the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship, we worked together with riders to fight races throughout the season of the top Asian motorcycle road racing.
 Through our ongoing motorsports activities, the Sumitomo Rubber Group will continue working to bring the thrill of racing to a wider global audience while constantly stepping up the development of tires toward the higher brand value.

 

▷FALKEN official website

 

■ 2024 Results: DUNLOP Motorsports Activities (4W)

SUPER GT

Class

Team

Vehicle

Driver

Ranking

GT500

Modulo Nakajima Racing

Honda CIVIC TYPE R-GT

Takuya Izawa

13th

Riki Okusa

GT300

D’station Racing

Aston Martin Vantage GT3 evo

Tomonobu Fujii

4th

Charlie Fagg

K-tunes Racing

LEXUS RC F GT3

Morio Nitta

13th

Shinichi Takagi

R&D SPORT

SUBARU BRZ GT300

Takuto Iguchi

16th

Hideki Yamauchi

GAINER

NISSAN FAIRLADY Z GT300 GT

Ryuichiro Tomita

17th

Keishi Ishikawa

LM corsa

TOYOTA GR Supra GT

Hiroki Yoshimoto

18th

Shunsuke Kohno

 

All Japan Rally Championship

Class

Team

Vehicle

Driver

Co-driver

Ranking

JN-1

Ahead Japan Racing Team

Skoda Fabia R5

Hiroki Arai

Shunsuke Matsuo

1st

LUCK with ROOKIE Racing Rally Team

TOYOTA GR YARIS Rally2

Norihiko Katsuta

Yusuke Kimura

2nd

WinmaX RALLY TEAM

SUBARU WRX

Takuma Kamada

Yuichi Matsumoto

7th

JN-2

LUCK Jr RALLY TEAM

SUBARU WRX STI

Seiya Mieda

Kazuyoshi Funaki

1st

JN-5

M29R Rally Project

TOYOTA YARIS MAZDA DEMIO

Takuro Matsukura

Makiko Yamada

1st

JN-6

Toyota Industries Corporation Racing Team

TOYOTA AQUA GR SPORT

Tomoyuki Amano

Yukiko Inoue

1st

 

All Japan Gymkhana Championship

Class

Team

Vehicle

Driver

Ranking

PN1

TEAM ETOILE

TOYOTA YARIS

Takashi Asayama

1st

PN3

Obelisk Racing Team

MAZDA ROADSTER

Tadashi Kawakita

3rd

Kanetsu Sports Club

MAZDA ROADSTER

Takahiro Nojima

4th

PN4

Club I

TOYOTA GRMN YARIS

Yusuke Okui

1st

TEAM URGENT

TOYOTA GR YARIS

Shinji Tsugawa

2nd

BC1

I-spec

HONDA INTEGRA

Masahiro Nishii

1st

BC3

T.ASSIST

TOYOTA GR YARIS

Shigeki Kayano

4th

 

All Japan Dirt Trial Championship

Class

Vehicle

Driver

Ranking

PNE1

SUZUKI SWIFT

Kenichi Koyama

1st

PN1

SUZUKI SWIFT

Chihiro Iijima

1st

PN2

SUZUKI SWIFT

Takuya Sato

1st

N

MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION Ⅹ

Tomoya Hosoki

1st

SA1

SUZUKI SWIFT

Jun Kawaishi

1st

SA2

MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION Ⅸ

Yasunari Okamoto

1st

TOYOTA GR YARIS

Kazuhiro Kitamura

3rd

D

SUBARU BRZ

Takuma Kamada

2nd

MITSUBISHI MIRAGE

Yuya Sumiyama

3rd

 

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing GR86/BRZ Cup

Class

Team

Vehicle

Driver

Ranking

Professional

OTG Motor Sports

TOYOTA GR86

Togo Suganami

1st

DELTA MOTOR SPORTS

TOYOTA GR86

Yusuke Tomibayashi

3rd

OTG Motor Sports

TOYOTA GR86

Ryo Ogawa

8th

TOYOTA GR86

Remei Ito

10th

TOYOTA GR86

Naoki Hattori

12th

RECARO RACING TEAM

SUBARU BRZ

Tsubasa Kondo

13th

SUBARU BRZ

Takashi Kogure

-

SUBARU BRZ

Kota Sasaki

-

 

FIA-F4 JAPANESE CHALLENGE

Team

Driver

Ranking

OTG Motor SPORTS

Kenta Kumagai

14th

 

Asia Cross Country Rally

Class

Team

Vehicle

Driver

Co-driver

Ranking

T1D

TOYOTA GAZOO RACING THAILAND

TOYOTA Hilux Revo

Mana Pornsiricherd

Kittisak Klinchan

1st Overall

(Class1st)

Natthaphon Angritthanon

Thanyaphat Meenil

29th Overall

(Class18th)

T2A-D

Jaras Jaengkamolkulchai

Sinopong Trairat

9th Overall

(Class5th)

 

■ 2024 Results: FALKEN Motorsports Activities (4W)

Nürburgring 24h-Race (Official Name: ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring)

Class

Team

Vehicle

Driver

Ranking

SP9(FIA-GT3)

FALKEN Motorsports

Porsche 911 GT3R

Julien Andlauer

6th Overall

(Class6th)

Klaus Bachler

Sven Müller

Alessio Picariello

Porsche 911 GT3R

Joel Eriksson

10th Overall

(Class10th)

Tim Heinemann

Nico Menzel

Martin Ragginger

SP4T

SUBARU TECNICA INTERNATIONAL

SUBARU WRX NBR CHALLENGE 2024

Carlo van Dam

51st Overall
(Class1st)

Tim Schrick

Kota Sasaki

Rintaro Kubo

AT3

Max Kruse Racing

VW Golf GTI

Benjamin Leuchter

43rd Overall
(Class1st)

Johan Kristoffersson

Heiko Hammel

Nicholas Otto

SP8T

Team BILSTEIN by BLACK FALCON

BMW M4 GT4

Jimmy Broadbent

38th Overall
(Class2nd)

Mikhail Charoudin

Manuel Metzger

VT2

SRS Team Sorg Rennsport

BMW 330i

Piet-Jan Ooms

72nd Overall
(Class1st)

Joachim Theiß Hans

Mathias Baar

Yutaka Seki

 

■ 2024 Results: DUNLOP Motorsports Activities (2W)

[Road Racing World Championships]

FIM Endurance World Championship

Class

Team

Vehicle

Rider

Ranking

EWC

BMW MOTORRAD WORLD ENDURANCE TEAM

BMW

Markus Reiterberger

3rd

Illya Mykhalchyk

Sylvain Guintoli

KM99

YAMAHA

Jeremy Guarnoni

4th

Florian Marino

Randy de Puniet

 

[Off-Road Racing World Championships]

Motocross World Championship

Class

Team

Vehicle

Rider

Ranking

MXGP

Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP

KAWASAKI

Jeremy Seewer

4th

Romain Febvre

5th

Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing

HUSQVARNA

Mattia Guadagnini

12th

Standing Construct Honda MXGP

HONDA

Pauls Jonass

14th

Alberto Forato

19th

MX2

Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing

HUSQVARNA

Kay De Wolf

1st

Lucas Coenen

2nd

 

[National Road Racing Tournaments]

All Japan Road Race Championship

Class

Team

Vehicle

Rider

Ranking

JSB

1000

DUNLOP Racing Team with YAHAGI

HONDA

Tetsuta Nagashima

10th

RSN

YAMAHA

Shinichi Nakatomi

23rd

TONE RT SYNCEDGE4413 BMW

BMW

Tomoya Hoshino

24th

Taira Promote Racing

YAMAHA

Yoshimasa Shibata

-

J-GP3

Team P.MU 7C GALESPEED

HONDA

Hiroki Ono

1st

 

[National Off-Road Racing Tournaments]

AMA Supercross Championship (USA)

Class

Team

Vehicle

Rider

Ranking

450SX

Team Honda HRC

HONDA

Jett Lawrence

1st

Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing

YAMAHA

Cooper Webb

2nd

Red Bull KTM

KTM

Chase Sexton

3rd

Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing

YAMAHA

Eli Tomac

4th

Monster Energy Kawasaki

KAWASAKI

Jason Anderson

5th

Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing

YAMAHA

Justin Cooper

6th

Progressive ECSTAR Suzuki

SUZUKI

Ken Roczen

7th

Troy Lee Designs Red Bull GASGAS

GASGAS

Justin Barcia

8th

Team Honda HRC

HONDA

Hunter Lawrence

9th

Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing

HUSQVARNA

Malcolm Stewart

10th

Red Bull KTM

KTM

Aaron Plessinger

11th

Monster Energy Kawasaki

KAWASAKI

Adam Cianciarulo

14th

Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing

HUSQVARNA

Christian Craig

23rd

250SX
EAST

Factory Red Bull KTM

KTM

Tom Vialle

1st

Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing

YAMAHA

Haiden Deegan

2nd

Troy Lee Designs Red Bull GASGAS

GASGAS

Pierce Brown

4th

Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki

KAWASAKI

Cameron Mcadoo

6th

Honda HRC

HONDA

Chance Hymas

8th

Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing

YAMAHA

Daxton Bennick

9th

Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki

KAWASAKI

Seth Hammaker

10th

Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing

YAMAHA

Nicholas Romano

13th

Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki

KAWASAKI

Austin Forkner

17th

Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing

HUSQVARNA

Guillem Farres

18th

250SX
WEST

Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing

HUSQVARNA

RJ Hampshire

1st

Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki

KAWASAKI

Levi Kitchen

2nd

Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing

YAMAHA

Jordon Smith

3rd

Honda HRC

HONDA

Jo Shimoda

4th

Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing

YAMAHA

Nate Thrasher

5th

Red Bull KTM

KTM

Julien Beaumer

7th

Troy Lee Designs Red Bull GASGAS

GASGAS

Ryder DiFrancesco

12th

Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki

KAWASAKI

Maximus Vohland

21st

 

AMA Pro Motocross (USA)

Class

Team

Vehicle

Rider

Ranking

450

Red Bull KTM

KTM

Chase Sexton

1st

250

Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing

YAMAHA

Haiden Deegan

1st

 

All Japan Motocross Championship

Class

Team

Vehicle

Rider

Ranking

IA1

YAMAHA FACTORY INNOVATION TEAM

YAMAHA

Jay Wilson

1st

Honda Dream Racing LG

HONDA

Haruki Yokoyama

2nd

Auto Brothers

GASGAS

Victor Alonso

3rd

Team Kawasaki R&D

KAWASAKI

Chihiro Notsuka

5th

TEAM HAMMER

HONDA

Makoto Ogata

9th

YAMAHA FACTORY INNOVATION TEAM

YAMAHA

Yusuke Watanabe

15th

IA2

bLu cRu Racing Team TAKA

YAMAHA

Soya Nakajima

1st

IBOPEN

SP Tadao Hiroshima

YAMAHA

Rikito Matsuoka

1st

 

All Japan Trials Championship

Class

Team

Vehicle

Rider

Ranking

IAS

TEAM MITANI Honda

HONDA RTL301RR

Tomoyuki Ogawa

1st

YAMAHA FACTORY RACING TEAM

YAMAHA

Kenichi Kuroyama

2nd

bLU cRU VICTORY

YAMAHA

Seiya Ujikawa

3rd

Team NOZAKI YAMALUBE YAMAHA

YAMAHA

Fumitaka Nozaki

8th

 

Japan Enduro Championship

Class

Team

Vehicle

Rider

Ranking

IA

BIVOUAC OSAKA with RG3 Racing

GASGAS

Shuichi Hosaka

4th