Press Release

Toyo Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd. announces that the company-backed drift^*1 racing team “Team TOYO TIRES DRIFT” will participate in Round 5 of the 2013 D1 Grand Prix Series (sponsored by D1 Corporation) held at Huis Ten Bosch in Nagasaki Prefecture on September 14 (Sat.) and 15 (Sun.), 2013. This will be the first D1 event held at this venue.

Aug. 3 Scenes of Round 3 Ebisu Circuit Event *Masato Kawabata (Left) and Tatsuya Sakuma (Right)

At the Round 3 event (Ebisu Circuit in Fukushima), Team TOYO TIRES DRIFT racer Masato Kawabata unleashed an aggressive performance on his way to taking top honors in the both the Tan-sou (solo run) and Tsui-sou (one-on-one battle) finals for an impressive overall victory. Kawabata continued his good form in Round 4, with a strong, steady driving performance en route to a 2nd-place finish in the Tan-sou and 5th-place finish in the Tsui-sou, which left him atop the point rankings at the conclusion of Round 4. Joining Kawabata in earning seeds for Round 5 from Team TOYO TIRES DRIFT were Tatsuya Sakuma (11th) and Akinori Utsumi (16th).

As with Maishima Sports Island in Osaka, this will be the first time a D1 event is hosted at Huis Ten Bosch, and the race will be held on a special course set up on a parking lot. While the overall course layout will be compact, it will be uncharted territory for all drivers, so the outcome will be determined by which teams and drivers can figure out the course characteristics and tune their driving machines accordingly.

Only two more rounds remain in this year’s series. We encourage you to follow the high-level driving exploits of Kawabata as he battles for the series championship along with the rest of Team TOYO TIRES DRIFT.

*1 2013 D1 Grand Prix Series, which kicked off on April 13 in Osaka (Maishima Sports Island), is a series of six racing events throughout Japan, including at such venues as Odaiba and Huis Ten Bosch.

1: Drifting

A motor competition in which drivers cause the racecar’s wheels to slide, and the outcome is determined based on sliding technique, visual quality of driving, and performance delivered to the crowd. Drift drivers perform at a level that exceeds the limits of normal driving and racing, cutting their steering wheels in the opposite direction the car is turning in order to control their cars with an unparalleled level of balance. Compared to other motorsport races and rally competitions, the outcome is determined much more by the skill of the drivers than the performance of the machines.

■Overview of 2013 Team TOYO TIRES DRIFT

Contracted drivers : Masato Kawabata and Tatsuya Sakuma

Support drivers : Akinori Utsumi, Yoshifumi Tadokoro, and Seimi Tanaka

2013 TOYO GIRLS : Asami Agawa and Natsu Tosaki

■2013 D1 Grand Prix Series (scheduled)

■2013 Exhibitions (scheduled)

■Team TOYO TIRES DRIFT (2013 Round 3-4 Ebisu Circuit)

For details on 2013 D1GP Series, go to http://www.d1gp.co.jp