Yokohama Rubber runs again in 'The Race to the Clouds'

ERJ staff report (TP)

Tokyo – The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., announced today that its racing team will participate again with the company’s original electric vehicle (EV) in the 2014 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado, US.

The event will take place on 29 June and the team refers to it as the 'Team Yokohama EV Challenge'. As it was last year, the team’s EV racing car will be equipped with BluEarth-A tires.

The firm said the two-fold challenge with a zero-emission vehicle is to further research and develop EV tires.

This will be the sixth year Yokohama has participated in the race. In both 2010 and 2011, the team bested the previous all-time records for an EV. In 2012, it beat its own record by more than 21 seconds, advancing its performance each year. Last year concluded with a system error, but the firm is aiming for a better result this year.

Marking its 92nd year, the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb – aka the 'Race to the Clouds' – is one of the most difficult motorsports challenges in the world. Racing to the 4,302 metre summit, participants cover a 20 km course beginning at the 2,862 metre level. The course and conditions are “daunting”, with 156 turns and rapidly changing temperatures and weather.