Endurance Carnival 2008 Motegi KART Endurance Festival "K-TAI" held at the scorching Twin Ring Motegi. On August 2nd (Sat), a 5-hour endurance race was held for the Mission Class, with 74 teams on the grid. Although clouds spread in the morning, when the final event started, the sun peeked through the clouds, presenting a true summer endurance race.

Starting with a clean rolling start from the formation lap, 【#13 weed criff】 who grabbed the pole position was the first to enter the first corner. Followed by 【#9 to-ten-pole Higuchi 2nd RT】, 【#32 MACS RACING】, 【#100 Kamonegi Shokai GC】, and 【#36 Firebird】. Returning to the home straight in the lead after the opening lap was 【#9 to-ten-pole Higuchi 2nd RT】, with 【#59 Garage Chabatake 250】 making a strong comeback from 15th on the grid to take 2nd place, and 【#8 Higuchi RT Special】 in 3rd place, the order was shuffled.

Riding on momentum, [#59 Garage Tea Field 250] marked the fastest lap of the day at 2 minutes and 03.788 seconds on the 8th lap, taking the lead and pulling away from the rest of the pack. Behind them, [#8 Higuchi RT Special] and [#77 HARRY RACING] were engaged in a close battle.

At the one hour mark from the start, the top position was held by [#8 Higuchi RT Special], followed by [#73 RARacing+Garage Chabatake], [#59 Garage Chabatake 250], [#100 Kamonegi Shokai GC], [#58 Middle-aged Bousouzoku Korinai Menmen Cha], [#77 HARRY RACING], with 6 teams all on the same lap. However, as pit stops and differences in fuel consumption came into play, the battle for the top gradually narrowed down.

At the 3-hour mark, #77 HARRY RACING and #8 Higuchi RT Special were both on their 74th lap, engaging in a back-and-forth battle. This competition between the two teams was also a showdown between mentor and student. #77 HARRY RACING's Haruo Otake is a former participant in the British Super Kart series and returned to Japan in April of last year, making this his second "K-TAI" entry. Teammate Mitsunobu Endo has had success in All Japan Kart and F3 races, and currently competes in Civic races. Shinichi Takaoka also participates in regional championships, making this team a formidable group. On the other hand, #8 Higuchi RT Special's Shoji Miyazaki is a rider in the All Japan Road Race for 2 wheels and is making his first "K-TAI" appearance. Both teams were stationed in the same pit, watching over their fellow racers on the course.

At the 1 hour and 17 minute mark until the checkered flag, [#77 HARRY RACING] took the lead while [#8 HIGUCHI RT SPECIAL] was in the pit. They were trailing by about 50 seconds. Both teams were lapping at almost the same pace. At the 53 minute mark, [#77 HARRY RACING] pitted. After completing their final refueling, they returned to the track. [#8 HIGUCHI RT SPECIAL] also finished their final pit work, closing the gap between the two teams to about 34 seconds.

And then, an accident, which can also be called the highlight of this race, occurs. At around 17 minutes until the checker, there is a spin on the course and the safety car enters. As a result, the gap between #77 HARRY RACING and #8 Higuchi RT Special is suddenly shortened, and when the full course caution is lifted with 8 minutes remaining, the gap between the two teams is only 8.6 seconds.

Wanted to escape [#77 HARRY RACING], but due to mission trouble, couldn't raise the pace as desired. On the other hand, [#8 Higuchi RT Special] catches sight of rivals and quickly closes the gap. As the checkered flag approaches with one lap to go, it becomes a complete tail-to-nose, but [#77 HARRY RACING] narrowly escapes and crosses the finish line first. [#8 Higuchi RT Special] also receives the checkered flag with a 0.314 second difference, and in the 5-hour "K-TAI" mission class of 2008, [#77 HARRY RACING] and [#8 Higuchi RT Special] completed 121 laps and won the most laps award.

"It was nerve-wracking. In the end, we had a mission trouble and couldn't increase the pace, and if there was one more lap, we would have been overtaken. Last year, we were running in second place and were hit by trouble, so we were able to get revenge. It's a victory for teamwork," said #77 HARRY RACING's Otake. "There were some troubles along the way, but we were able to resolve them and finish the race. It was my first time participating, but I really enjoyed it. Next year, I want to be the first to receive the checkered flag," said #8 Higuchi RT Special's Miyazaki.

The second excellent lap award went to [#73 RARacing+Garage Chabatake] with 119 laps, and the third excellent lap award went to [#100 Kamonegi Shokai GC] with 118 laps.

The award for the most laps in the middle displacement category was recorded by [#1 Do Racing] and [#20 MKS Racing]. [#20 MKS Racing] also received the MVP award.

The award for the most laps in the small displacement category was achieved by #24 RKdeCervazaWEST and #4 Petit Racing Gr-M, both completing 104 laps.