Yokohama Tire Corporation-Sponsored Driver Michael Essa Looks To Clinch The Formula Drift Championship

Company press release.

FULLERTON, CA (Oct. 10, 2013) – Yokohama Tire Corporation (YTC)-sponsored drifting competitor Michael Essa is going for the 2013 Formula Drift championship. Essa, who runs on Yokohama's newest ultra high-performance ADVAN Neova® AD08 R tires, is in first place heading into the 'Round 7 Title Fight' season finale, October 11-12 at Irwindale Speedway in Southern California.

'We're leading the series by15 points and have a really good chance to win the Formula D championship,' said Essa, who has his GSR Autosport E46 BMW M3 atop the standings thanks to a win in the 'Round 6 Showdown' event at Texas Motor Speedway last month. 'I'm relying on the Yokohama AD08R's to once again give me the grip and confidence needed to win, which is what they have been doing throughout the season.'

'Michael and the GSR Autosport team have already won two of six races on the Formula D circuit this year and I know they are going to go for it all in Irwindale,' said Matt Johnson, YTC performance marketing supervisor. 'It's great to have our Neova AD08 Rs tires on a championship-level car. The specialized motorsport-derived compound in the tires provides superior grip thanks, in part, to our orange oil technology.'

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.