Yokohama Tire returns to Pikes Peak with Porsche and action sports star/Nitro Circus founder Travis Pastrana, along with a mountain of activities planned for fans at the upcoming “Race to the Clouds.”
The tiremaker has partnered with Porsche Motorsport North America and is the sponsor and exclusive tire supplier for the Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport Pikes Peak Hill Climb Trophy by Yokohama, a new, invitation-only class in the world-famous Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, June 24 on the historic course near Colorado Springs, Colorado.
All eight entries will compete on Yokohama off-the-shelf ADVAN A052™ tires, including Pastrana, who has raced in a wide array of vehicles and venues. Pastrana competed in the Rally Car class at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb twice (2004 and 2005). Pastrana finished first in 2004 in Rally Group X in his rookie year on Pikes Peak driving a Subaru WRX with a time of 13:10.30.
“It feels great to come back to Pikes Peak, and to be able to return with great partners like Porsche and drivers like Travis make it that much more special,” said Andrew Briggs, Yokohama’s vice president of marketing. “This is a legendary event and we’ve got a lot of social media engagements and Fan Fest activities planned to highlight this exciting new Porsche class, as well as our ADVAN A052 tire.”
Fans can follow the action before, during and after the race at Yokohama’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/yokohamatirecorp/. There, fans can get:
-- Yokohama’s history at Pikes Peak.
-- Photos and videos from testing.
-- Live and exclusive updates during race week.
-- A virtual reality link of Pastrana during a test run.
“I’m really looking forward to getting another crack at the mountain in a Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport running on Yokohama tires,” said Pastrana. “How cool is that? The Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is one of the most iconic races in the world. The new Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport Pikes Peak Hill Climb Trophy by Yokohama class is an awesome way to get re-familiarized with the mountain in a fun, but super-competitive class.”
Pastrana will also be at Yokohama’s booth at Fan Fest on June 22, taking photos and signing autographs. Included among the many Yokohama Pikes Peak Fan Fest activities are:
-- Porsche GT3 Cup car photo: Yokohama will have a real Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race car for fans to sit in the driver’s seat and have a free photo taken to share and take home.
-- The VR Experience with Pastrana: Fans will get a chance to “see” what it’s like racing up the mountain during a test run in Pastrana’s Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport via virtual reality. Yokohama will give away VR headsets to the first 200 fans who visit the booth so they can take them home and “race” with Pastrana.
-- Custom Pikes Peak skateboard contest: Fans at the race (or at home) can take a photo of anything that’s Yokohama Tire-branded, post it to Instagram or Facebook (using #yokohamapikespeak) and be in the running for a custom Yokohama Pikes Peak skateboard designed by Bear Walker.
The new class – the first official one-make Porsche category in the 96-year history of the “Race to the Clouds” – is exclusive to the Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport. Running in the Pikes Peak Challenge Time Attack Division, three variants of the mid-engine Porsche Cayman GT4 are eligible: the Clubsport, the IMSA GS class-spec Clubsport and the international GT4-specification Clubsport MR. The Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport is the race variant of the popular road-going Cayman GT4.
The Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport Pikes Peak Hill Climb Trophy by Yokohama adds to an already extensive list of North American-based motorsports activities both on- and off-road for Yokohama. This includes the IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama, the Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Yokohama, 24 Hours of Lemons, Spec MX-5 Challenge, TrophyLite, Yokohama NORRA Mexican 1000 and Yokohama Sonora Rally.