The 11th Motegi Open 7-Hour Endurance Road Race "Mote tai" is finally starting. Ahead of the final races on August 30 (Sat) and 31 (Sun), the official qualifying was held on July 13 (Sun). On this day, the country was hit by a severe heat wave, and Twin Ring Motegi experienced conditions exceeding 30 degrees.

First, the official qualifying for the "Mote tai Masters" will be held, and the first Rider and the second Rider will enter time attacks in their respective sessions. The grid will be determined this year by the total time of the first Rider and the second Rider, so the combination of the two will be crucial.

The pole position was secured by Nakano Racing Project NR. Takamura Hiroshi placed first among the primary riders with a time of 2 minutes 01 seconds 010, while Nakano Kinshiro took the top spot among the secondary riders with a time of 1 minute 59 seconds 121, earning an unquestionable pole position. "To be honest, we wanted to break 4 minutes combined, but we barely missed it. There were continuous falls leading up to the qualifying, and considering the chaos, it was a great result," said Nakano. Nakano Racing Project NR has achieved the top grid for two consecutive years, following last year.

In second place was #19 Vesla Racing, in third place was #51 Team Iwaki, and in fourth place was #27 Team Yanis & RS-ITOH.

And this year, we welcome the official qualifying for the new "Open Mote tai". This class, which is open to bikes with an engine size between 115cc and 250cc and 4-stroke twin-cylinder or less, has attracted various motorcycles. Among them, #45, ridden by Nobuya Kakutani from Neopopola and Yuji Kanazawa, who has mounted a Honda CRF250X engine on an original frame, showed overwhelming speed and secured pole position. "As planned. When the regulations were decided last year, I thought I would build this machine. #45 is my first race, but everyone on the same team as #41 is also in their first race," said Kanazawa. While #45 Neopopola showed unmatched speed, it was officially announced that original frame machines would require at least 15 minutes for pit work involving refueling on that day. "Honestly, I hadn't thought much about fuel efficiency. Considering durability, I will refine it more and do my best in the actual race," he commented. In the free practice for the 3rd and 4th riders after qualifying, former All Japan Rider Minoru Nakagawa, the 3rd rider, recorded an astonishing time of 2 minutes 15.986 seconds. This speed seems hard to stop easily.

In qualifying, #49 Wing Chiba & Owari took 2nd place, followed by #41 Fruit Detergent Neopopola in 3rd, with original frame machines occupying the top 3 spots. In 4th place was the Honda CBX250S #74 FUN RIDE☆GS & Maxi, 5th place went to the Kawasaki GPZ250R #23 Ura FTR, and 6th place was held by the Honda VT250 SPADA #19 Motor Life Wingstone, showing commendable performances.