Yokohama Rubber to supply Geolandar tires to team Mitsubishi Ralliart in the Asia Cross Country Rally

Hiratsuka, Japan—The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., announced that it will supply its GEOLANDAR M/T G003 mud-terrain tires for SUVs and pickup trucks to Team MITSUBISHI RALLIART for its participation in this year’s Asia Cross Country Rally (hereafter AXCR), Asia’s largest cross country rally, which is scheduled to be held during August 11–17. In 2022, Team MITSUBISHI RALLIART captured the overall championship on GEOLANDAR M/T G003 tires and aims to reclaim the championship this year.

Team Mitsubishi RALLIART is a rally team operated by TANT SPORTSs (Thailand), with technical support from Mitsubishi Motors Corporation. Team MITSUBISHI RALLIART’s victory in 2022, its first AXCR, was won by a GEOLANDAR-equipped Triton, Mitsubishi Motors’ global strategic model one-ton pickup truck. The team turned in a strong performance again in 2023, when the all-new Triton that had just been launched in July finished third. This year the team will enter four new Triton Group T1s (prototype cross-country vehicles), with drivers again including the 2022 champion Chayapon Yotha and Katsuhiko Taguchi as well as new additions Sakchai Hantrakul and Kazuto Koide. In addition to its support for Team MITSUBISHI RALLIART, Yokohama Rubber will again be supporting a number of teams from various countries at this year’s AXCR.

YOKOHAMA’s GEOLANDAR M/T G003 tires deliver superior performance on the full range of off-road surfaces over an exceptionally long lifespan. In addition, the tire features a sturdy and aggressive design that enhances the off-road driving sensation. YOKOHAMA’s GEOLANDAR brand tires, including the M/T G003, have demonstrated superior off-road performance in many races in recent years, including victories in three classes of the 2024 King of the Hammers, and the overall championship at the 2022 and 2023 AXCR events. Yokohama Rubber looks forward to a third consecutive AXCR overall championship by a vehicle running on its GEOLANDAR tires.

First held in 1996, AXCR is an FIA (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile) officially sanctioned race, similar to the Dakar Rally. In recent years, the AXCR has been run over a different course each year, with the starting line in Thailand and then passing through many Southeast Asian countries as it winds through a diverse range of terrains, from mountains and jungles to beaches and plantations, and even race circuits. This year’s rally will be staged completely in Thailand, starting in Surat Thani and finishing some 2,100kms away in Kanchanaburi.

The consumer tire strategy in Yokohama Rubber’s new 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.