Goodyear

Goodyear supports Japanese Rally Team on World Eco-Mission

AFTER 10 YEARS AND OVER 80,000KM, A JAPANESE PROFESSIONAL RALLY TEAM SPONSORED BY GOODYEAR WAS IN AUSTRALIA TO COMPLETE THE LATEST LEG OF THEIR WORLD ‘ECO-MISSIONS’, WHICH AIM TO RAISE AWARENESS OF GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION.

Driving the low-emitting hybrid Toyota Prius on low-rolling resistance Goodyear tyres, Team ACP began their eco-quests with a successful circumnavigation of Japan in 1999. Ten years on, their missions have taken in the United States, South America, Europe, Eastern Africa and the Sahara, and across the Eurasian continent.

The Australian leg of the rally, known as ECOCAMP@AUSTRALIA, set off on July 28 from Port Kembla, New South Wales, with the aim of circumnavigating much of the country by road, travelling almost 12,000 kilometres. Stops included major cities and outback localities throughout most states and territories, before finishing in Sydney on September 1.

Team ACP was formed by Kiichiro Yokota in 1979 and was the first Japanese team to race the Paris-Dakar Rally in over 12 years. In 1999 their focused moved away from professional racing when they started their lifework they called ‘ECO-MISSION’, with the aim to witness the earth’s environment and raise awareness of the need for environmental conservation. A decade later, these ‘missions’ are still running and have continued across 4 continents, with Australia being the 5th.

Each ‘mission’ has been achieved using Goodyear passenger car tyres that have low rolling-resistance, and therefore improved fuel economy. For ECOCAMP@AUSTRALIA 2009, Yokota and his team are drove a Toyota Prius shod with Goodyear Eagle RV-S tyres.

History of ECO-MISSIONS
• 2009 – ECOCAMP@AUSTRALIA (1 country, 11,700km)
• 2008 – ECO-JOURNEY SOUTH AMERICA (5 countries, 14,000km)
• 2007 – BEIJING-PARIS SILKROAD INTERNATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY TOUR (9 countries, 14,000km)
• 2005/2006 – BEIJING-ULANBAATAR INTERNATIONAL ECO-CHALLENGE (2 countries, 6,100km)
• 2001 – ECO-MISSION JAPAN (1 country, 8,800km)
• 2001 – ECO-MISSION SAHARA (5 countries, 7,300km)
• 2000 – ECO-MISSION EUROPE (10 countries, 9,400km)
• 1999 – ECO-MISSION NORTH AMERICA (2 countries 12,000km

Tags: ECO-MISSIONS, Goodyear Eagle RV-S