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 round was divided into three groups by class, and the first and second riders of each team competed in a time attack to determine the starting grid based on their combined time. First, the session for the first rider of Group 2A, which includes WT, WS, ST-R25, ST-Ninja, and ST-VTR, started at 8:00. Here, #42 YSS Mercury & Santa's Takahiro Yamamoto marked a time of 2:17.883 to take the top spot. In the first rider slot of Group 2B, the Brave class #12 CLUB1.2 Kushitani Kawaguchi store took the top spot with a time of 2:16.666. In second place, Tatsuya Kosakabashi of #1 YSS Racing Bulldog Tago's updated the WT class record with a time of 2:16.911. In addition, in Group 3C, Kazuki Tomita of #99 Racing Team Honey Bee updated the ST-CBR class course record with a time of 2:22.127, setting off a record rush.
Next, in the second rider slot of Group 2A, #42 YSS Mercury & Santa showed their speed again, with Ruka Wada taking the top spot with a time of 2:18.123. In the second rider slot of Group 2B, Jukan Nakazawa of #1 YSS Racing Bulldog Tago marked a time of 2:15.934, further updating the record set by first rider Kosakabashi. In second place was Taiga Hata of #68 Riding Sports Fire A, who marked a good time of 2:16.713 on a WS-spec CBR250R. In the second rider slot of Group C, Shuichiro Nakamura of #87 Assort Racing marked a time of 2:21.116, updating the ST-CBR course record by over a second.

In total, #1 YSS Racing Bulldock Tagos achieved pole position with a combined time of 4 minutes and 32.845 seconds.
"I made a little mistake on my attack lap. I usually participate in the CBR Cup, but I haven't been able to fully utilize the combination of the Ninja and Pirelli tires. In terms of fuel efficiency, it's right on the edge, so it would be interesting if it rained. I actually like racing in the rain," said Nakazawa, who set a course record. On the other hand, his partner Kosakabashi commented, "I want to escape if I can, but everyone is fast, so I want to take it easy in the beginning. But my ideal is to "escape" (laughs)." They will definitely want to make a strong start.

In second place is #12 CLUB1.2 KUSHITANI Kawaguchi Store, who won from pole position last year with a time of 4 minutes and 33.383 seconds, followed by #42 YSS Mercury & Santa in third place with a time of 4 minutes and 36.006 seconds, #68 Riding Sports Fire A in fourth place with a time of 4 minutes and 36.146 seconds, #10 Team PENSKE in fifth place with a time of 4 minutes and 37.974 seconds, and #57 Vesra Racing with Braking Girls, the top R25, in sixth place with a time of 4 minutes and 38.261 seconds.
52 teams that were unable to enter the 7-hour endurance road race competed in the 4-hour final. At 2 PM, the race began as planned with a Le Mans-style start, with the teams divided into two groups. The #34 SEEKS and G!trax, starting in third place, were the first to enter the first corner and emerged in first place at the second corner, leading the opening lap and entering the second lap. In second place was #999 JAM Red Eagle Realize, followed by #50 RT Goju-hyaku-hyaku and YF DESIGN in third place, and #39 Onoue Service in fourth place. Behind them, international license riders such as Shinya Harada from Team Kana, Shin Morishin from Plan B Racing Team A, and Hiroki Onishi from T-REV RACING were battling and moving up in the rankings from the second group.

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.