2015.12.06

Excitement reached maximum as Honda sound fills Honda Racing THANKS DAY 2015 at Motegi!

While a sense of excitements from 2015 season still lingering, "Honda Racing THANKS DAY 2015," Honda's event to show their appreciation to the fans, was held at Twin Ring Motegi on sunny Sunday of December 6. Reflecting Honda's extensive motorsports activities, spanning across not only in the four-wheel racing, such as SUPER GT, F1, etc., but also in the two-wheel racing, the staple event held every year showcases a variety of drivers/riders as well as machines and offers many kinds of programs. Drawing the most popularity among all is the SUPER GT related programs. Top feature of this year was "SUPER FORMULA x SUPER GT Special Race" (below photo).

 

 

The excitement reached maximum as Fernando Alonso, a Honda F1 driver, drove NSX CONCEPT-GT (test car) and Indy Car driver Takuma Sato took the wheel of new NSX, which will hit the market soon, and showed off their driving. 18,500 fans who gathered for the event were basking in the afterglow of 2015 season as much as they wish.

 

 

Passenger-ride on Circuit: "Experience a ride on Motegi in the side seat of NSX CONCEPT-GT!"
Fans got to take a ride on the road course of Twin Ring Motegi in the passenger seat of a car driven by Honda Racing's racing driver during the "Passenger-ride on Circuit" held on the race track. In addition to CIVIC TYPE-R and N-ONE OWNER'S CUP vehicle, No.100 RAYBRIG HSV-010 that competed in the 2013 season was also made available for a ride! It must have been an extraordinary experience for the fan who got to experience a ride on Twin Ring Motegi in the seat next to Takuya Izawa (No.100 RAYBRIG NSX CONCEPT-GT).

 

 

 

Cockpit experience: "Into the cockpit of SUPER GT machine! Huge crow surrounded ARTA CR-Z GT."
Fans got to experience inside of the cockpit of SUPER GT machine during the "Cockpit experience" held in the pit. People gathered at the pit of AUTOBACS RACING TEAM AGURI (ARTA) to get a chance to sit in No.55 ARTA CR-Z GT which will retire after this season.

 

 

Kart race: "Turvey and Sato engaged in fierce battle!"
Flourishing motorsports stars had gathered for the "Honda Racing Kart Competition" held at Kart Land in MOBI PARK and four SUPER GT drivers, Kosuke Matsuura (No.8 ARTA NSX CONCEPT-GT), Oliver Turvey (No.15 Drago Modulo NSX CONCEPT-GT), Hideki Mutoh (No.17 KEIHIN NSX CONCEPT-GT), and Bertrand Baguette (No.64 Epson NSX CONCEPT-GT), and Indy Car driver Sato as well as Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa from MotoGP (a motorcycle racing world championship) competed one another. Despite attempt to let the motorcycle riders take the center stage by reversing the order on the grid, the car racers emerged to front in the last half of the competition with Sato at the lead. Turvey and Sato got into side-by-side battle in the last few laps, and, at the end, Turvey overtook Sato to receive the checkered flag first. Kunimitsu Takahashi, General Manager of TEAM KUNIMITSU, who was also participating the event as commentator, was apparently surprised as he commented, "It was really a serious battle, wasn't it?"

 

 

Pit-crew experience: "Fans tried out pit-work!"
NAKAJIMA RACING pit hosted "Racing machine pit-crew experience" with their Epson HSV-010 that competed in the 2013 season. In the program, fans got to experience jacking up the car, changing four tires, and helping driver change, and competed the time taken for the work in the pit. First round was won by Team A that clocked a time in the 24 second-mark. At the end of the program, NAKAJIMA RACING's mechanics demonstrated the real work. Crew managed to finish the same work in just over 15 seconds, and the participants as well as surrounding fans looked very impressed by the expertise of professionals.

 

 

Honda Racing THANKS Ceremony: "All drivers/riders and President Hachigo conveyed appreciation to the fans."
All drivers, riders, and team managers of Honda Racing as well as Takahiro Hachigo, President,CEO and Representative Director, Honda Motor Co., Ltd, appeared on the special stage set up on Super Speedway for "Honda Racing THANKS Ceremony."
They expressed their appreciation for the support they received throughout the year to the fans that gathered on the stand. Event on the race track kicked off at full-scale with the comment by TEAM KUNIMITSU General Manager Kunimitsu Takahashi, on behalf of all participants, "Please enjoy the whole day today."

 

 

CR-Z GT Last Run: "Thank you, CR-Z!"
CR-Z, which will retire from SUPER GT after this season, made its last run. No.55 ARTA CR-Z GT that competed this season made 1-lap parade run around Twin Ring Motegi with Shinichi Takagi at the wheel. After returning to the pit, ARTA CR-Z GT was joined by the drivers who took the wheel of CR-Z during its three years of competition, Takagi's teammate Takashi Kobayashi as well as Hideki Mutoh, Daisuke Nakajima, and Tomoki Nojiri, and also MUGEN CR-Z GT for the final salute.

 

 

SUPER FORMULA x SUPER GT Special Race: "Five NSX CONCEPT-GTs battled it out hard"
Highlight of the day was "SUPER FORMULA x SUPER GT Special Race." Five Honda NSX CONCEPT GTs from GT500 class and five Super Formula's SF14s came together and formed a team consist of one car from each category to compete in a relay style race. Firstly, Super Formula raced for five laps and came back to the pit. As soon as the drivers of GT500 machines waiting in the pit received a touch, the driver jumped into his GT machine and dashed out to the track. During the last half of the race by SUPER GT, five cars got into a hard battle with lead changes happening at every turn. Five cars lined up side-by-side at last stretch on the straight and went through the finish line for the checker flag! Spectators on the stand gave a huge cheer to the thrilling scene.

 

 

Finale: "Promised to show good performance next season in response to warm cheer."
All members who gathered for the day, including drivers and team managers, appeared in front of the special stage for the "Finale" to salute the fans, who stayed until the end, and conclude the fun day. Honda Racing's top performing machines of this season as well as new NSX and NSX CONCEPT-GT (test car) lined up in front of the stage, and the drivers and riders were joined by team managers as they got off from their respective machines. There were shouts of words from the fans expecting good performance next season as the drivers, riders, and team managers sent their last comment.

 

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