Yokohama officials to speak at sustainable motorsports summit

Executives from Yokohama will be among a panel of speakers consisting of innovators and thought leaders from the business, engineering, academic and research communities at the Aug. 25 “Accelerating Sustainable Performance Summit” at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.

The focus of the event is: How motorsports technology and innovation help drive advances in sustainable transportation.

“The summit is in perfect alignment with our global environmental commitment,” says Fred Koplin, Yokohama’s director of marketing communications, “and we are proud to be involved. Our BluEarth philosophy, in particular, is aimed at harmonizing our products and operations with the environment.”

The BluEarth-1 tire, to be available in the U.S. next year, continues the company’s foray into orange oil technology, according to Koplin.

“Orange oil was first used in the dB Super E-spec and the ADVAN ENV-R2, a passenger car tire and racing slick, respectively, which, with natural rubber, cut the proportion of petroleum products in the tire,” he explains.

Koplin says the track is an ideal location for hosting the green summit. “With its solar power, recycling, on- track green technology and other programs, Infineon has made great strides in reducing its carbon footprint,” he reports. “The raceway even has 3,000 sheep to help maintain the grass and fire lanes around the facility. Now that’s a green track!”

For more information, visit www.yokohamatire.com.