4-hour endurance race: 【#34 SEEKS and G!trax】won with 94 laps and advanced to the 7-hour endurance race!!

The 2015 "Mote tai" which gathered 130 entries. On August 1st (Sat), Twin Ring Motegi was hit with intense heat from the morning, and within that, the official qualifying and 4-hour endurance race were held. Only 77 cars can advance to the 7-hour race on Sunday. In the morning, the humidity was high and the heat was suffocating, but as the sun rose, the humidity decreased while the temperature rose to 37 degrees and the road surface temperature exceeded 55 degrees.

The qualifying was divided into three groups by class, where each team’s 1st Rider and 2nd Rider performed time attacks, and the combined times determined the starting grid positions for the final. First, the session for the 1st Riders of Group 2A, which includes WT, WS, ST-R25, ST-Ninja, and ST-VTR, started at 8:00. Here, Takahiro Yamamoto of 【#42 YSS Mercury & Santa】marked 2 minutes 17.883 seconds to take the top spot. Next, in the 1st Rider slot of Group 2B, the Brave class 【#12 CLUB1.2 Kushitani Kawaguchi Store】led with 2 minutes 16.666 seconds. In 2nd place, Tatsuya Kosakahashi of 【#1 YSS Racing Bulldock Tagos】set a new WT class record with 2 minutes 16.911 seconds. Furthermore, in Group 3C, Kazuki Tomita of 【#99 Racing Team Honeybee】updated the ST-CBR class Course Record with 2 minutes 22.127 seconds, triggering a rush of record-breaking times.
　In the following session for Group 2A's second Rider slot, 【#42 YSS Mercury & Santa】 showed speed, with Rider Ruka Wada topping the times at 2 minutes 18.123 seconds. Furthermore, in Group 2B's second Rider slot, 【#1 YSS Racing Bulldock Tagos】's Toshihiro Nakazawa recorded 2 minutes 15.934 seconds, further breaking the record set by first Rider Tatsuya Kosakahashi. In second place, 【#68 Riding Sports Fire A】's Taiga Haneda posted an impressive time of 2 minutes 16.713 seconds on a WS-spec CBR250R. In Group C's second Rider slot, 【#87 Assort Racing】's Shuichiro Nakamura marked 2 minutes 21.116 seconds, improving the ST-CBR Course Record by over one second.

Overall, 【#1 YSS Racing Bulldock Tagos】 secured pole position with a combined time of 4 minutes 32.845 seconds.
"I made a slight mistake on the attack lap. I usually compete in the CBR Cup, but I haven't been able to fully utilize the combination of the Ninja and PIRELLI tires. The fuel economy is just on the edge, so it would be interesting if it rains. I actually like rain," said Nakazawa, who set the course record. Meanwhile, his teammate Kosakahashi commented, "If I can break away, I want to, but everyone is fast, so I want to take it easy in the early stages. However, ideally, I want to 'escape' (laughs)." First, they will want to get a solid start.

In 2nd place was [#12 CLUB1.2 Kushitani Kawaguchi Store], who won last year from pole position, with a time of 4 minutes 33.383 seconds, followed by [#42 YSS Mercury & Santa] in 3rd place with 4 minutes 36.006 seconds, [#68 Riding Sports Fire A] in 4th place with 4 minutes 36.146 seconds, [#10 Team Penske] in 5th place with 4 minutes 37.974 seconds, and [#57 Vesra Racing with Seido Joshi], the highest-ranked R25, in 6th place with 4 minutes 38.261 seconds.
The 52 machines that could not advance to the 7-hour endurance race participated in the 4-hour final. At 2 p.m., they were divided into two groups and started as scheduled with a Le Mans-style start. The #34 SEEKS and G!trax, starting from the third grid, entered the first corner first, led through the second corner, and went on to win the opening lap, entering the second lap in the lead. In second place was #999 JAM･Red Eagle･Realize, followed by #50 RT Fifty-Fifty & YFDESIGN in third, and #39 Onoue Service in fourth. Behind them, international license riders such as Shinya Harada of #106 Team Kana, Arata Mori of #88 Plan B Racing Team A, and Hiroki Onishi of #135 T-REV RACING, who started from the second group, were battling and moving up the ranks.

At the one hour mark, [#999 JAM･Red Eagle･Realize] was leading the race, with [#24 Yuuki Racing] in 12th place on the same lap. Among them was [#88 Plan B Racing Team A]'s Mori, but at the 1 hour 20 minute mark, he crashed at the V corner, dropping out of the battle for the lead.

After that, the teams competing for the top spot were narrowed down, and at the one hour mark, [#24 Yuki Racing] was in the lead, but pitted in with 35 minutes remaining. Here, [#34 SEEKS and G!trax] took the lead. [#24 Yuki Racing] who had pitted out was chasing with a gap of about 12 seconds, but the pace of [#34 SEEKS and G!trax] was faster and the gap continued to widen. Behind them, the battle for third place was getting closer. With 10 minutes remaining, [#58 S Workshop Garage Harada] was closing in on the back of [#108 Black Racing Co., Ltd.], and on the 91st lap with 5 minutes remaining, [#58 S Workshop Garage Harada] took the lead on the downhill straight.

The #34 SEEKS and G!trax, leading the top, completed 94 laps and crossed the checker flag first. They won the 4-hour final and advanced to the 7-hour endurance race on Sunday. "It's been 17 years since I last raced and it's the first time for bike owner Kuwahara to ride at Twin Ring Motegi, but we barely missed the qualifying. We were able to win in the 4-hour race, but we gave it our all, so we'll rely on the other riders to aim for a finish. In the limited time, I'm relieved that we were able to advance to the 7-hour endurance race," said Watanabe.

2nd place was taken by [#24 Yuki Racing], followed by a last-minute comeback by [#58 S Factory Garage Harada] in 3rd place on the podium. [#108 Black Racing Co., Ltd.] finished 4th, completing 94 laps, the same as the top finisher.