BBS Japan Named Official Partner of the FIA Certified Gran Turismo Championships
TOKYO, Japan (June 3, 2021) - BBS Japan has officially partnered with the "FIA Certified Gran Turismo Championships" 2021 Series. BBS, which celebrated its 50th-anniversary last year as the industry's preeminent wheel maker, stated that it is committed to supporting the virtual world of racing through Gran Turismo, along with its real-world racing activities.
The official announcement will be made during the "World Series - Round 1" of the FIA Certified Gran Turismo Championships 2021 Series, which will stream live on the official "Gran Turismo TV" YouTube channel and "Gran Turismo LIVE."
The programming schedule is listed below.
■ The FIA Certified Gran Turismo Championships 2021 Series, World Series - Round 1, live stream begins Sunday, June 6 at 7:30 a.m. (PDT)
(Please note the start of the program was changed and is no longer at 5:00 a.m. PDT.)
Make sure you tune in to see who will strike first in this maiden event of the 2021 season!
Comment from BBS Japan Representative President - Norimasa Nosaka
“BBS is a company that is rooted in motorsports. It all started with this single desire: to provide wheels that win races. By developing our technology through motorsports, many teams including those in Formula One have achieved success with BBS wheels.
"BBS focuses on a manufacturing process where we compress blocks of aluminum down to less than 1/4 its original size, creating complex designs using dies, with all finishing touches made by hand to perfection. A strong, resilient, and beautiful wheel. This is what a BBS wheel stands for.
"BBS Japan has now partnered with Gran Turismo, a series that goes beyond the boundaries of video games and is beloved by motorsports fans throughout the world. We are very excited to be a part of this partnership, and we hope to reach out to the younger generations through Gran Turismo.“
About BBS Japan Co., Ltd.
BBS was founded in 1970 by two German engineers, Heinrich Baumgartner and Klaus Brand, in the little town of Schiltach located in the Black Forest of Germany. BBS is named after the initials of the two founders and the town: Baumgartner, Brand, Schiltach.
The first products developed by BBS were fiberglass auto body aero parts. At the time, the European Touring Car Championship (ETC) was becoming popular in Europe and their aero parts were being adopted for the racecars in the championship. Thereafter, in the process of becoming deeply involved in motorsports, BBS also began focusing on the development and manufacture of wheels for racecars, and in 1972 began production of its three-piece racing wheels.
In 1985, a BBS forged one-piece wheel won the Technology Innovation Award at the SEMA-AIA show in the U.S., and in 1992 the company became the exclusive supplier of forged magnesium F-1™ racing wheels to Ferrari. In 2011, BBS started mass production of the world's first forged extra super duralumin wheels, and in 2015 succeeded in the mass production of magnesium wheels.