The 11th Motegi Open 7-hour Endurance Road Race "Mote Tai" is finally starting. On July 13th (Sun), the official qualifying race was held before the final race on August 30th (Sat) and 31st (Sun). On this day, the entire country was hit by intense heat, and Twin Ring Motegi also experienced conditions exceeding 30 degrees.

First, the official qualifying for the "Mote Tai Masters" will be held, and the first and second riders will each enter a time attack in their respective sessions. The grid will be determined by the combined time of the first and second riders, so the combination of the two will be crucial.

The team that won the pole position was Nakano Racing Project NR. Rider Takamura Hiroshi took the top spot for the first rider with a time of 2 minutes and 1.010 seconds, while Nakano Kinshiro took the top spot for the second rider with a time of 1 minute and 59.121 seconds, securing an undisputed pole position. "We really wanted to break the 4-minute mark with both riders, but we just couldn't make it in time. Despite having a lot of crashes leading up to qualifying, it was a good result," said Nakano. Nakano Racing Project NR has now secured the top grid for the second year in a row, following last year's success.

2nd place was taken by #19 Vesla Racing, followed by #51 Team Iwaki in 3rd place and #27 Team Yani's & RS-ITOH in 4th place.

And this year, we will welcome the official qualifying for the new "Open Mote Tai". Various bikes have gathered in this class, which has become open to 115cc or more and 250cc or less, 4-stroke 2-cylinder or less. Among them, #45 Nobuya Tsuneya and Yuji Kanazawa of Neo Popora, who installed a Honda CRF250X engine on an original frame, showed overwhelming speed and won the pole position. "As planned. When the regulations were decided last year, I thought I would make this machine. #45 is my first race, but #41 in the same team is also the first race for everyone," said Kanazawa. #45 Neo Popora showed a remarkable speed, but on this day, it was announced in the official notice that the original frame machine would take at least 15 minutes or more during pit work involving refueling. "To be honest, I didn't think much about fuel efficiency. Taking durability into consideration, I will work harder in the main race," commented Kanazawa. In the free practice of the third and fourth riders after qualifying, former All Japan rider Minoru Nakagawa recorded an amazing time of 2 minutes 15 seconds 986 as the third rider. This speed seems unstoppable.

In second place in qualifying was #49 Wing Chiba & Otori, followed by #41 Fruit Detergent Neopopora in third place, with the top three spots being taken by original frame machines. In fourth place was #74 FUN RIDE☆GS & Maxi on a Honda CBX250S, followed by #23 Ura FTR on a Kawasaki GPZ250R in fifth place, and #19 Motor Life Wing Stone on a Honda VT250SPADA in sixth place, showing a strong performance.