Toyo Tire Corporation will supply Toyo Open Country M/T-R, specially tuned version of its flagship brand for pickup trucks and SUVs or serious off-road racing.
Toyota Land Cruiser at the 2020 Andalucia Rally
The Dakar Rally is a cross country (off-road endurance) rally that has been organized since 1979. Originally staged from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal, crossing the Sahara on the African Continent, it was formerly known as the Paris-Dakar Rally. With the race now taking place entirely in Saudi Arabia in the Middle East, the Dakar continues to enthrall drivers and motorsports fans as one of the toughest motorsports events in the world. The forthcoming Dakar Rally, scheduled for January 2022, will see participating teams driving a total distance of approximately 8,000 km over the two weeks of the race.
TLC is a professional rally team formed by Toyota Auto Body, a member of the Toyota Group, to compete in the Dakar Rally. The team first entered the Dakar back in 2005 taking over from its predecessor, the Toyota Team Araco. At the 2021 Dakar, which took place in January this year, the team scored their eighth consecutive win in the production category.
Toyo Tires has supplied its hallmark tyres to many teams and drivers competing in tough off-road races across the globe, underpinning their victories. At the 2022 Dakar, Toyo Tires will support TLC by supplying Open Country M/T-R, which have been developed specifically for the Dakar Rally based on TLC's experience, accumulated through off-road races in deserts and other treacherous terrains, as well as know-how that Toyo Tires has gained from its support of such races. The mutual target is to assist TLC to increase their eight straight wins, to nine consecutive production category wins.
In its medium-term business plan, Mid-Term '21 Plan, announced in February this year, Toyo Tires announced that it will strengthen the development of products that feature unique design and functionality, including the Open Country tyre series. Toyo Tires feed knowledge acquired from these activities back to the product development process in a bid to deliver higher-performance, higher-quality products that will appeal to general consumers.
