Mobility Resort Motegi (モビリティリゾートもてぎ) is a

motorsport Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

race track A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also u ...

located at Motegi,

Tochigi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Tochigi Prefecture has a population of 1,943,886 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,408 Square kilometre, km2 (2,474 Square mile, sq mi). Tochigi ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. Originally named Twin Ring Motegi (ツインリンクもてぎ), the circuit's name came from the facility having two race tracks: a oval and a road course. It was built in 1997 by

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a producti ...

, as part of the company's effort to bring the

IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...

to Japan, helping to increase their knowledge of American

open-wheel racing Formula racing (known as open-wheel racing in North America) is any of several forms of open-wheeled single-seater motorsport. The origin of the term lies in the nomenclature that was adopted by the FIA for all of its post-World War II single-s ...

. The oval was last raced on in 2010, and 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.

Super speedway

View of the Oval at Twin Ring Motegi from the South

The oval course is the only one of its kind in Japan used for competitive racing. It is a low-banked, egg-shaped course, with turns three and four being much tighter than turns one and two. On March 28, 1998,

CART A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people. It is different from the flatbed tr ...

held the inaugural

Indy Japan 300 The Indy Japan 300 presented by Bridgestone was an Indy Racing League IndyCar Series race held at Twin Ring Motegi in Motegi, Japan. The 2008 race marked the historic first ever win for a woman driver in American open wheel racing when Danica Pat ...

at Twin Ring Motegi Speedway. The race was won by Mexican driver

Adrián Fernández Adrián Fernández Mier (born April 20, 1963 in Mexico City, CDMX, Mexico) is a Mexican former professional race car driver and he was co-owner of the Fernandez Racing team. Racing career Early career Fernández began his career in Mexico by ...

continued racing at Twin Ring Motegi Speedway from 1998–2002. In 2003, Honda entered the

Indy Racing League The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...

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 Daniel Clive Wheldon (22 June 1978 – 16 October 2011) was a British motor racing driver who won the 2005 IndyCar Series Drivers' Championship for Andretti Green Racing (AGR). He won the Indianapolis 500 in 2005 and 2011, and was co-winner ...

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 INDYCAR, LLC, is an American-based auto racing sanctioning body for Indy car racing and other disciplines of open wheel car racing. The organization sanctions five racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with its centerpiece the Indianapolis ...

race, beating

Hélio Castroneves Hélio Castroneves (; born Hélio Alves de Castro Neves; 10 May 1975) is a Brazilian auto racing driver. He has won the Indianapolis 500 a record-equalling four times: in 2001, 2002, 2009, and 2021. He won the 2021 24 Hours of Daytona with Wa ...

for her first and only Indycar victory. The 2011 season was the last season of

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 The Honda Collection Hall is a transport museum housing a collection of Honda consumer- and racing-oriented artifacts. It is on the grounds of the Twin Ring Motegi race track located at Motegi, Tochigi, Japan. It opened in 1998. It is operated by ...

, with

Takuma Sato , nicknamed "Taku", is a Japanese professional racing driver. Sato is a two time winner of the Indianapolis 500, having won the event in 2017 and 2020. He was the first Asian driver to win the Indianapolis 500, and the twentieth driver to win th ...

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 . This length was used by CART in their races between 1998 and 2002, too. The IRL measured in 2003 a length of . This length was also used in the following races till 2010.

NASCAR history

Mike Skinner won the only

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...

exhibition race held at the track in 1998, the Coca-Cola 500. Skinner won driving the No.31 Chevrolet for

Richard Childress Racing Richard Childress Racing (RCR) is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The team is based in Welcome, North Carolina, and is owned and operated by Richard ...

. 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. Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. (born October 10, 1974) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, team owner, author, and an analyst for ''NASCAR on NBC''. He currently competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving t ...

, competed with one another, driving No.3 and No.1

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

Chevrolets, respectively. The track also held the

NASCAR K&N Pro Series West The ARCA Menards Series West, formerly the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, NASCAR AutoZone West Series, NASCAR Winston West Series and NASCAR Camping World West Series, is a regional stock car racing series owned and operated by the Automobile Racin ...

in 1999 with Kevin Richards getting the win.

Road course

The road course is 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 The Japanese Super Formula Championship is a formula racing series. It is considered as being the top level of single-seater racing in Japan and regional motorsports in Asia. The series is sanctioned by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) an ...

visiting twice,

Super GT Super GT (stylized as SUPER GT) is a grand touring car racing series that began in 1993. Launched as the , generally referred to as either the JGTC or the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship, the series was renamed to Super GT in 2005. It is ...

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 FIA Formula 4, also called FIA F4, is an open-wheel racing car category intended for junior drivers. There is no global championship, but rather individual nations or regions can host their own championships in compliance with a universal set of r ...

and FJ1600. The road course is also a popular motorcycle racing track, with the

MotoGP Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start ...

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 The Japanese Motorcycle Grand Prix (日本グランプリ) is a motorcycling event that is part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. The main venue who held the races for years was the Suzuka Circuit, until it permanently was replaced b ...

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 dirt track for modified and sprint car racing and also standard saloon racing. In addition, the

FIM FIM may refer to: Organizations and companies * Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, the International Motorcycling Federation * Flint Institute of Music, in Michigan, United States * Fox Interactive Media, now News Corp. Digital Media * ...

Trials In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...

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

, which features historic Honda racing and production cars and motorcycles, and

Honda Fan Fun Lab is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

, 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 Oval track racing is a form of closed-circuit motorsport that is contested on an oval-shaped race track. An oval track differs from a road course in that the layout resembles an oval with turns in only one direction, and the direction of traffic ...

" 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 , and several large-screen televisions are needed. Seating outside the grandstand is limited to areas of the infield and along the 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 The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are ...

and

Tobu Railway is a Japanese commuter railway and ''keiretsu'' holding company in the Greater Tokyo Area as well as an intercity and regional operator in the Kantō region. Excluding the Japan Railways Group companies, Tobu's rail system is the second longes ...

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 Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

(estimated to be nearly 100,000 for road-course events, 80,000 for the oval). In 2011

Casey Stoner Casey Joel Stoner (born 16 October 1985) is an Australian retired professional motorcycle racer, and a two-time MotoGP World Champion, in and . During his MotoGP career, Stoner raced for the factory teams of Ducati and Honda, winning a tit ...

and

Jorge Lorenzo Jorge Lorenzo Guerrero (; born 4 May 1987) is a Spanish former professional motorcycle racer. He is a five-time World Champion, with three MotoGP World Championships (, and ) and two 250cc World Championships ( and ). After winning the 2006 a ...

proposed to boycott the MotoGP race out of fears for their health from radiation from the

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant The is a disabled nuclear power plant located on a site in the towns of Ōkuma and Futaba in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. The plant suffered major damage from the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on March 11, 2011. The ...

even though all the independent scientific experts including the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

and

Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) is a regulatory agency under the national Commonwealth government of Australia that aims to protect Australian citizens from both ionising and non-ionising radiation. ARP ...

had stated that it is safe to live permanently or more from the plant. Motegi is more than from

. In the end, all the teams showed up for the race.

Layout configurations

File:Twin Ring Motegi map-2.svg, Map of both road courses and speedway File:Twin Ring Motegi oval map.svg, Map of speedway File:Twin Ring Motegi road course map.svg, Map of combined road course File:Motegi West Course.png, Map of west road course File:Motegi East Course.png, Map of east road course

Lap records

The official fastest race lap records at the Mobility Resort Motegi are listed as:

Events

; Current * March: Japan F4 Regional Championship Series * July:

Formula Regional Japanese Championship The Formula Regional Japanese Championship is a Japan ese formula racing championship held under FIA Formula Regional car regulations. Announced by the Japan Automobile Federation on 26 December 2019, it was confirmed that K2 Planet, promoter of ...

* August:

Super Formula Championship The Japanese Super Formula Championship is a formula racing series. It is considered as being the top level of single-seater racing in Japan and regional motorsports in Asia. The series is sanctioned by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) and ...

Super Formula Lights is a national formula racing championship that takes place in Japan. It is a junior-level feeder formula that uses the same single seater chassis as the pan-European Euroformula Open Championship. The series will be the first with the new b ...

TCR Japan Touring Car Series The TCR Japan Touring Car Series is a touring car racing series based in Japan, the first of its kind since Japanese Touring Car Championship folded in 1998. In an agreement between WSC Ltd and Japan TCR Management, the TCR Japan Series began in ...

* September:

Grand Prix motorcycle racing Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start ...

'', Super Taikyu, Asia Talent Cup * November:

F4 Japanese Championship is a formula racing series held in Japan regulated according to FIA Formula 4 regulations. The inaugural season was held in 2015. History Gerhard Berger and the FIA Singleseater Commission launched the FIA Formula 4 in March 2013. The goal of ...

; Former *

Champ Car Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., or Champ Car, a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing Teams ...

'' Bridgestone Potenza 500'' (1998–2002) * Coca-Cola 500 (1998) *

'' Pacific motorcycle Grand Prix'' (2000–2003) *

'' (2003–2011) * Japan Le Mans Challenge (2006–2007) *

World Touring Car Championship The FIA World Touring Car Championship was an international touring car championship promoted by Eurosport Events and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It has had several different incarnations, including a sin ...

FIA WTCC Race of Japan The FIA WTCC Race of Japan is a round of the World Touring Car Championship, which is held at Suzuka Circuit in Japan. It used to be held at the Okayama International Circuit and at Twin Ring Motegi. The race was first run in 2008, with Rickard ...

'' (2015–2017)

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. * In Honda's 2005 Clio Awards winning commercial "Impossible Dream", the sequence in which the

BAR Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

car is driven into the bridge was filmed at the circuit. *During the opening sequence of ''

Kamen Rider Agito , is the eleventh installment in the popular Kamen Rider tokusatsu franchise. The series represented the 30th anniversary of the Kamen Rider Series. The series was also a joint collaboration between Ishimori Productions and Toei and was shown o ...

'', the three main Kamen Riders are shown riding around the circuit, as Honda is the series sponsor. *During the ending sequence of ''

Engine Sentai Go-onger is Toei Company's thirty-second installment in the Super Sentai metaseries of Japanese tokusatsu television series. It premiered on February 17, 2008, a week following the finale of '' Juken Sentai Gekiranger'', and ended on February 8, 2009. It ...

'', the series' characters are shown dancing on the main straight of the road course. The racetrack is revealed in the series as the primary Go-onger team's origin (it is known that Saki Rouyama, Go-on Yellow, works there), and was used (along with the Honda Collection Hall) in the final scene from " Road Of Justice", the final episode of the series. *In '' Super Hero Taisen GP: Kamen Rider 3'', a race called the Rider Grand Prix will take place in a variation of the Twin Ring Motegi, owned by Shocker in the altered timeline. * The track is available in racing games such as ''

Forza Motorsport 2 ''Forza Motorsport 2'' is a 2007 simulation racing video game developed by Turn 10 Studios for the Xbox 360 console. It is the second title in the '' Forza'' series, and is the sequel to the original '' Forza Motorsport'' (2005) and was followed ...

'', ''

Forza Motorsport 3 ''Forza Motorsport 3'' is a 2009 racing video game developed for Xbox 360 by Turn 10 Studios. It is the sequel to ''Forza Motorsport 2'' and the third installment in the ''Forza'' series. The game includes more than 400 customizable cars (more t ...

'', ''

Forza Motorsport 4 ''Forza Motorsport 4'' is a 2011 racing video game developed by Turn 10 Studios and published by Microsoft Studios for the Xbox 360. It is the fourth installment in the ''Forza'' series. It is the first title in the series to support the Kinect ...

'', ''

Gran Turismo 4 ''Gran Turismo 4'' is a 2004 racing video game for the PlayStation 2, the fourth installment in the main ''Gran Turismo'' series and the sixth for the overall series. It was developed by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony Computer Entert ...

'', '' Gran Turismo for PSP'', ''

Gran Turismo 5 is a 2010 racing video game developed by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was released for the PlayStation 3 on November 24, 2010 in Europe and North America, and November 25, 2010 in Japan and Australasia, and ...

'', ''

Gran Turismo 6 ''Gran Turismo 6'' is a racing video game developed by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3. It is the sixth major release and twelfth game overall in the '' Gran Turismo'' video game series. It w ...

'', ''

iRacing.com ''iRacing'' is a subscription-based online racing simulation video game developed and published by iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations in 2008. All in-game sessions are hosted on the publisher's servers. The game simulates real world cars, tr ...

'' and ''RaceRoom Racing Experience''. *During the first tankery battle in

Girls und Panzer , abbreviated as ''GuP'' or ''Garupan'' , is a Japanese anime franchise created by Actas which depicts a competition between girls' high schools practicing tank warfare as a sport. The series was directed by Tsutomu ...

Das Finale Part 1, Ooarai Girls Academy against BC Freedom High School, members of Leopon Team, the

VK 4501 (P) The VK 45.01 (P), also informally known as Tiger (P) or Porsche Tiger, was a gasoline-electric drive heavy tank prototype designed by Porsche in Germany. Losing to its Henschel competitor on trials, it was not selected for mass production and ...

reference the track, saying they wished they re-opened the oval layout.

References

External links

Mobility Resort Motegi
- in Japanese
Mobility Resort Motegi
- in English
Street View imagery in Google MapsSatellite picture by Google Maps
{{Navboxes , list1 = {{MotoGP circuits {{Super Formula circuits {{Super GT courses {{GT World Challenge Asia circuits {{WTCC circuits {{Indy Racing League {{Champ Car tracks {{NASCAR K&N Pro Series racetracks {{JTCC circuits {{Honda Honda Champ Car circuits Motorsport venues in Japan Grand Prix motorcycle circuits NASCAR tracks IndyCar Series tracks Sports venues in Tochigi Prefecture World Touring Car Championship circuits 1997 establishments in Japan Sports venues completed in 1997 Motegi, Tochigi

Super speedway

Track length of paved oval

NASCAR history

Road course

Other facilities

Track difficulties

Layout configurations

Lap records

Events

In popular media

See also

Access

References

External links