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"K-TAI" Top PageReports & Winners2012 "K-TAI" Enjoy Class 7-Hour Final Event Report

2012 "K-TAI" Enjoy Class 7-Hour Final Event Report

The Enjoy 7-Hour Endurance Race with 101 cars participated, #39 Espresso, won the most laps award with 137 laps! The MVP award was received by #57 Katz Racing R and #58 Katz Racing G!!

2012 "K-TAI" Enjoy Class 7-Hour Final Event Report Following Saturday, July 22 (Sun) also saw cloudy skies at Twin Ring Motegi. The temperature only rose to about 25 degrees, creating comfortable conditions. In the Enjoy 7-Hour Endurance, 101 vehicles lined up on the grid, and the commentator along with the Motegi Angel introduced each team from the back of the grid. The moment of the start is drawing closer by the second.

Then, the two groups split and started the rolling lap, taking off as scheduled at 9:30. The good start was made by #89 FASTLUX@GEN, who drew the pole position, and #3 Rosso@GEN from the second grid, who pulled ahead at the start and entered the first corner. Following them, leading was #78 Team SYOTA, who won the MVP of the previous day's Challenge 5-Hour Endurance, followed by #137 Sugiyama Racing & STAS, #20 ADVAN S.C Dream, #55 Tokyo Motorsports College A, and #555 TEAM Aman@GEN, with the rest bunched up behind the two front runners.

Returning to the home straight in the lead for the opening lap was #78 Team SYOTA. Following them were #20 ADVAN S.C Dream, #3 Rosso@GEN, #137 Sugiyama Racing & STAS, #55 Tokyo Motorsports College A, and #89 FASTLUX@GEN. After that, #20 ADVAN S.C Dream took the lead, pulling away from the pack and earning the 15th Lap Award given to the team that passes the 15th lap in first place.

Behind them, there was a team fiercely chasing. It was PUTO, which started from the 95th grid. The starting driver, Seiji Koide, marked the best time of 2 minutes 43 seconds 536 on the 5th lap. They steadily climbed the ranks and by the time 2 hours had passed, they had moved up to 3rd place, one lap behind the leader. After 4 hours had passed, they finally rose to the top and continued to widen their lead. However, with 1 hour remaining, TeamKRS-DAI & MKS was closing in, reducing the gap to PUTO to just over 17 seconds. Furthermore, after completing 118 laps, the gap was down to 14 seconds 033, suggesting that TeamKRS-DAI & MKS had momentum. However, upon seeing this, PUTO decided to pick up the pace. Although they did not have a comfortable fuel economy, it was a tough decision. After that, TeamKRS-DAI & MKS made their 7th pit stop. This allowed PUTO to maintain their lead and take the checkered flag. They recorded 137 laps and won the most laps award.
"It was the result of everyone in the team working together. Starting from the 95th grid was quite tough, but we discussed and started with the aim of gradually climbing the ranks. There were some minor troubles, but we were able to run consistently without any accidents, and the fact that all six pit crew members executed their tasks without mistakes was significant. However, the fuel economy was tough. Especially in the last 2 and a half hours, we had to consider fuel economy while driving," said Seiji Hata from PUTO.

In 2nd place, #55 Tokyo Motorsports College A marked 136 laps. #2 Hayakoba Racing, #37 Team KRS-DAI & MKS, and #62 Keep Light Racing also recorded 136 laps, winning the 2nd place in the Excellent Lap Count Award. #38 Team KRS-DAI & MKS and #77 Team SACHIKO completed 135 laps and received the 3rd place in the Excellent Lap Count Award.

The MVP award went to #57 Katz Racing R and #58 Katz Racing G, who enjoyed K-TAI across three generations from ages 20 to 61, flawlessly handled the reception, and worked hard to promote K-TAI on their blog. They were thrilled to receive the Subaru engine as a prize, saying, "Next year, we might come out with three cars!"

This year, the pit reports by the Motegi Angels and team promotions at the announcement booth, unique to the Motegi 4 Major Endurance events, were very well received. People of all ages and various car enthusiasts enjoyed the final event together. Before the finale ceremony, non-alcoholic champagne was distributed, one bottle per team, leading to a champagne fight!
After that, various awards were presented, and finally, the MVP was announced. In a joyful atmosphere, the 12th "K-TAI" reached its finale.

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