Yokohama Racing Tyres
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Yokohama Racing Tyres
Yokohama Racing Tyres
To be truthful, I am not a mad follower of motor racing! It probably has something to do with the fact that in the whole of West Yorkshire, we do not have a race circuit. The nearest one is Croft in North Yorkshire, and I have visited this track a few times in the recent past.
Of course, I live in North Yorkshire, and I have visited this track a few times in the recent past. So to see various motor racing events. The last one was a British BMW championship meeting through Kumho tyres.
It came to me with great pleasure! So when I was invited to a race meeting in Snetterton, Norfolk, UK,. The race meeting was a good four-hour drive from my beloved Yorkshire. But nevertheless, I decided to do the round trip in the day and set off at 5.30 in the morning. The day was going to be red hot! You could just tell, and I was looking forward to watching the cars perform. Especially on the Yokohama Racing Tyres that we sell in Halifax to our customers.
I arrived early because the roads were quiet due to the fact that it was Sunday morning
I met the Yokohama Racing Tyres UK guy, Paul Cox. Paul was to be my guide! Shyly, as I have said, I know little about the motorsport circuit. Although I love the atmosphere that these events can generate. I took my camera to take some shots of the cars. Especially with the Yokohama racing tyres fitted. This is always a sign of a good tyre company, and the research and development that these companies gain is invaluable when it comes to developing tyres for the regular cars that we use in our daily lives.
Paul turned out to be a very knowledgeable guide, having competed in motorsport racing himself for a good many years and now helping to coach his son to become a race car driver at the age of seventeen. The racing today was to be the British F3 and GT championships, and when I arrived, it was a lovely sunny day, and the crowds were already building up.
British F3 has always been one of the proving grounds for future F1 drivers, including 2009 World Championship winner Jenson Button. Some of the drivers competing on that day are expected to become future F1 stars, including Kevin Magnussen and Daniel Ricciardo, so watch out for those names.
The weekends of racing also included the BRDC Formula 4 Championships: Yokohama Racing Tyres
Including up-and-coming stars on the show, I could not wait. These cars run on 2-litre Ford Duratec engines and develop 175 brake horsepower (BHP). They are supplied with a Cosworth engine management system and are operated with a 6-speed Sadev transmission system that works from a paddle shift. Yokohama Racing Tyres are the suppliers of wet and slick compound tyres, which was the main purpose of my visit.
Paul was really enthusiastic about showing me around. So, I was very impressed with the politeness of the drivers. Including the guys in the pits! Allowing me to take pictures at will. He also knew many of the drivers. Introducing me to a couple of them in between their busy schedules. One of the drivers was Jon Minshaw, the owner of the famous Demon Tweeks motor parts store. Consequently, taking time out between changing drivers midway through a race.
The Yokohama tyre fitting area was most impressive. Yokohama Racing Tyres
Paul also introduced me to the YOKOHAMA TYRES UK tyre fitting team, fully equipped with fitting machines and wheel balances, all ready for the action. In fact, when we were there, they had already fitted in excess of a hundred slick tyres; due to the hot sunny weather, the slick tyres give a better grip than tyres with a tread on them.
One of the other drivers that I saw was Sir Chris How, who has only recently changed from cycling to the British GT Championships and is said to be a “natural” at motorsport, making 2014 his debut year in the Nissan Academy Team known as RJN. Also in his year of racing was Rick Parfitt Jr, son of his famous namesake from the band Status Quo, whom I incidentally saw live at Leeds First Direct Arena last December with my wife Michelle. Rick the elder often watches his son race but was not there on this day.
After watching a great day of racing and talking to many of the pit guys, I thanked Paul for a great day out and headed for my long drive back to Yorkshire, looking forward to my next race meeting later this year.
Yokohama Tyres – Racing DNA and Why It Matters for You
We see a fair few cars at Pellon Tyre and Autocentre that carry premium tyres, and one brand that keeps showing up in both the workshop and on the track is Yokohama. Now, we’re not just talking “brand name” here — this lot have their tyres up to some serious motorsport business, which helps you as a driver in Halifax and the UK get better performance on the road too.
A Bit of History
Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. was founded in 1917 in Japan. Wikipedia Over the decades, the company built up its reputation for strong rubber and quality tyres, and in motorsport they’ve used the track as a proving ground. The brand you’ll often hear about in performance-tyre circles is the ADVAN series – that’s where their racing rubber lives and bleeds into what you and I might fit to our daily driver or weekend car.
What Yokohama Are Doing in Racing Right Now
Here in 2025 the brand is heavily involved – and I mean heavily – in key racing championships across the world.
- They’re the control tyre supplier for major series. For example, in Japan the SUPER FORMULA Championship has used Yokohama’s ADVAN tyres for both dry and wet tyres. y-yokohama.com+1
- In Europe, the brand is partnering with teams in the Nürburgring 24 Hour Race (one of the toughest endurance events around) and supplying tyres for top-class GT3 machines. y-yokohama.com+1
- In the UK, a big deal was signed with the Time Attack Championship and the “Racing Hondas” series – from 2025 onwards Yokohama will be the official tyre partner, using their semi-slick A052 for club-level competitions. timeattack.co.uk+1
- They’re also moving into more adventurous forms of motorsport. For example, they announced a partnership with the new hydrogen-powered off-road race series Extreme H World Cup, supplying a tyre based on their GEOLANDAR X-AT designed for heavy-duty rugged conditions, matched with a high content of recycled and renewable raw materials. Extreme E – The Electric Odyssey
So the message is clear: Yokohama use tough racing environments, track days, hill climbs, endurance races and even next-gen forms of motorsport (hydrogen off-road) to test and prove their tyres.
Why That’s Good News for the Everyday Driver in Halifax
You might think, “All well and good for the track, but my Focus/Fiesta/Range Rover only does the A58 and a few hills round Mirfield and Halifax.” But here’s the important bit: the lessons from motorsport almost always trickle down into road-tyre development.
For example:
- Improved grip in wet and dry — the tyres that survive Nürburgring or hill climbs under extreme conditions have to manage heat, stress, wear and high lateral loads. That helps you when you’re braking for that tricky roundabout on the way out of Halifax in the rain.
- Better materials, better durability — Yokohama talk about using racing for “everything we learn under gruelling race conditions leads to better performing, longer lasting tyres for the track and street.” Yokohama +1
- New tech and sustainability — As we all know, running a garage means thinking of cost, performance and “what’s next”. Yokohama are working with new raw materials like bio-butadiene rubber (that’s rubber made from plant-based resources) that were tested in racing. blackcircles.com
So fitting a pair of good Yokohama tyres means you’re backed by a brand that doesn’t just talk performance—they race it. And for your garage business, when you recommend tyres to customers who want better road feel, reliability and value, that’s something you can point to with confidence.
What to Look Out for When Fitting Yokohama Tyres
Since you’re running a garage and selling batteries and tyres online, here are a few pointers you can mention to your customers:
- Check the correct model for the use: For performance and track days, look at the ADVAN range (for example, the semi-slick A052 or slick A005). Good for owners who do spirited drives, occasional track days or just like “performance feel”.
- For everyday use with confidence: Yokohama’s road-tyre ranges still benefit from their racing tech; identifying the correct size and load rating is essential (typical for UK roads, snowy Yorkshire winters, etc.).
- Storage and fitting matter: even the best tyre performs poorly if worn, under-inflated or mismatched. Your garage advice (as you already provide) about correct tyre pressure, wheel alignment, and checking wear is spot-on.
- Explain the “racing heritage” value: For many customers it’s not just “a tyre”, it’s a tyre backed by worldwide motorsport involvement. That can help justify why a premium tyre might be worth the bit extra.
- Recommended internal links in your article to your site: Maybe link to your tyre-fitting service page at Pellon Tyres, a page about choosing performance tyres, and perhaps a case study you’ve done with a car that used performance tyres. Also external link to Yokohama’s motorsport page if you wish