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Toyo Tire Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Itami City, Hyogo Prefecture; President: Takashi Shimizu) Toyo Tires is pleased to announce that the Toyota Land Cruiser equipped with Open Country MT/R tires has won the T2, Production car category in the 2023 Dakar Rally.

Toyo Tires participated in the Dakar Rally 2023 in Saudi Arabia from December 31, 2022 to January 15, 2023 with Team Land Cruiser Toyota Auto Body. (Location: Kariya City, Aichi Prefecture; President: Keiji Masui). Toyo Tires provided LT285/70R17 Open Country MT/R off-road tires for both of the Toyota Land Cruiser cars.

Picture left side: Vehicle equipped with Open Country M/TR / right side: Team Land Cruiser Toyota Auto Body achieves 10 consecutive wins

Toyo Tires have been supporting Team Toyota Land Cruiser (TLC) in the Dakar Rally since 2021, and announced last year that we will continue to support their participation in this rally * 1 . Utilizing the technology and experience in off-road racing cultivated with TLC, two Land Cruiser LC300 (Dakar Rally 2023 specifications) have improved performance on rough roads such as rocky areas and deserts, and are environmentally friendly, by blending sustainable materials. We have developed and supplied the Open Country M//R (spec for Dakar Rally 2023) , which is designed to reduce the environmental impact.

Despite damages and technical issues, both TLC cars finished the 8.500km race. In the production car category, Ronald Basso/Jean Michel Polato's car took 1st place, and Takashi Miura/Laurent Lichtleuchter's car took 2nd place. As a result of the one-two finish, TLC also celebrated 10 consecutive victories in this division.

TLC Director Yuji Kadoya commented, "This time, we fought with the Open Country MT/R, which has been improved to maximize the performance of the Land Cruiser 300, and we were able to achieve our 10th consecutive victory in the production vehicle category at the Dakar Rally 2023. The dune stages of this year's race were tough, as there were many difficult spots that could only have been cleared with the combination of Land Cruiser 300 and Open Country MT/R, but I am glad that we were able to take advantage of the strengths of joint development. ” commented. Takashi Miura, the team driver, commented, "It was a difficult rally with a tougher route setting than we expected. However, the Open Countrty MT/R and Land Cruiser 300 combined well for the most difficult dune stage ever. I was able to push through, and I realized that I can compete in the increasingly difficult Dakar Rally. Thank you for all your support."

In the medium-term management plan "Mid-Term Plan '21", we announced that we will work to strengthen the development of products with unique design and functionality, such as the Open Country series. We will continue to use the knowledge we have gained through racing in product development to deliver attractive products with higher performance and higher quality.

OPEN COUNTRY M/TR (Specs for Dakar Rally 2023)

This product is an Open Country MT/R (LT285/70R17 116/113P) developed by Toyo Tires for use in the 2021 Dakar Rally. The rubber composition and tire structure have been tuned to improve durability, in line with the LC300 (Dakar Rally 2023 specification), the vehicle that will participate in the Rally 2023. In addition to pursuing performance on rough road surfaces such as rocky areas and deserts, we have adopted a design, compound, and high-rigidity bead structure that minimizes tire damage due to impacts during high-speed driving.

In addition, we use sustainable materials in line with our policy of "realizing a sustainable mobility life." Of the tire components, the tread, carcass ply, and sidewall are mainly made of butadiene rubber and styrene-butadiene rubber derived from biomass, and recycled bead wire is used as a recycled material.