The "Mote tai (Mote endurance)" that started in 1998 reached its 19th edition in 2016. This year, 148 vehicles entered, surpassing last year's 130. A significant change was that the 4-hour endurance race on Saturday had a finish time of 19:00, making headlights and taillights mandatory. This year, it was also held on the first weekend of August, but on August 6 (Sat), we were hit by severe heat from the morning.

The official qualifying session started at 8:30 AM with Group A's first Rider. Mitsuichi Matsuda from Team Penske (#10) set the pace with a time of 2:18.940, taking the top spot on the leaderboard. Daichi Kato from Nikukyu R & Yomomi-chan (#29), who marked a time of 2:20.643, placed fourth and updated the Course Record for the ST-Ninja class. In the following Group B's first Rider session, Masaaki Sasaki from MOTORACING & KYOEI (#53) set a new Course Record for the WT class with a time of 2:15.244. Etsuo Hinokizawa from NR Project & Gamuchodai (#21), who placed 11th, surpassed Kato's time with 2:20.430, breaking the Course Record for the ST-Ninja class. In Group C's first Rider session, Takashi Moriyama updated the Course Record for the AS2 class with a time of 2:23.380, leading to a record rush in the first Rider slots. Meanwhile, some teams faced accidents, resulting in no times for their expected strong Riders.

In the "Mote tai (Mote endurance)", where the grid is determined by the combined time with the second Rider, the time of the second Rider is also important. Marking the fastest time here at 2 minutes 16.123 seconds is last year's winner, #1 YSS Racing Bulldozer Tagos, with driver Gaku Fujii. His teammate Tatsuya Obatake marked 2 minutes 16.007 seconds, placing second for the first Rider, resulting in a combined time of 4 minutes 32.130 seconds, earning them pole position for the second consecutive year.
"Until the Sports Driving Reservation on Friday, I had not set any times at all, so taking pole position was unexpected. The map I used was from Mote Low, and it worked well. In the 7-hour race, there are faster teams than last year, so we will focus on fuel-efficient driving," said Tatsuya Obatake.

Marking the fastest time in second place was #53 MOTORACING & KYOEI, in third place was #63 DOG FIGHT RACING, in fourth place was #12 CLUB1.2FK Kushitani Kawaguchi Store, the only one to pass the qualifying in the Brave class, in fifth place was #10 Team Penske, in sixth place was #13 MOTORACING & KYOEI, in seventh place was #75 D;REX, in eighth place was #56 HAPPY MONDAY, in ninth place was #98 NMC Verity, and in tenth place was #36 Motorcycle Japan.

And so, the first-ever night session 4-hour endurance race in Mote tai history started at 3 PM with 70 bikes that did not pass the qualifying. The holeshot was taken by #9 PUTO Electric, but the rider who returned first on the opening lap was #25 BF&RASH's Hiro Michi Kunigawa. As an active international license rider, his speed was truly impressive. #9 PUTO Electric was running in second place, but right behind was the active international license rider #147 team Kizo*Eiwa & moto1/4's Asahi Komuro, who, despite swapping positions several times, was faster. After #9 PUTO Electric made its first pit stop, #25 BF&RASH and #147 team Kizo*Eiwa & moto1/4 occupied 1st and 2nd places. These two teams had a strategy to fully utilize their international license riders. Meanwhile, #66 Riding Sports & KISS consistently maintained speed and was in the lead after three hours. In the final stint, Kakeru Ogura took over and returned to the course in the lead. At this point, victory seemed almost secured, but... with 30 minutes remaining, they received a penalty for overtaking under yellow flags and dropped in position. This allowed #79 Shonan FRP & Racing Garage STR to take the lead, but there was a rider charging from behind. It was Kunigawa from #25 BF&RASH. "I wasn't sure if the gasoline would last until the end, but I was only thinking about winning," Kunigawa said after crossing the finish line, as he passed #79 Shonan FRP & Racing Garage STR with just 5 minutes to go and rose to the top. He received the checkered flag and won the 4-hour endurance race.