2022.11.27

Honda Racing THANKS DAY 2022 held under clear skies at Motegi with 19,800 Honda fans enjoying a new lineup of attractions!

　On November 28th, Mobility Resort Motegi was blessed with clear blue skies for the long awaited off-season event “Honda Racing THANKS DAY 2022,” being held for the first time in three years. After having to be cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the recurring waves of COVID-19 infections, an event was finally held in March of this year as a 2021-2022 edition. But this day now marked the return to the traditional off-season Thanks Day schedule. This provided a long-awaited chance for some 19,800 Honda fans to turn out to give cheers of support for the Honda drivers just coming off the season of competition.

 

 

　From this year, Honda’s motorsport program has been conducted under the new leadership of the Honda Racing Corporation (HRC), which brought even further collaboration between the motorcycle and 4-wheeler teams, as reflected in an even fuller range of undertakings and attractions here. On this day, the early morning program was kicked off with the popular Circuit Safari and Grid Walk events. For the Grid Walk event, the circuit’s main straight was opened up to the fans to enjoy a close-up view over the pit walls and the debris fences at the SUPER GT machines in their respective pit garages, and to watch the teams at work intently at the tasks of preparing the machines for action.

 

　The next attraction on the schedule was the popular Motegi MOTO RACER CUP event that allows fans of all ages, from children to adults to enjoy the action of electric Moto Racer bike competition. Commandeering the bikes were not only Honda motorcycle race riders but also SUPER GT GT500 class race drivers. Starting from a predetermined pole position was the pair of Takuya Izawa (No. 64 Modulo NSX-GT) and Naoki Yamamoto (No. 100 STANLEY NSX-GT), and naturally, the fans were anxious to see how these two accomplished GT race drivers and the other 4-wheeler pros could perform in a 2-wheeler “race.” And in fact, it was the 4-wheel driver Tadasuke Makino (No. 100 STANLEY NSX-GT), who boasted to the people around him that he had obtained a middle-sized motorcycle license, that teaming with a motorcycle race rider performed magnificently to come from behind and win the race, as well as high acclaim from the fans for the achievement.

 

   

 

　The next attraction was the Kart Cup race, which would give the drivers the chance to show their skills in 4-wheeler competition. Teaming with the GT500 class drivers for this competition were motorcycle race riders as well. To compensate for his understandable lack of knowledge in handling a race kart, Nobuharu Matsushita (No. 17 Astemo NSX-GT) was given some detailed advice in the art of kart racing beforehand. And that appears to have paid off well, as he went on to come from behind and claim the Kart Cup win. As for Koudai Tsukakoshi (No. 17 Astemo NSX-GT), he said he found the rental kart easy to drive because of its lower level of performance (compared to a full-scale racing kart). But watching from trackside and seeing his speed and cornering technique, sliding all four wheels through the turns, was truly impressive. It made us appreciate anew the awesome skills that make a professional race drivers a different breed of competitors.

 

   

 

　This year there was also a new look to the Honda Racing THANKS Ceremony event, where the participating Honda race drivers and riders all voice their appreciation to the loyal Honda fans that support them. This time, the drivers and riders filled the top deck of three open-topped double-decker buses to wheel slowly past the clustered fans in the Victory Stand. Half-way through the parade, the buses stopped to allow Chairman and Director of Honda Motor Co., Ltd., Mr. Seiji Kuraishi, to address the gathered crowd. And there was also time made to enable HRC President, Mr. Koji Watanabe to individually introduce the champion drivers. Because the top deck of the buses was just about on eye level with the Victory Stand, it gave the fans a true front-row seat from which to feel closer than ever to the drivers and riders they admire.

 

   

 

　The SUPER GT x Production model mixed race that was run from 2:00 in the afternoon is an especially popular event, not only for SUPER GT fans but also for owners who lover their Honda production models. The five Honda cars competing in SUPER GT were joined by a development (test) car to make a total of six Honda GTX-GT race machines, which were joined by two models each of the new model Civic Type R and N-ONE OWNER'S CUP machines, making for a total of ten cars in this multi-specification race. The cars were divided into two teams, Team Red and Team Blue, to run a relay race, with each team having three NSX-GT cars and one each of the new model Civic Type R and the N-ONE OWNER'S CUP machine.
　The first pair to run were Team Red’s Tomoki Nojiri driving the No. 8 ARTA NSX and Team Blue’s F1 driver Yuki Tsunoda at the wheel of a new model Civic Type R. As could be expected, Nojiri in the NSX-GT came home first with a big lead to pass the baton to the team’s second driver, but it was still too early to guess what the final scene would be like when the last runners reached the goal. The progress of each of the cars was followed on the large vision screens positioned above the pit area, and the excitement was infectious not only for the fans in the stands but equally so for the team members in the pits.
　In the end, it was Yamamoto in the No. 100 STANLEY NSX-GT who started his run with a big lead. But as if he had waited until the pursuing Tsukakoshi in the No. 17 Astemo NSX-GT could catch up, a final showdown developed. The two machines were running a tight nose-to-tail battle, which at times saw the two machines running side-by-side, until they finally crossed the goal line virtually neck-to-neck. The drama was so real that one could almost sense that many of the fans were dreaming that the last round of the 2023 SUPER GT season might come down to such a dead heat for the series championship between these two machines!

 

   

 

   

 

　For the finale of this exciting Thanks Day, all the participating Honda drivers and riders lined up with their machines on the straight in front of the home stand. It was an impressive lineup of Honda race machines, ranging from of the five SUPER GT machines to an F1 machine and two trail machines from MotoGP. Here, a final salute went out to the fans as always with the glorious “Honda Sound” from the engines of the machines they have come to know and love.

 

 

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