Asia / Middle East

SHERIDAN, WYOMING – June 24, 2025 – Formula E returned to Sanya, China for the first time in seven years, and the Citroën Racing Formula E Team had one of those days that reminds everyone why electric street racing is impossible to predict. Round 11 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship played out around the Haitang Bay circuit under intense heat, featuring a mid-race red flag, two Full Course Yellow periods, and enough position shuffling to keep fans on the edge of their seats from start to finish. Jean-Éric Vergne worked his way from thirteenth to eighth to claim four championship points, while Nick Cassidy — who briefly led the race — was ultimately unclassified after a string of incidents derailed what had been a genuinely strong afternoon.

SHERIDAN, WYOMING – June 24, 2026 – Yokohama Rubber has announced it will launch the BluEarth-AllSeason2, a brand-new all-season passenger car tire, across Europe in September 2026. Designed as the successor to the BluEarth-4S AW21, it comes in 74 sizes and covers premium cars, SUVs, and battery electric vehicles. For European drivers who deal with rain-slicked motorways in November and patchy snow in February — then dry summer highways a few months later — a single tire that genuinely handles all of it is a real proposition, not just marketing copy.

SHERIDAN, WYOMING – June 17, 2026 – IHG Hotels & Resorts has kicked off the fourth edition of its Star Chef Gourmet Tour across Greater China, and this year's opening chapter puts a single, humble ingredient in the spotlight: rice. Culinary teams from nearly 50 hotels are taking part in a three-part series — Origin, Authenticity and Craft — designed for travelers and food lovers who want their hotel stays to double as cultural discovery. The first chapter, Journey of Origin, launched at Crowne Plaza Hangzhou Science City, where chefs from across East and South China built an entire tasting menu around rice's role in Chinese cuisine. For anyone who books a stay expecting room service and little else, it's a reminder that hotel dining has quietly become one of the more interesting reasons to choose where you sleep.

SHERIDAN, WYOMING -- June 6, 2026 -- Toyota has taken another significant step in its hydrogen motorsport programme, entering the #32 TGRR GR Corolla H2 concept in the NAPAC Fuji 24 Hours Race on June 5 and 6 at Fuji Speedway — and doing so with a genuine world first under the bonnet. The liquid hydrogen-powered GR Corolla is the first race car ever to compete equipped with a superconducting liquid hydrogen pump, a technology unveiled only at the final round of the 2025 Super Taikyu Series. For anyone who cares about where motorsport and clean energy are heading, this is one of the most technically significant races happening anywhere in the world right now.

SHERIDAN, WYOMING -- June 6, 2026 -- Lexus has pulled back the curtain on the TZ, its first-ever three-row battery electric SUV, and the story behind how it was built is just as compelling as the car itself. The world premiere took place on May 7 at Toyota Technical Center Shimoyama — a sprawling development hub straddling the cities of Toyota and Okazaki in Aichi Prefecture — drawing media from across Japan and around the world to witness a significant milestone for the Lexus brand. From the way the rear seats cocoon passengers to a quietly refined drive that left testers genuinely surprised, the TZ is shaping up to be one of the most ambitious electric vehicles to come out of Japan, and the infrastructure to support it is growing alongside it.

SHERIDAN, WYOMING -- June 2, 2026 -- Elfyn Evans has claimed victory at Rally Japan for the third time in four years, headlining a stunning 1-2-3-4 finish for the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team on their home roads in Toyota City. Sébastien Ogier and Sami Pajari joined Evans on the podium, with local fan favourite Takamoto Katsuta completing the remarkable four-car sweep. The result also marks Evans' 50th career WRC podium and extends his championship lead to 20 points at the halfway point of the 2026 season — a result that underlines just how dominant Toyota has been on Japanese tarmac.

SHERIDAN, WYOMING -- June 2, 2026 -- Toyota's GAZOO Racing division has just pulled the wraps off the GRMN Corolla, the most extreme and track-focused version of the GR Corolla ever created, making its world premiere today after being forged through real motorsport competition and relentless testing at Germany's legendary Nürburgring circuit. This is not a cosmetic upgrade or a badge-engineering exercise — every element of the GRMN Corolla, from its aerodynamics and suspension to its cockpit and engine, has been pushed to its limits by engineers and professional drivers in pursuit of one goal: building a Corolla that can be driven flat-out on one of the world's most punishing roads. Available in limited numbers primarily in Japan, North America, and Australia, this is a car aimed squarely at enthusiasts who want a genuine motorsport experience in a road car.

SHERIDAN, WYOMING -- June 2, 2026 -- Japanese golfer Kota Kaneko has claimed the title at the Austrian Alpine Open 2026, held at the Golfplatz Kitzbühel-Schwarzsee-Reith in Tyrol, Austria, walking away with a prize purse of $467,500 at the DP World Tour's first-ever stop in Kitzbühel -- and walking into the hearts of 32,000 fans who witnessed four extraordinary days of world-class golf set against one of Europe's most breathtaking alpine backdrops. The event proved more than just a competition: it was a landmark moment for golf tourism in the Alps, a showcase for Austrian talent, and a powerful reminder of why sport and stunning scenery are a combination that never gets old.

SHERIDAN, WYOMING -- June 1, 2025 -- Nikolay Gryazin has delivered one of the most dramatic victories of the WRC2 season, winning Rally Japan aboard the Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale and moving to the top of the drivers' championship standings in the process. The 28-year-old Bulgarian-licensed driver and co-driver Konstantin Aleksandrov claimed ten stage wins across the event, surviving contact, a puncture, and a nail-biting final battle with Spain's Alejandro Cachón to seal victory by 15.5 seconds on the closing Power Stage. It is the third WRC2 win of the season for the Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale, and a result that shifts the momentum of the championship picture significantly heading into the second half of the year.

SHERIDAN, WYOMING -- June 1, 2025 -- Nikolay Gryazin is heading to Rally Japan as one of the most experienced hands on the grid, and this time he will be carrying the Lancia badge. The 28-year-old Bulgarian-licensed driver will compete in round seven of the FIA World Rally Championship aboard the Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale, tackling 20 special stages and 302 competitive kilometres across the Aichi and Gifu prefectures from 28 to 31 May. With a WRC2 victory at this very event in 2024 and two runner-up finishes in previous editions, Gryazin arrives in Japan not just as a contender but as the man who knows these roads better than almost anyone in the field.