
Following Saturday, July 22nd (Sun) also became cloudy at Twin Ring Motegi. The temperature only rose to about 25 degrees, making it a comfortable condition. For the Enjoy 7-Hour Endurance, 101 teams lined up on the grid and the announcer and Motegi Angel introduced each team from the back of the grid. The moment of the start is approaching every moment.
And the two groups started the rolling lap and started at 9:30 as planned. The leaders at the start were #89 FASTLUX@GEN, who got the pole position, and #3 Rosso@GEN, who started second and pulled away, entering the first corner. Following them were #78 Team SYOTA, who won the MVP in the previous day's 5-hour endurance challenge, followed by #137 Sugiyama Racing & STAS, #20 ADVAN S.C Dream, #55 Tokyo Motorsports College A, and #555 TEAM Aman@GEN, all chasing the top two cars in a pack.
The team that returned to the home straight in first place on the opening lap was [#78 Team SYOTA]. Following them were [#20 ADVAN S.C Dream], [#3 Rosso@GEN], [#137 Sugiyama Racing & STAS], [#55 Tokyo Motorsports College A], and [#89 FASTLUX@GEN]. Later, [#20 ADVAN S.C Dream] took the lead and received the 15th Lap Award, which is given to the team that passes the 15th lap in first place and pulls away from the following teams.
Behind them, there was a team making a fierce comeback. It was [#39 Espresso], which started from the 95th grid position. The starting driver, Seiji Koide, set the best lap time of 2 minutes 43.536 seconds on the 5th lap. They steadily improved their position and by the 2-hour mark had risen to 3rd place, one lap behind the leader. By the 4-hour mark, they finally took the lead and extended their advantage. However, with one hour remaining, [#37 TeamKRS-DAI&MKS] was closing in, reducing the gap to just over 17 seconds behind the leading [#39 Espresso]. After 118 laps, the gap narrowed further to 14.033 seconds, suggesting momentum was with [#37 TeamKRS-DAI&MKS]. Seeing this, [#39 Espresso] increased their pace. Although they did not have much fuel margin, it was a tough decision. Subsequently, [#37 TeamKRS-DAI&MKS] made their seventh pit stop. This eased the pressure on [#39 Espresso], who maintained their lead and took the checkered flag. They completed 137 laps and won the Most Laps Award.
"It was the result of everyone on the team working together. Starting from the 95th grid was quite tough, but we discussed and aimed to gradually improve our position. There were some minor troubles, but no accidents, and we were able to run consistently. The pit work was also a big factor, with six people performing flawlessly. However, fuel efficiency was tight, especially during the last two and a half hours when we had to drive while considering fuel consumption," said Seiji Hata of [#39 Espresso].
In second place, #55 Tokyo Motorsports College A completed 136 laps. #2 Hayakoba Racing, #37 TeamKRS-DAI&MKS, and #62 Keep Light Racing also completed 136 laps, earning second place for the most laps completed. #38 TeamKRS-DAI&MKS and #77 Team SACHIKO completed 135 laps, receiving third place for the most laps completed.
The MVP award went to #57 Katz Racing R and #58 Katz Racing G, who have been promoting "K-TAI" through their blog and enjoying it with three generations of people from 20 to 61 years old. They flawlessly handled the reception and were awarded a Subaru engine as a prize. They were ecstatic and exclaimed, "We might even have a three-car team next year!"
This year as well, pit reports by the Motegi Angels and team PR announcements from the announcer’s booth, unique to Motegi’s four major endurance races, were very well received. People of all ages and genders, various karters, enjoyed the final event together. Before the finale ceremony, one bottle of non-alcoholic champagne was distributed to each team, and a champagne fight broke out all at once!
Afterwards, various awards were presented, and finally the MVP was announced. The 12th "K-TAI" came to a finale amid great joy.