News - 2025

Tokyo (March 7, 2025) - Bridgestone Corporation today announced its 2025 motorsports plan. In 2025, the company will continue to support various domestic and overseas motorsports, ranging from top-level professional race series to grassroots amateur races, to further enhance and support motorsport culture. Valuing its "origin" as a tire manufacturer, the company will contribute to the development of motorsport culture by reinforcing the sustainable global motorsport as a "mobile laboratory" and connecting the refined technologies under extreme conditions to the development of replacement car and motorcycle tires.

In top-level professional race series, Bridgestone's support will primarily come through supplying Bridgestone POTENZA tires for SUPER GT car races in Japan. The company will also provide Bridgestone BATTLAX tires for motorcycle races for All Japan Road Race Championship motorcycle races and Endurance World Championship (EWC), the world's foremost series of endurance motorcycle races by Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). With Firestone FIREHAWK tires for car races, the company serves as the exclusive tire supplier for the prestigious motorsport series in North America, the NTT INDYCAR® SERIES^*1, which includes INDY500.

Bridgestone also supports grassroots motorsports. For example, the company continues to supply tires to Super Taikyu Series races as the official tire supplier. In addition, it will supply tires for the All-Japan Gymkhana Championship and Mazda's grassroots motorsport races as well as the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing GR86/BRZ Cup, a race series that uses mass-produced tires, and the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Rally Challenge, a grassroots motorsport rally for beginners. At the same time, the company will seek to expand the fanbase for motorsport through the continuation of the POTENZA Circuit Challenge, an open-participation event that offers beginners the opportunity to take their first drive around the circuit. Through its involvement in these and other races across the globe, Bridgestone will continue to advance and refine its technologies and brand power by pursuing the limits of maximum tire performance under extreme conditions as it seeks to support the safety of all drivers and riders from professionals to amateurs and teams, and to empower each and all to achieve their best from the ground up.

Meanwhile, by supporting sustainable motorsport activities with primarily tires equipped with "new premium" ENLITEN®^*2 technology, which is the base technology for product design, Bridgestone is providing support for a carbon-neutral mobility society. The company will continue to sponsor the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge,^*3 a world-leading solar car race held in Australia for which the company has been the title sponsor since 2013. The company will supply competitors in this race with tires equipped with ENLITEN® technology and that use recycled and renewable materials at higher ratio. The company will also continue its title sponsorship and support of the Bridgestone FIA ecoRally Cup,^*4 an international competition in which non-professional drivers compete with a focus on electricity efficiency using zero-emissions vehicles.

As a new undertaking in 2025, Bridgestone will begin supporting the KYOJO CUP, a series of races for female drivers as the official tire supplier and contribute to the realization of the diversification of motorsport culture.

In 2023, Bridgestone began reinforcing sustainable global motorsport activities in celebration of the 60th anniversary of its motorsport activities. As another step of this journey, effective March 1, 2025, the company established a new motorsport management structure, which will enhance its motorsport initiatives from a management perspective as it moves to the next stage. The company will continuously evolve these activities, reconnecting motorsport activities to its "origin" as a tire manufacturer and recommitting as a "Challenge for Excellence." Bridgestone's passion to race, to win, to embrace the ultimate challenge drives its innovation to advance sustainable technology. Furthermore, the company promotes co-creation with society, partners, and customers, aiming for the realization of a sustainable mobility society with sustainability at the core. This commitment is encapsulated in the message of "Passion to Turn the World®". Under this message, Bridgestone will demonstrate its challenge and pursuit of excellence, as well as its passion to race with many partners who love motorsport and will enhance its brand power as a "sustainable premium brand."

Bridgestone continues to evolve by supplying tires that have been improved in performance based on the usage conditions and feedback from drivers and riders across various racing categories, while ensuring safety and peace of mind based on our fundamental principle "tires carry life" in development of motorsport tires. Furthermore, using races as a "mobile laboratory," the company will connect refined technologies under extreme conditions to the development of replacement car and motorcycle tires for the next stage under the concept "From Circuit to Street."

"Bridgestone will accelerate sustainability of the entire value chain, where it "produces," "uses," and "renews" tires to raw material with motorsport tires as the starting point and spread it to the entire group with using races as a "Mobile Laboratory,' To this end, we will evolve our motorsport activities to the next stage with our new management structure leveraging the global motorsport insight and operational experience," said Hiroshi Imai, Vice President and Senior Officer, responsible for Motorsports tire development and technology.

Bridgestone strives to achieve the corporate commitment of "Emotion: Committed to inspiring excitement and spreading joy to the world of mobility" described in "Bridgestone E8 Commitment^*5," through sustainable global motorsport activities. Motorsports is Bridgestone's passion - Always has been and always will be.

1. Bridgestone has an agreement to act as the exclusive tire supplier for the NTT INDYCAR® SERIES until 2030.
   2024.9.13 Firestone to Continue as NTT INDYCAR® SERIES Exclusive Tire Supplier through Long-Term Extension
2. ENLITEN is a technology that evolves environmental performance while expanding basic performance and elevating all conventional performances. It also pursues "ultimate customization" to sharpen the edge in performance which not only meets the apparent needs and potential wants of the markets and customers, but also further inspires markets and customers by creating new value that they may not have imagined, according to the characteristics of diverse vehicles and usage conditions.
3. Bridgestone has an agreement to act as the naming rights sponsor of the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge until 2031. The official website of the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge can be found here.
4. 2023.3.10 FIA PARTNERS WITH BRIDGESTONE ON ECORALLY CUP INITIATIVE
5. The Bridgestone Group established its corporate commitment, the "Bridgestone E8 Commitment," to help it realize its vision: "Toward 2050, Bridgestone continues to provide social value and customer value as a sustainable solutions company." This commitment will serve as the Group's axis to drive management while earning the trust of future generations. The "Bridgestone E8 Commitment" consists of eight uniquely Bridgestone values starting with the letter "E" (Energy, Ecology, Efficiency, Extension, Economy, Emotion, Ease, and Empowerment) that the Group will commit to creating through distinctly Bridgestone purposes and processes, together with employees, society, partners, and customers to help realize a sustainable society.

<Car Races>

1. NTT INDYCAR® SERIES

• The NTT INDYCAR® SERIES is the premier open-wheel racing series in North America.
• Through its Firestone brand, Bridgestone is the sole tire supplier for the NTT INDYCAR® SERIES. This year marks the 26th consecutive season that Firestone Firehawk race tires will be used exclusively in the series.
• After a first victory at the inaugural Indianapolis 500 in 1911, Firestone tires have had a total of 75 wins at the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing" leading into the 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, more than twice as many as all other tire manufacturers combined.

Tires： FIRESTONE FIREHAWK RACE TIRE

Additional drivers to be announced shortly for participation in Indianapolis 500 only.

2. INDY NXT by Firestone

• INDY NXT by Firestone is the developmental series for the NTT INDYCAR® SERIES.
• Bridgestone supported this category with Firestone brand tires from 1991 to 2013, and returned as the sole tire supplier again in 2023, with a long-term agreement.

Tires： FIRESTONE FIREHAWK RACE TIRE

Others participating in 2025 season to be announced shortly.

3. Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC)

• Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC) is exhibition racing series for completely autonomous driving cars held in North America and Europe.
• Hundreds of engineering students across 10 teams, 4 countries, and 14 universities compete in the Indy Autonomous Challenge to compete with fully autonomous race cars to decide who has programmed the most advanced AI driver.
• Bridgestone has exclusively supplied Bridgestone brand tires since 2021.

<Motorcycle Races>

1. FIM Endurance World Championship (EWC)

• The FIM EWC is the only motorcycle road race world championship with multiple tire suppliers.
• In 2024, it was the fourth consecutive year and the fifth time that a Bridgestone tire-equipped team has won the championship. Bridgestone will supply five teams with tires in this season.
• In 2025, Bridgestone will continue to supply tires with high grip, durability, and comfort handling.

2. Canadian Superbike Championship (CSBK)

• Bridgestone races in the Canadian Superbike Championship (CSBK), supported by Bridgestone BATTLAX Racing V02, as wells Liqui Moly Beta Racing in Supercross, supported by the full lineup of Bridgestone BATTLECROSS tires.