YOKOHAMA TIRE CORPORATION'S FORMULA DRIFT TITLE DEFENSE BEGINS AT LONG BEACH, APRIL 4-5

Company press release.

• 2013 Champion Michael Essa, along with Kuniaki Takahashi and Ryan Kado, will compete on ADVAN Neova® AD08 R tires

FULLERTON, CA (April 2, 2014) – The 2014 Formula Drift season starts April 4-5 in Long Beach, California, and Yokohama Tire Corporation (YTC) is ready to defend its title with reigning champion Michael Essa. YTC and Essa captured the 2013 Formula D crown on ADVAN Neova® AD08 R tires.

Essa will be piloting the Essa Autosport BMW E46 M3 on a segment of the Long Beach Grand Prix street course. YTC is also partnering with D1 veteran Kuniaki Takahashi in his A'PEXi Lexus SC430, as well as up-and-coming Ryan Kado in his Gryphon AutoLab Nissan 350Z.

'We have an extremely talented line-up this season,' said Matt Johnson, YTC performance marketing supervisor. 'Essa is looking to repeat, Takahashi brings a wealth of drifting experience to the Yokohama team and Kado is a definite name to watch.'

In addition, all three YTC-sponsored teams are scheduled to participate in the Motegi Racing Super Drift Challenge during the Long Beach Grand Prix weekend, April 10-11. The cars will compete under the lights on Friday and Saturday evening and be on display throughout the weekend.

'Formula Drift is a very competitive series and the capabilities of the AD08 R tires are a key component for success,' said Johnson. 'It's a world-class extreme performance summer tire and utilizes our breakthrough orange oil compound, found both in our ADVAN® ENV-R2™ race slick and consumer tire products.'

Yokohama Tire Corporation is the North American manufacturing and marketing arm of Tokyo, Japan-based The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., a global manufacturing and sales company of premium tires since 1917. Servicing a network of more than 4,500 points of sale in the U.S., Yokohama Tire Corporation is a leader in technology and innovation. The company's complete product line includes tires for high-performance, light truck, passenger car, commercial truck and bus, and off-the-road mining and construction applications. For more information on Yokohama's extensive product line, visit www.yokohamatire.com.