#57 Besra Racing with Braking Girls achieves their long-awaited first victory!
The 22nd "Mote tai (Mote endurance)" final race, a 7-hour endurance race, was held on August 25 (Sun) at the Twin Ring Motegi, which had clear skies. This year, a total of 76 cars (with one car absent) lined up on the grid, aiming for the checkered flag 7 hours ahead with a Le Mans-style start.
The pole position starter [#103 NMC × ATJ Racing] showed a great start, taking the holeshot and quickly establishing a solo lead. Behind them, [#34 Motekita Nakayoshi Doukoukai + Hasegawa Reinforcing Steel] ran in a solid second place, followed by [#8 'Top' First Unit Moto Champ & SE], [#9 'Top' Second Unit Moto Champ & SE], and [#57 Vesla Racing with Braking Girls]. A bit further back were [#33 Shin Construction & YM Project], [#13 Team KYOEI A Team], [#30 ATJ Racing], and [#31 Presto, G3 & N-PLAN].
Leading the pack, #103 NMC × ATJ Racing, is being ridden by Ikki Tomita, who excels in speed and is leading the race. The pair rider adopted a strategy of running shorter laps to increase Ikki Tomita's driving time. There were moments when they dropped to second place during pit stops, but they quickly reclaimed the top position and continued to complete laps.
At the halfway point of the race, after 3 hours and 30 minutes, #103 NMC × ATJ Racing was in the lead with 87 laps, followed by #57 Besra Racing with Seido Joshi, 2 minutes and 11 seconds behind. In third place, one lap behind was #1 YSS Racing × MGR Racing Service, followed by #33 Shin Construction & YM Project two laps behind, and #21 NR Project Takahashi RS Gumcho.
The #103 NMC × ATJ Racing team had to change their strategy by increasing the number of pit stops by one due to fuel efficiency issues. Although driver Kazuki Tomita was able to run longer, there was an overtaking during a yellow flag period, resulting in a painful penalty. They ended up having to serve a 180-second pit stop.
Even so, the race situation was still uncertain. At the one-hour mark, the leader, #57 Besra Racing with Seido Joshi, had a significant lead over the second place. At this point, there had been six fuel stops, and it was a point of interest whether they would make one more stop or not. In second place was #1 YSS Racing x MGR Racing Service, but when they entered the pit for refueling, #103 NMC x ATJ Racing moved up to second place. They were two laps behind the leader, #57 Besra Racing with Seido Joshi. #8 '頂' First Unit Moto Champ & SE and #1 YSS Racing x MGR Racing Service were also on the same lap as #103 NMC x ATJ Racing, and if anything happened, positions could change immediately.
With 35 minutes remaining, [#57 Besra Racing with Seido Joshi] pitted for their 7th refueling. [#103 NMC × ATJ Racing] saw international rider Naohiro Nakatsuhara make a strong push. In response, [#57 Besra Racing with Seido Joshi] returned to the track still in the lead, with Hirokazu Endo showing determination. The gap was 31 seconds and 233 milliseconds, which steadily decreased to 25 seconds, 23 seconds, and 21 seconds, and with 3 minutes left, it had shrunk to 8 seconds. Only 2 laps remained. The leading [#57 Besra Racing with Seido Joshi] and the chasing [#103 NMC × ATJ Racing] showcased the most excitement after 7 hours of racing. This battle concluded with [#57 Besra Racing with Seido Joshi] holding on for the win, while [#103 NMC × ATJ Racing] finished in 2nd place, just 2 seconds and 465 milliseconds behind.
"We planned to pit 6 times, but unexpectedly poor fuel efficiency led to a 7th pit stop, which was nerve-wracking. Our entire team was united with the determination to win, especially since Takayuki Miyamoto, who had raced with us until February, passed away due to illness," said Endo from [#57 Besra Racing with Seido Joshi]. Meanwhile, Murazawa, the director of [#103 NMC × ATJ Racing], who finished in a close 2nd place, commented, "Our fuel efficiency was worse than expected, so we increased our refueling stops. We changed the fuel map, allowing Kazuki Tomita to have a longer stint. It seems we overtook under yellow flags at that time. We aimed for 172 laps, and while it's just speculation, I believe it would have been entirely possible without the penalty."
3rd place 【#8 'Tachi' Initial Model Moto Champ&SE】 and 4th place 【#1 YSS Racing × MGR Racing Service】 marked the same lap as the top with 171 laps. 5th place went to 【#13 Team KYOEI A Team】, 6th to 【#33 Shin Construction&YM Project】, 7th to 【#32 Team SANMEI】, 8th to 【#34 Motekita Friendly Running Association + Hasegawa Rebar】, 9th to 【#31 Presto, G3&N-PLAN】, followed by the WT class. 10th place was 【#62 CLUB MASSA-R】 with NST-R25, 13th was 【#135 B.S.C with Young Machine】 with NST-G310R, 16th was 【#61 Nakamura Engine Research Institute】 with NST-CBR, 23rd was 【#932 APPRISE Akutsu Automobile Yumomi】 with NST-Ninja250, 28th was 【#69 Riding Sports Fire 69】 with WT, 35th was 【#38 Webike + Nabegi】 with NST-VTR/AS, and 69th was 【#12 CLUB 1.2 FK Kushitani Kawaguchi Store】 with BRAVE, each winning their respective class.
This year, many teams enjoyed the 'Mote tai (Mote endurance)' in their own ways. The fact that there were no safety car interventions is proof that everyone's manners have improved. Let's meet again at 'Mote tai' next year!