Twin Ring Motegi

Mobility Resort Motegi

Location120-1 Hiyama, Motegi
Haga, Tochigi, 321-3597 Japan
Time zoneUTC+09:00
Coordinates36°32′0″N 140°13′42″E / 36.53333°N 140.22833°E / 36.53333; 140.22833
Capacity68,156
FIA Grade2
OwnerHonda Motor Co., Ltd.
OperatorHonda Mobilityland
OpenedAugust 1997; 26 years ago (1997-08)
Construction cost¥5 billion (44,873,000.00 United States Dollars)
Former namesTwin Ring Motegi
(August 1997–February 2022)
Major eventsCurrent:
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix (1999, 2004–2019, 2022–present)
Pacific motorcycle Grand Prix (2000–2003)
GT World Challenge Asia (2023)
Super GT (1998–present)
Super Formula (1997–present)
Former:
WTCC Race of Japan (2015–2017)
IndyCar Series Indy Japan 300 (1998–2011)
Coca-Cola 500 (1998)
Websitewww.mr-motegi.jp
Speedway (1997–present)
Length2.493 km (1.549 miles)
Turns4
Banking10°
Race lap record0:25.830 (Brazil Hélio Castroneves, Lola B99/00, 1999, CART)
Road Course (1997–present)
Length4.801 km (2.983 miles)
Turns14
Race lap record1:31.422 (Japan Toshiki Oyu, Dallara SF19, 2021, Super Formula)
East Road Course (1997–present)
Length3.400 km (2.112 miles)
Turns11
West Road Course (1997–present)
Length1.400 km (0.869 miles)
Turns6

Mobility Resort Motegi (モビリティリゾートもてぎ) is a motorsport venue located in Motegi, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. Originally it is a.k.a “Twin Ring Motegi” (ツインリンクもてぎ), the venue's name came from the facility having two race tracks: a 2.493 km (1.549 mi) oval track and a 4.801 km (2.983 mi) road course. It was built in 1997 by Honda Motor Co., Ltd., as part of the company's effort to bring the Championship Auto Racing Teams series to Japan, helping to increase their knowledge of American open-wheel racing. The oval was last raced on in 2010 by the Indycar Series. On 1 March 2022, the name of the track was changed to Mobility Resort Motegi, coinciding with the 25th anniversary of the facility. The road course's most notable event is the Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix.

Speedway

View of the oval

The oval course is the only one of its kind in Japan used for competitive racing. It is a low-banked, 1.549 mi (2.493 km) egg-shaped course, with turns three and four being much tighter than turns one and two. On March 28, 1998, CART held the inaugural Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi Speedway. The race was won by Mexican driver Adrián Fernández. CART continued racing at Twin Ring Motegi Speedway from 1998–2002. In 2003, Honda entered the Indy Racing League and the race became a part of the IRL schedule. In addition to Indy car racing, the track has also hosted a single NASCAR exhibition race in 1998.

Honda, which had built the oval for the express purpose of developing its oval-racing program for Indy car racing, did not win a race at the track for its first six years of operation. In 2004, Dan Wheldon took the first win for Honda on the oval. In 2008, the Motegi oval gained additional publicity when Danica Patrick became the first woman to win an Indycar race, beating Hélio Castroneves for her first and only Indycar victory.

The 2011 season was the last season of IndyCar in Motegi. It had been dropped from the calendar as organizers looked to maximize viewing audiences. The road course, rather than the super speedway, was used for the 2011 race due to damage to the oval track resulting from the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake. The oval is not presently used for racing and even has been used as additional parking space during MotoGP events, but is still used for Honda's annual Thanks Day event showcasing various Honda road and racing vehicles, mainly from the nearby Honda Collection Hall, with Takuma Sato running a lap of the course in his 2017 Indianapolis 500 winning car seven years since the last IndyCar race in the oval.

Track length of paved oval

The track length is disputed by series that run at Twin Ring Motegi. The NASCAR timing and scoring use a length of 1.549 mi (2.493 km). This length was used by CART in their races between 1998 and 2002, too. The IRL measured in 2003 a length of 1.520 mi (2.446 km). This length was also used in the following races till 2010.

NASCAR history

Mike Skinner won the only NASCAR Cup Series exhibition race held at the track in 1998, the Coca-Cola 500. Skinner won driving the No.31 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. The race was most noted for being the first oval track NASCAR race in Japan as well as being the first in which Dale Earnhardt and his son, Dale Earnhardt Jr., competed with one another, driving No.3 and No.1 Coca-Cola Chevrolets, respectively. The track also held the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West in 1999 with Kevin Richards getting the win.

Road course

The road course is 4.801 km (2.983 mi) long and is unique in sharing garage and grandstand facilities with the oval course, but being entirely separate otherwise. Although they are separate tracks, it is impossible for races to occur simultaneously on the two courses; to access the oval track, teams must cross the road course pit and front straight. The road course also runs in the opposite direction from the oval; clockwise, rather than counter-clockwise.

The course itself is built in a stop-start straight-hairpin style, which flows differently than many similarly-sized tracks. By Japanese standards the circuit is exceptionally flat, with only a slight elevation rise towards the hairpin turn. The road course is much busier than the oval track, with Super Formula visiting twice, Super GT and Super Taikyu cars once each, and local events almost every weekend. The road course can be used in three ways: the full course, or two "short courses" can be made, using connecting roadways. These short courses are usually used for junior formula events, such as Formula 4 and FJ1600.

The road course is also a popular motorcycle racing track, with the MotoGP usually visiting once a year, as well as several Japanese national bike racing series. It has hosted the Pacific motorcycle Grand Prix from 2000 to 2003 and the Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix since 2004.

Other facilities

In addition to the main racing complex, Mobility Resort Motegi features a second road course (called the "North Short Course") for karting and Formula 4 events, as well as a 0.250 mi (0.402 km) dirt track for modified and sprint car racing and also standard saloon racing. In addition, the FIM Trials series visits the track every year for the world trials championship. Therefore, an outdoor trials course exists on the facility.

Outside of racing, Mobility Resort Motegi has the Honda Collection Hall, which features historic Honda racing and production cars and motorcycles, and Honda Fan Fun Lab, which features Honda's next generation technologies such as robotics, fuel-cell vehicles and aviation. Honda also operates a technology demonstration center on the site, as well as educational centers.

In 2009, a cafe opened which was named after the Gran Turismo video games.

Track difficulties

Mobility Resort Motegi is a separate-but-combined road-and-oval track (as opposed to the "roval" tracks common in the United States), and the decision to include a full road course contained largely within the oval necessitated design compromises. For spectators, sightlines can be extremely poor for road course races, as the grandstands are much further back than usual. The oval course blocks the view of much of the road course, including the best passing point on the track[citation needed], and several large-screen televisions are needed. Seating outside the grandstand is limited to areas of the infield and along the 750 m (820 yd) backstraight of the road course.

Track access is a major concern, with only two entry and exit points by a two-lane public road. Motegi is not a particularly large town, and accommodation is virtually non-existent close to the track, except for the on-site hotel. Train links to the area are extremely limited (the major regional lines, JR East and Tobu Railway do not service the area), nor has a planned superhighway been completed. Thus the stated track capacity (about 65,000) is dictated largely by traffic flow, not by actual seating capacity (estimated to be nearly 100,000 for road-course events, 80,000 for the oval).

In 2011, Casey Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo proposed to boycott the MotoGP race out of fears for their health from radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant even though all the independent scientific experts including the World Health Organization and Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency had stated that it is safe to live permanently 80 km (50 mi) or more from the plant. Motegi is more than 120 km (75 mi) from Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. In the end, all the teams showed up for the race.

Layout configurations

Lap records

As of October 2023, the fastest official race lap records at the Mobility Resort Motegi are listed as:

Category Time Driver Vehicle Event
Grand Prix Circuit: 4.801 km (1997–present)
Super Formula 1:31.422 Toshiki Oyu Dallara SF19 2021 2nd Motegi Super Formula round
Formula Nippon 1:34.853 Masemi Kageyama Reynard 97D 1997 Motegi Formula Nippon round
Super GT (GT500) 1:38.350 Tadasuke Makino Honda NSX-GT 2022 Motegi Super GT round
IndyCar 1:40.2453 Giorgio Pantano Dallara IR-05 2011 Indy Japan: The Final
LMP900 1:43.686 Hiroki Katou Zytek 04S 2006 Motegi JLMC round
Super Formula Lights 1:43.851 Giuliano Alesi Dallara 320 2021 2nd Motegi Super Formula Lights round
Formula Three 1:44.373 Sho Tsuboi Dallara F317 2018 Motegi Japanese F3 round
LMP1 1:44.508 Shinji Nakano Courage LC70 2007 Motegi JLMC round
MotoGP 1:45.198 Jack Miller Ducati Desmosedici GP22 2022 Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix
Super GT (GT300) 1:47.734 Iori Kimura Honda NSX GT3 2022 Motegi Super GT round
Superbike 1:47.818 Katsuyuki Nakasuga Yamaha YZF-R1 2019 1st Motegi All Japan Road Race Championship round
Formula Regional 1:47.881 Sena Sakaguchi Dome F111/3 2020 Motegi FRJC round
Moto2 1:50.679 Somkiat Chantra Kalex Moto2 2023 Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix
250cc 1:51.412 Álvaro Bautista Aprilia RSV 250 2008 Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix
GT3 1:51.770 James Yu Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II 2023 Motegi GT World Challenge Asia round
Supersport 1:52.918 Kota Arakawa Honda CBR600RR 2022 Motegi All Japan Road Race Championship round
Porsche Carrera Cup 1:53.829 Ryo Ogawa Porsche 911 (991 II) GT3 Cup 2020 Motegi Porsche Carrera Cup Japan round
Formula Toyota 1:55.214 Hideto Yasuoka Tom's FT30 2004 Motegi Formula Toyota round
GT2 1:56.453 Tomonobu Fujii Ferrari F430 GTC 2009 250 km of Motegi
Moto3 1:57.064 Ayumu Sasaki Husqvarna FR250GP 2023 Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix
TC1 1:57.136 Gabriele Tarquini Honda Civic WTCC 2015 FIA WTCC Race of Japan
125cc 1:57.666 Mika Kallio KTM 125 FRR 2006 Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix
Formula 4 1:58.005 Rin Arakawa Dome F110 2021 2nd Motegi Japanese F4 round
GT 1:58.315 Atsushi Yogou Porsche 911 (996) GT3-R 2000 Motegi JGTC round
TCR Touring Car 2:01.711 Takeshi Suehiro Cupra León Competición TCR 2023 Motegi TCR Japan round
500cc 2:02.889 Mick Doohan Honda NSR500 1999 Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix
GT4 2.03.040 Manabu Orido BMW M4 GT4 Gen II 2023 Motegi GT World Challenge Asia round
Super Speedway: 2.493 km (1997–present)
CART 0:25.830 Hélio Castroneves Lola B99/00 1999 Firestone Firehawk 500K
IndyCar 0:27.0977 Tomas Scheckter G-Force GF09 2003 Indy Japan 300
NASCAR Winston Cup Series 0:35.2298 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Monte Carlo NASCAR 1998 Coca-Cola 500

Events

Current
Future
Former

In popular media

As a large recently constructed Japanese circuit, Mobility Resort Motegi has and continues to be utilised virtually in a large number of electronic video games, both in arcade machines and in PC and console games for home use.

See also

Access

Bus routes


This page was last updated at 2023-12-23 02:15 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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