Throughout the 30 year long partnership with Macau Grand Prix, Yokohama Tire has not only provided the racing tires as the official tire supplier of the event, but also supported it in various ways, including the promotion activities, to make the Grand Prix even more successful.

Observing this tradition, Takeshi Fujino, the general manager of the tire overseas sales & marketing department, Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd., will be responsible for the company's involvement in the event in this 30th anniversary year since the company started to supply the official tires. Fujino has a detailed knowledge of Asian countries and has been involved in Macau Grand Prix for more than ten years. Here, he speaks about his feelings on the event.

I have been in the position to work on the Asian markets and associated with Macau Grand Prix for years.

Firstly, I worked for Yokohama Tire Sales Philippine from 1999 to 2003 and used the event as a sales promotion opportunity in the country. After that, I came back to Japan and was appointed the chief of Asia Division for three years from 2004 to 2006. My responsibility then included talks with the race organizers and the promotional activities on the site, so I was involved in the event in many different aspects.

Thereafter, I became the director of Yokohama Asia and used the event for the sales promotion for the whole Asian region and did the same once again when I was appointed the President of Yokohama India. Since 2011, I have been at headquarters as the manager of international tire sales and responsible for all aspects of our activities at Macau Grand Prix.

I used the words 'sales promotion' a few times already. To explain this more specifically, it starts with making the event known around the world, especially in Asia in this case, through the mass media. Because the motor sport is a good advertising platform to demonstrate the technical superiority and the quality of products, we have been utilizing it to enhance the brand image of Yokohama Tire in the marketing campaign by the overseas sales companies and agents.

During the race weekend, we set up a large hospitality area on the roof of pit garage building and invite the guests from the sales companies and other related people, offering them the opportunity to enjoy the exciting races of Macau Grand Prix. By visiting the event, the guests can feel the strong presence of Yokohama Tire in Macau, including the role of control tire supplier, and that experience would assure them more confidence on the Yokohama Tire's products and give them even more motivation to the sales activities in their local area.

From the years during which I was involved in Macau Grand Prix, if I choose the strongest memory that stands out in my mind, it is the 53rd Grand Prix in 2006. The F3 race was run with the control tires from Yokohama, of course, and Kamui Kobayashi won the qualifying race that year. In addition, Yokohama became the official tire supplier for WTCC (the FIA World Touring Car Championship) that year. With a number of Yokohama shoed cars also won supporting races, the Yokohama's presence in Macau was so strong in both name and reality.

Our hospitality area on the roof of the pit building was crowded with the guests that year too. Many people from Yokohama's sales companies and agents or dealers from all over the world come together every year, so it has become a kind of reunion. It is always satisfying for me, as a person responsible for organizing the hospitality area, to see them coming to the event by making sometimes a long trip to Macau and enjoying the event.

The stage of the exciting races is the city of Macau. Looking back the years around 2004 when I started to be involved in the event, it was also the time when Macau greatly accelerated its economic growth. The World Heritage listing brought in more visitors and we saw a rapid increase of the topnotch hotels and casinos.

In such circumstances, Macau Grand Prix has also grown in direct proportion with the city's economic growth. It is now established as one of the world class motor sport events. So I believe it has become more important than ever for us to demonstrate the strong presence of Yokohama in this event.

Macau is changing in the sense of economic growth but there are things that have been unchanged. Even after the return to China from Portugal in 1999, the unique atmosphere created by the mix of West and East hasn't been changed at all. Macau is a great place to be that provides us with a beautiful cityscape, delicious food and an exotic mood.

This is the 30th anniversary year since we started to supply the F3 official tires for Macau Grand Prix. In addition to this, we also supply the official tires for WTCC and many Yokohama Tire users take part in the GT Asia and other supporting races. In fact, the large majority of competitors in the car races in this event run on Yokohama Tires. I hope the motor sport fans all over the world can feel the Yokohama's strong presence in this prestigious race event.

Macau Grand Prix is famous for the spectacular battles on the street race track. The track is rich in variety and very different from the street tracks used for Formula One races, which makes the battles in Macau even more fascinating.

Macau Grand Prix is well established in the motor racing world and it is also an important event for Yokohama Tire from the view point of the tire industry. Given the rise of emerging countries in the industry, we are on the side of those who are chased by them. So Macau Grand Prix is one of indispensable opportunities for us to strongly show our presence and I feel we should exploit its advertising potential further in the future.

The race cars fight with each other on the exciting street track with only guard rails on both sides and no escape zones. And most of them rely on Yokohama's racing tires. I believe this fact makes you realize how good our products are.