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Toyo Tires supported Team Land Cruiser Toyota Auto Body (TLC) have won the production vehicle category,in the 2025 Dakar. TLC, a rally team of Toyota Auto Body Co., Ltd., have now won the production class for the 12th consecutive time.

The team participated in the 2025 Dakar Rally 2025, held in Saudi Arabia from January 3 to 17, in a Toyota Land Cruiser GR300 SPORT equipped with Toyo Tires, Open Country M/TR tires. Part of the SUV and pickup tire fsamily, the Open Country tires were manufactured using sustainable materials.

Miura's Land Cruiser 300 GR SPORT	Team Land Cruiser Toyota Auto Body celebrate 12 consecutive victories

Leveraging the technology and experience in off-road rallies cultivated together with TLC, Toyo Tires developed and supplied the "Open Country M/TR (Dakar Rally 2025 spec) for the team's two "Land Cruiser 300 GR SPORT competition cars. This product improves driving performance on rough road surfaces such as rocky areas and deserts, while also using sustainable materials for 55% of its total weight, reducing its environmental impact.

The course for this years edition of the Dakar Rally started from Bisha in the southwest of Saudi Arabia, finishing in Shubaytah in the east. The race comprises a total of 12 special stages (competition sections) with liaison sections  connecingt them. Competitors have to travel a total distance of approximately 7,400 km, includeing long, steeply graded sand dune stages that put a strain on both vehicles and tires. However, the high off-road performance of the Open Country M/TR tires supported the drivers with both TLC vehicles able to complete the course.

Akira Miura, with his navigator, Jean Michel Polata, took first place in the production category givinbgf TLC their 12th consecutive victory in the class. Team mates Ronald Basso and Jean Pierre Garcin, also completed the challenging course taking second place in class.

■ Comment from Akira Miura
- This event was said to be the toughest in history, and it turned out to be as difficult as rumored. There were moments when it crossed my mind that it might be impossible to finish the race with a production car, but the Open Country tires always powerfully propelled the car forward. This tire not only provides performance, but also integrates the car and the human senses, which gave me the strength to believe in the Land Cruiser and enabled me to aim for the finish line without giving up until the very end. I'm grateful for the encouraging support from Open Country fans and everyone involved in tire production.

■Comment from Yuji Kakutani (TLC Director)
- This year's competition was also very difficult. In the first half of the competition, we tackled stages with boulders the size of millstones and sharp rocks hidden under the sand, and in the second half, we had to overcome one of the world's largest sand dunes, towering like a wall that stretches 15km in width. I believe that we were able to overcome such harsh conditions thanks to the calm handling of the crew and the strong support of Open Country tires. As a result, we were able to achieve a one-two finish in the production car division and our 12th consecutive victory. This is all thanks to the team's overall strength and everyone's support. Thank you very much.

Toyo Tires are improving the performance of SUV tires by feeding back the experience of participating in off-road races held in harsh environments into the product development of tires. In addition, in order to contribute to the realization of the next-generation mobility society, Toyo Tires are striving to develop products and materials, strengthen technologies, establish product and raw material recycling technologies, and develop alternative materials to environmentally hazardous substances.

■OPEN COUNTRY M/TR (Dakar Rally 2025 spec)

This product is a tuned version of the Open Country M/TR to fit the Land Cruiser 300 GR SPORT, the vehicle that TLC competes in the Dakar Rally with, improving its drivability, wear resistance, and durability on rough road surfaces such as rocky areas and deserts.

In addition, 55% of the product's total weight is made from sustainable materials.

As with conventional products, it uses butadiene rubber and styrene butadiene rubber derived from biomass ^*1 , rice husk ash silica, plant-derived oil, bio-derived polyester fiber, and recycled bead wire. In addition to using recycled carbon black extracted from waste tires, the Dakar Rally 2025 specification also uses carbon black derived from pyrolysis oil.
^{*1: Derived from renewable materials such as plants}