News

　Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. is pleased to announce that we have finalized our motorsports activity plan for 2022. This year, we will once again be supplying our high-performance tires for both two-wheel vehicles and four-wheel vehicles competing in various races and racing categories—from beginner-level competitions to world-class tournaments—both in Japan and worldwide. At the same time, we will also be working even closer with our sponsored drivers and racing teams as they give it their all to improve upon their stellar record from 2021. Through our active participation in motorsports activities, the Sumitomo Rubber Group aims to further enhance the value of our DUNLOP and FALKEN brands and to augment our overall tire development capabilities while at the same time supporting car lovers the world over and contributing to the advancement and popularization of competitive motorsports in general.

 

1. Four-Wheel Motorsports Activities

○DUNLOP

Scene from 2021 Super GT

The SUPER GT Series is widely considered to be the pinnacle of Japanese racing. Fresh off our victory in the GT300 Class last year, we will be adding two new racing teams (“SHADE RACING” and “BUSOU Drago CORSE”) to our roster this year, bringing the number of vehicles competing in the GT300 Class with DUNLOP tires to seven. With another two teams on our roster in the GT500 Class, DUNLOP is proud to be supporting eight racing teams with nine vehicles in total at this year’s Super GT.

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 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.

Meanwhile, with an eye toward lowering the barriers to entry so that more and more people can actively enjoy competitive motorsports, we will be providing one-make tires for entry-level formula racing tournaments such as the Formula Regional Japanese Championship, the FIA-F4 Championship, the JAF-F4 Championship and the Super FJ Championship, as well as one-make tires for open-participation competitions such as the TCR Japan Series, VITA RACE and BMW & MINI Racing. Further, we will also be working to support the cultivation of younger up-and-coming drivers by sponsoring and providing tires for races that are open to amateurs, including the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing GR86/BRZ Cup.

 

○FALKEN

Scene from 2021 Nürburgring 24h-Race
 

In 2022, 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. Continuing from last year, Team FALKEN Motorsports will once again be competing for glory with two Porsche 911 GT3R racecars. At the same time, we will also once again be supplying tires to SUBARU TECNICA INTERNATIONAL as they compete in the SP3T Class for the first time in three years.

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 2021 AMA Supercross

We will be supplying one-make tires to support riders competing in the Moto2 and Moto3 Classes at the FIM World Championship Grand Prix, which ranks among the world’s premier two-wheel racing tournaments. At the same time, with the new addition of “Webike SRC Kawasaki France Trickstar” to our roster this year, we will be supplying tires to four 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 twelve consecutive years, DUNLOP will once again be gunning for victory in all classes for our thirteenth 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 to support younger riders competing in the Junior Champion Class at the NSF100 HRC Trophy Championship and other competitions held to cultivate 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.

■2022 DUNLOP Four-Wheel Motorsports Activity Plan Overview

SUPER GT

Class	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	Hironobu Yasuda
			Keishi Ishikawa
		NISSAN GT-R NISMO GT3	Ryuichiro Tomita
			Riki Okusa
			Yusuke Shiotsu
	R&D SPORT	SUBARU BRZ GT300	Takuto Iguchi
			Hideki Yamauchi
	K-tunes Racing	LEXUS RC F GT3	Morio Nitta
			Shinichi Takagi
	LM corsa	TOYOTA GR Supra GT	Hiroki Yoshimoto
			Shunsuke Kohno
	SHADE RACING	TOYOTA GR 86 GT	Katsuyuki Hiranaka
			Eijiro Shimizu
	BUSOU Drago CORSE	NISSAN GT-R NISMO GT3	Masataka Yanagida
			Yuji Ide

 

All Japan Rally Championship

Class	Team	Vehicle	Driver
JN1	TOYOTA GAZOO Racing	TOYOTA GR YARIS GR4 Rally	Norihiko Katsuta
	Winmax Rally Team	SUBARU WRX STI	Takuma Kamada

 

All Japan Gymkhana Championship

Class	Team	Vehicle	Driver
JG1	TEAM URGENT	TOYOTA GR YARIS	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
JG8	Obelisk Racing Team	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	Vehicle	Driver
OK	MASUDA RACING PROJECT	Praga	Turbo Asahi
		Praga	Fuki Tanaka
	TAKAGI PLANNING	EXPRIT	Tokiya Suzuki
		EXPRIT	Yuzuki Takemoto
	CrocPromotion	CrocPromotion	Shunsuke Minagi
	CUORE	CHARLES LECLERC	Taiga Imoto
	PONOS HIROTEX RACING	KR	Ryota Horachi
	Super Racing Junkie!	birelART	Rikuto Kobayashi
	Garage C	Praga	Yu Ito

 

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing GR86/BRZ Cup

Class	Team	Vehicle	Driver
Professional	OTG Motor Sports	TOYOTA GR86	Naoki Hattori
		TOYOTA GR86	Togo Suganami
		TOYOTA GR86	Ritomo Miyata
		TOYOTA GR86	Remei Ito
	RECARO RACING TEAM	SUBARU BRZ	Kota Sasaki
		SUBARU BRZ	Takashi Kogure

 

FIA-F4 JAPANESE CHALLENGE

Team	Driver
OTG Motor Sports	Remei Ito

 

One-Make Tire Racing Category

Race Name

Formula Regional Japanese Championship

FIA-F4 Championship

JAF-F4 Championship

Super FJ Championship

TCR Japan Series

VITA RACE

BMW & MINI Racing

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing GR86/BRZ Cup 2022 Clubman Series

JAF Junior Karting Championship FP (Junior Class)

 

■2022 FALKEN Four-Wheel Motorsports Activity Plan Overview

ADAC TOTAL 24-Hour Race

Class	Team	Vehicle	Driver
SP9(FIA-GT3)	FALKEN Motorsports	Porsche 911 GT3R(#33) Porsche 911 GT3R(#44)	Klaus Bachler
			Sven Müller
			Alessio Picariello
			Martin Ragginger
			Jaxon Evans
			Patrick Pilet
			Lars Kern
			Marco Seefried
SP3T	SUBARU TECNICA INTERNATIONAL	WRX STI NBR Challenge	Kota Sasaki
			Carlo van Dam
			Tim Schrick
			Marcel Lasee

 

■2022 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
	Webike SRC Kawasaki France Trickstar	KAWASAKI	TBD
	VRD IGOL PIERRET EXPERIENCES	YAMAHA	TBD
	WOJCIK RACING TEAM	YAMAHA	TBD

 

One-Make Tire Racing Category

Race Name	Class
FIM Grand Prix World Championship	Moto2 / Moto3

 

【Off-Road Racing World Championships】

Motocross World Championship

Class	Team	Vehicle	Rider
MXGP	Ice One Kawasaki Racing Team	KAWASAKI	Romain Febvre
			Ben Watson
	Standing Construct Husqvarna Factory Racing	HUSQVARNA	Pauls Jonass
			Brian Bogers

 

【International Road Racing Tournaments】

One-Make Tire Racing Category

Race Name	Class
FIM JuniorGP Junior World Championship	Moto3
European Moto2 Championship	Moto2
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	Team P.MU 7C	HONDA	Hiroki Ono
	41Planning	IODA	Yoichi Ui

 

One-Make Tire Racing Category

Race Name	Class	Host 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	Expert Class / Beginner Class	Japan
CBR250RR Dream Cup	-	Japan
HRC GROM Cup	GROM4 Cup / GROM5 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	Eli Tomac
			Dylan Ferrandis
	Monster Energy Kawasaki	KAWASAKI	Jason Anderson
			Adam Cianciarulo
	Red Bull KTM Factory	KTM	Cooper Webb
			Marvin Musquin
			Aaron Plessinger
	Rockstar Energy Husqvarna	HUSQVARNA	Malcolm Stewart
			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	Jo Shimoda
			Austin Forkner
			Seth Hammaker
			Cameron McAdoo
			Jett Rynolds
	Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing 250 Team	YAMAHA	Christian Craig
			Colt Nichols
			Jeremy Martin
			Justin Cooper
			Nate Thrasher
	Rockstar Energy Husqvarna	HUSQVARNA	RJ Hampshire
			Jalek Swoll
			Stilez Robertson
	Troy Lee Designs Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing Team	GASGAS	Michael Mosiman
			Pierce Brown

 

All Japan Motocross Championship (Japan)

Class	Team	Vehicle	Rider
IA1	Team Kawasaki R&D	KAWASAKI	Chihiro Notsuka
	TEAM HAMMER	HONDA	Makoto Ogata

 

All Japan Trials Championship (Japan)

Class	Team	Vehicle	Rider
IAS	TEAM MITANI Honda	HONDA	Tomoyuki Ogawa
			Seiya Ujikawa
	YAMAHA FACTORY RACING TEAM	YAMAHA	Kenichi Kuroyama
	Team FwO with YAMALUBE	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 issue date of this News Release. Please understand that plans may be changed without prior notice.