NSW Production Touring Cars has announced Yokohama as the new control tyre manufacturer for the category from the start of the 2023 season, in a two-year exclusive supply arrangement.
From the start of next season, the tyre fitted to all NSW PTC vehicles will be the Yokohama Advan A050, a tyre familiar to many motorsport competitors through its use in other categories such as Improved Production.
While NSW PTC had run with open tyre regulations for the past two seasons, category spokesman Garry Mennell said there were a number of factors that prompted the category to move back to a control tyre formula.
“Race tyres are one of the biggest costs to competitors, and we were very conscious of that,” Mennell said.
“With inflation, a lot of the expenses for running a race car have increased recently and when you have open tyre regulations, as we currently have, everyone is paying full retail price which can be very costly.”
While NSW PTC received a number of proposals from brands to exclusively supply tyres for the category, Mennell said the Yokohama tender submission proved to be the most attractive.
“We had a number of proposals come back to us from the tender which was good to see, so we needed to spend some time reviewing all aspects of each one before we made our recommendation to the full committee and the club members,” Mennell said.
“Yokohama have been involved in supplying race tyres to a number of categories very successfully for a long time here in Australia so we are very confident our partnership with them will be beneficial for everyone involved.
“Having one of the major tyre manufacturers supporting the NSW PTC is fantastic with members now able to take advantage of very competitive club discount which means being able to save some dollars.
“The Yokohama A050 is also a well-proven tyre across a wide range of vehicles, as has been demonstrated in the Improved Production category, where there are all different types of cars in the field.”
Yokohama’s Australian Motorsport Manager, Alan Bradshaw, said the company is excited to be working with NSW PTC and is already working on plans to ensure competitors make the most of the tyres.
“NSW PTC is a good strong category that we want to be part of, and production car racing is an important part of our motorsport history, so there is a key synergy there,” Bradshaw said.
“As well as a commitment from our motorsport dealer network to provide a tyre fitting service at each round of the NSW PTC Championship, we’ll be providing advice to competitors to ensure they’re using our tyres correctly.
“We’re also organising a dedicated information night for competitors who aren’t familiar with our product, where we’ll educate them on things like tyre pressure and car setup. We’re keen to work with the NSW PTC competitors as much as we can and help them improve their on-track performance.”
The Yokohama exclusive supply arrangement with NSW PTC commences at the start of the 2023 season.
