
"Open Mote Endurance" is a race that is competed by machines with 115cc or more and 250cc or less, and 4-stroke 2-cylinder or less. It had been raining until the morning, but the weather quickly recovered. The sun shone through the clouds and bathed Twin Ring Motegi in intense sunlight, drying the road surface. By the time the start time arrived, it was almost dry conditions and the race began with the familiar Le Mans-style start for endurance races.
First, 【#45 Neo Popora for buying detergent】 started from pole position and as expected, took the lead and pulled away from the rest of the pack. This was followed by their teammate, 【#41 Neo Popora for fruit detergent】, with the WS class machines in a 1-2 position, followed by 【#72 TEAM KAZU & HERO】, 【#78 NAPA & Utashiro + One Make】, 【#74 FUN RIDE ☆ GS & Maxi】, 【#49 Honda Wing Chiba & Tairin】, and 【#38 STR & BDR & Beer Friends】 as they passed the control line on the opening lap.
Leading the race with an overwhelming speed from the qualifying, 【#45 Neo Popora for buying detergent】 updated the fastest lap, but crashed at the V corner after 30 minutes. Although they were able to return to the pit, they dropped significantly in position. In their place, 【#41 Neo Popora for washing fruits】 took the lead and made a pit stop after 55 minutes to change riders and refuel. Once again, the WS class 【#49 Honda Wing Chiba & Oowheel】 took the lead during this pit stop. 【#49 Honda Wing Chiba & Oowheel】 showed good fuel efficiency and continued to run without entering the pit. After 1 hour and 28 minutes, they finally entered the pit for their first pit stop.
After that, at the timing of pit-in for 【#78 NAPA & UTASHIRO + One Make】, 【#1 Bulldogger Tagos & Haruman】, and 【#72 TEAM KAZU & HERO】, the top position changes, but at the 3-hour mark, 【#51 Team Iwaki】 was running in the lead with a 2-lap lead over second place. Despite an irregular pit-in early on, 【#51 Team Iwaki】 changed their strategy due to better fuel efficiency than expected. This proved successful as they gradually extended their lead.
The second safety car will enter at the remaining 30 minutes mark. There was a crashed car and oil spill at the 90 degree corner, causing the delay. It took about 15 minutes to clean up the oil and the race will restart with 15 minutes remaining.
Immediately after that, a penalty board was presented to the second place [#50 House Rockers & Assort R]. Due to speeding on the pit road, a 60-second penalty stop was imposed. Somehow, they returned to the course in second place, but...
And at the remaining 6 minutes, the top runner [#51 Team Iwaki] pit in. They changed riders to Koji Iwaki and aim for the checker. It seemed that the race would end in this position, but [#50 House Rockers & Assort R] slowed down. They pit in due to running out of gas and ended up pushing to finish in 7th place. As a result, [#23 Ura FTR] rose to the podium area due to the gas shortage of [#50 House Rockers & Assort R].
【#51 Team Iwaki】recorded 151 laps and finished in first place. Rider Iwaki received the checkered flag and did a victory lap. "I was really happy because the officials who waved the flag and my team were all happy. I also wanted to win the oldest rider award," said Iwaki.
[#3 YSS Racing Activity] finished in 2nd place, [#23 Back FTR] finished in 3rd place and claimed the podium. Following them were [#78 NAPA & Utashiro + One Make], [#5 Team Neo JDOT @ Mote Tai], and [#38 STR & BDR & Beer Friends] in that order.