
K-TAI, which celebrated its 15th anniversary, welcomed the 15th commemorative event. On August 30th (Sun), a 7-hour endurance enjoy class was held with 95 karts participating. It showed an exciting atmosphere worthy of being the final of the 4 major endurance races at Twin Ring Motegi in 2015.
It was raining steadily early in the morning, but by the time the briefing started, it had mostly stopped, and the track surface was drying. By the time of the start, the rain had ceased, leaving wet patches on the track. Divided into two groups, the rolling laps began, and at the scheduled time of 9:30 a.m., the 7-hour race to the finish line started. Leading into the second corner first was [#38 TeamKRS-DAI&MKS], who had secured pole position. They were followed by [#7 TOUSOU・RS], [#4 K.R.R], [#75 RF.AOYAMA Sake Powers], [#22 NRT-BIREL], [#196 Team IMA・OMSC], and [#53 538-Racing]. The pack stayed together, swapping positions, and on the opening lap, [#22 NRT-BIREL] returned in the lead. They were followed by [#38 TeamKRS-DAI&MKS], [#7 TOUSOU・RS], [#75 RF.AOYAMA Sake Powers], and [#10 OREGA RACINGA@GEN]. Later, [#4 K.R.R] took the lead and began to pull ahead slightly. A light drizzle started just after the start, but the racing line was mostly dry. However, about 1 hour and 26 minutes into the race, the rain intensified, causing an increase in karts going off course, which led to the deployment of the safety car. Seeing this, many teams pitted, resulting in a chaotic scene in the pits with refueling and tire changes.
After that, #29 Leve RT Thursday Meeting took the lead, and #72 Onigiri Racing followed, creating a one-on-one battle.
However, after 5 hours, the top position was rapidly changing between #29 Leve RT Thursday Meeting, #72 Onigiri Racing, #4 K.R.R, and #2 Hayakoba Racing during pit stops.
At the point where there is 1 hour left, [#4 K.R.R] completed 106 laps and entered the 107th lap, leading the race. [#72 Onigiri Racing] and [#2 Hayakoba Racing] were chasing after in the same lap. Shortly after, [#4 K.R.R] entered the pit for the 8th time and [#72 Onigiri Racing] took the lead, but then [#72 Onigiri Racing] also entered the pit and [#2 Hayakoba Racing] rose to the top. Then, with 37 minutes remaining, [#2 Hayakoba Racing] made their final pit stop. With 34 minutes remaining, [#29 Leve RT Thursday Club] had risen to the top with 114 laps. [#4 K.R.R] followed in 2nd place, trailing by 55.573 seconds, and [#72 Onigiri Racing], who had finished their pit work, returned to the track in 4th place.
And with 30 minutes remaining, the #37 TeamKRS-DAI&MKS, who was in 3rd place, and the #4 K.R.R, who was in 2nd place, both entered the pit. This allowed the #29 Leve RT Thursday Club, who was leading the race, to pit in with 22 minutes remaining. This allowed the #2 Hayakoba Racing to take the lead with less than 20 minutes remaining, and they entered the 119th lap. The #72 Onigiri Racing followed closely behind with a gap of 8.6 seconds, but the lap times of the #2 Hayakoba Racing were faster, and the gap continued to widen.
In wet conditions, #2 Hayakoba Racing, each maintaining a good average pace, was the first to complete 125 laps and received the checkered flag.
"I think it was good that we were able to pit at the right timing when the safety car came out, and that everyone was able to maintain a good average pace without being distracted by the faster teams around us," said Yasushi Majima of #2 Hayakoba Racing. Although the engine had just been overhauled and was only broken in on Friday, so the machine setup was not perfect, they showed the most stable driving in wet conditions during the final event.
[#72 Onigiri Racing] finished with a 58.002 second difference, [#29 Leve RT Thursday Club] with a 1 minute 28.164 second difference, [#4 K.R.R] with a 2 minute 08.469 second difference, and [#38 TeamKRS-DAI&MKS] with a 2 minute 52.545 second difference, all completing 125 laps just like [#2 Hayako Racing], resulting in 5 teams receiving the award for most laps completed in 2015.
The MVP award will be given to the team that enjoyed the kart to the fullest with the motto "Let's have fun with kart together" among the final event finishing teams, and the selected team is [#17 3% CLUB @ GEN] who enjoyed the kart from the public practice. A sports kart engine was presented from r-kart.