Race Course set up in the Event Area = Watch the Race just by the Track

MOTO1's last battle of the year was held at broad asphalt surface, not at the circuit. That gives spectators an opportunity to come really close to the course side. This round's concept is " A place you really want to see at sight. Race spectators can experience the racing."
One thing specific about this round is that every year the course design changes. This year we have really long home straight and the first curve became even faster corner comparing to last year's.
In this kind of circumstances, No. 192 SAAI, the one who became the champion of the year at the last round, took pole position and second grid was No.1 Yassy. These two riders hit lap time of 1 minute and 12 seconds and expected to be the dead heat of two. For your information, the lap time of the rider who took pole position in the open class was 1 minute 14 seconds and you can see how fast those two guys are.

Photo top: No. 192 SAAI Kiyoshi / Honda CRF450R / He was in charge of Honda motor cycle riding performance development. The handling of CB1100 was developed by SAAI. The high maneuverability of CB1100 probably came from him.
Photo middle: No. 3 Ikki, MORITA Ikki / Suzuki RMZ450 / originally from motocross I-A. Known as "Crutch Magician" He lives in Sendai, and due to the earthquake occurred this spring, he was absent from the first half races. His riding has evolved extremely this year.
Photo bottom: No. 5 MITOMA Susumu. / Yamaha YZ450F / MITOMA means "Wild Sliding". He brings sliding from top speed and that's fabulous. You can see another side of him in MOTO1 Ustream broadcast.

No. 1 Yassy dropped out. Victory to No. 192 SAAI

　Holeshot was taken by No. 192 SAAI, followed by No. 1 Yassy and Ikki, No. 5 MITOMA. No. 3 Ikki made a start from second row 6th grid and with the fabulous rocket start we grabbed this position.
　At the opening lap, No. 1 Yassy positioned in second had his rear tire slipped out from the bank and went off the track, losing speed. He got into some kind of trouble and power decreasing and then retired.
No. 192 was still at the top. No. 3 Ikki and No. 5 MITOMA were after him. These two riders are good at high speed course. Regardless of their chase, No. 192 SAAI was at top with swift run.
(It seems that in the year 2011, No. 192 SAAI changed his riding style. I'm not sure if this is because of his machine but I can tell you "ride as if he is dancing" style of smooth riding has turned into more aggressive or so to say more responsive ride.)
During the race around the halfway, No. 192 SAAI kept top position. The battle for the second position was hot. No. 4 Ryuta running in the 5th position pump up the speed and caught No. 2 Jaws, shifting up the position to 4th. At the third curve he opened the throttle, fourth curve he licked the outer side, made a good dash going out of the curve and passed the opponent just before fifth curve. What a take over! He kept on speeding and aimed at No. 5 MITOMA in 3rd position.
At lap 13, No. 4 Ryuta caught No. 5 MITOMA's back and jumped into inside at the fourth curve. No. 5 MITOMA also squeezed into inside and defended Ryuta's intrusion. Big battle was going on.
No. 3 Ikki in the second position was running in front of No.5 MITOMA. They had hard time catching up No.192 SAAI who is in the top. On the other hand, No.5 MITOMA in the 3rd place was ready to attack No.3 Ikki. But if you look behind there you see No.4 Ryuta attacking. No.4 Ryuta brought threesome battle.
Suddenly, this battle ends. At the exit of second dirt section No. 4 Ryuta got his engine stopped. With quick recovery start he came back to the race but he was no more in this battle. While those dramas were taken, SAAI was always cool running at the top. In the final race, was wearing bright white racing suit and run strong. At the preliminary heat he wears black suit and white one is a special one for the final. SAAI got the checker flag at the top and made a victory at the final round of the season. It was a perfect victory.
No.3 Ikki came into second place and No.5 MITOMA came in third.

No.4 Ryuta aims at No.5 MITOMA's inside. However, MITOMA made a slide and lead his machine to the inside and blocked it. These two gentlemen do demonstration ride of four stroke 125cc machine at events and schools quite often. This demonstration ride can only be possible with high skilled riding. As they know quite well about their riding skills and probably with the trust among each other, this battle happened.

moto1 pro class result

1/ No.192 SAAI Kiyoshi/ Honda CRF450R / AKB racing & SAAI racing
2/ No.2 Jaws MASUDA / Yamaha YZ450F / JAWS racing + REAL
3/ No.3 Ikki MORITA / Suzuki RMZ450 / SRF SPORT & Highsidejunkies
4/ No.4 Ryuta KANEKO / Husqvarna SM450RR / Team REAL EQUIP Husqvarna
5/ No.11 OHTSUKA Tadakazu / KTM 350SX-F / KTM Uzushio Racing Fukuyama
6/ No.5 MITIMA Susumu / Yamaha YZ450F / C.G. PHNTOM MotoBocchi RR

Cutting off the rear wing arm is the current CRF style. This treatment is also done to SAAI's machine. As He had his rear fender cut off, this treatment is not so visible. You can give responsive circular power to rear tire by this treatment. On the other hand, shorter swing arm brings less kinks. That means creating sharper machine could be less tolerance. No. 192 machine wears DID tubeless spoke wheel. The character of spoke wheel is its flexibility.

No.192 SAAI Kiyoshi in his black racing suit. This color is for his time attack and preliminary heat. He wears white at the final.
No.3 Ikki MORITA renewed his own record by 1 second and run at 1 minute 12 seconds' in the final. Top racers of pro class do something beyond logic in the race. To be among high rankers here, you ought to do something unregular.
No.6 IKEDA Takahiro battled on 350cc in the450cc class for this whole year. Good balance of light weight and power is the character of this 350SXF. He stood up at the winner's platform in RD.5 and in the previous round of Kumamoto, his team mate OHTSUKA came up to 6th place from the bottom. You can see the machine has good potential.
No.5 MITOMA Susumu runs with what the energy he got. It was his second winner's platform this year. He is the man of YZ now. No.4 Ryuta KANEKO is ranks 3rd in the 2011 Series. He may be young but had pretty hard times. One by one he climbed up the class to come all the way. After the race he was not happy with the result and said to himself, "I was almost there and didn't make it. I shall do it better!"

No.24 Kazuma had Fantastic Record in the Preliminary. But Victoria Smiled to No.2 Kentaro.

　No.24 HASHIGUCHI Kazuma hit superb record at the time attack. 2 seconds faster than the followers. Everybody thought the race was going to be No.24 Kazuma's absolute victory.
The reality did not turn out that way. The first one to dive into the first curve was No. 2 Kentaro started from second grid. Then came was No.3 MORIMOTO, No.6 Yoshida. No.24 kazuma goofed on the start and positioned in the 6th place. Remember, there's nothing like racing. It was the beginning of Kazuma's super chase. Every lap by lap he passed one rider at a time.
In the top group, No.3 MORIMOTO in the 2nd position slipped down at the final curve. With a quick recovery he barely came in 4th place. It's a pity incident as No.3 MORIMOTO was really fast that day. By this No.6 YOSHIDA with his DRZ400 moved up to 2nd position. No.2 Kentaro was still at the top. No.24 Kazuma making strong approach to the top group from behind. Will he make it before the checker flag goes to somebody else? Race is not only to see who is the fastest. It is a sport to contend for precedence with in a limited time or laps.
2nd position No.6 YOSHIDA rides on DRZ400. This is not racer's machine but 400cc torque surpasses what 250cc racers' has. 250cc could never be the competitor to 400cc at the start & dash. Moreover, Motegi is No.6 YOSHIDA's favorite course. No.24 Kazuma in the back had hard time passing him. At the second dirt section he tried to attack from inside bank for several times and not able to go in front. No.6 YOSHIDA knows how to handle this occasion.
Last 3 laps to go and finally NO.24 HASHIGUCHI succeeded to pass No.6 YOSHIDA at the first dirt section and came in 2nd position. No.24 Kazuma's target is now No.2 Kentaro. No.2 Kentaro being the series champion definitely wants to keep his top position.
Last lap and this is the last chance. Many tight curves continuously appeared in the tarmac section and No.24 Kazuma looked for a chance to pass No.2 Kentaro. No.2 Kentaro is not only fast, he has strength.In the dirt section No.2 Kentaro moves further. Then the second dirt section came and at the bank No.24 Kazuma cut inside with his last hope.
No.2 Kentaro came out from the last curve first. No.24 HASHIGUCHI who has always been showing us wonderful chase came in 2nd and No.6 YOSHIDA with his DRZ400 in 3rd.

Photo top: 2011 moto2 Champion No.2 Kentaro and his RMZ250 finished the very final race with victory.
Photo middle: Last 2 laps to go, No.24 HASHIGUCHI Kazuma was just behind the top rider No.2 Kentaro.
Photo bottom: No.6 YOSHIDA Kazushi + DRZ400. YOSHIDA and his team GRIDERIDE had always been proving the excellence of DRZ400. It was the last race to see the run in MOTO1.

moto2 class result

1/ No.2 Kentaro OHNISHI / Suzuki RMZ250 / SRF SPORT & 98%RACING
2/ No.24 HASHIGUCHI Kazuma / Kawasaki KX250F / D-GARAGE & BRAINS + MY Techno
3/ No.6 YOSHIDA Kazushi / Suzuki DRZ400SM / GRIDERIDE Racing Team
4/ No.5 KUBO Akira / Yamaha YZ250F / sleipnir racing team
5/ No.3 MORIMOTO Kei / Yamaha YZ250F / MotoBocchi × DUNLOP
6/ No.50 MATSUMOTO Kazushi /Husqvarna TE250 / ALTIRE Husqvarna Racing

No.2 Kentaro OHNISHI went through the races with his father who came back from injury this season. They don't look like typical father & son racing family. They look more like a well understood racing pals, no need to talk much between them. Congrats!
No.5 MORIMOTO Kei is getting pretty populat on MOTO1 Ustream broadcast. He exposed his funny guy part in the broadcast. He was in 3rd position but dropped down later due to the slip down.
No.56 NAKAKI Ryosuke is from road race. This year he was focused at 8 Hour Enduro, pretty busy year. It was his first season in MOTO1 and seems that he got some good feeling here. Let's see how he does next year.

First Entry and First Victory, N.51 ISOZUMI from moto 2 class

It was No.51 ISOZUMI who joined the race from moto2 class got the victory. He rode on the CRF450R prepared for next year's moto1 pro class race. It was his first entry and first victory in moto1 open class. No.51 ISOZUMI ranked in high position of moto2 class and had right to up-grade the class.
Holeshot was taken by No.31 AKAMINE Ryota followed by No.4 AMANO and No.51 ISOZUMI and then No.300 TAKAYAMA. No.35 K's Toshi who is now receiving the top series points did not do well in the time attack and had to start from second row.
At lap 5, No.51 ISOZUMI in good condition got No.31 Ryota and positioned top. It was No.51 ISOZUMI's first race with 450cc machine and he was fast. Top position was No.51 ISOZUMI, 2nd position No.31 Ryota and 3rd position AMANO. These three riders are definitely the hopes for future MOTO1.
No.35 K's Toshi who is ranked top in the series points did not make a good start and was struggling to come up to higher position.
It was last 2 laps to go, No.31 Ryota who was a bit left away from No.51 ISOZUMI has come back to the attacking position again. At his favorite dirt section he accelerated and dove inside. No.51 ISOZUMU defended. ISOZUMI seemed to be pretty tired. You saw him losing balance at curves sometime.
At last, No.51 ISOZUMI made a victory at his first entry. No.31 Ryota did really well not giving up the fight till last moment and he came in 2nd. It was a real close one. No.4 AMANO Ken came in 3rd place.
No,35 K's Toshi who was battled for series points came in 8th place and by this result No.31 AKAMINE Ryota became the Series Champion. No.4 AMANO Ken became 2nd in ranking and in 3rd was No.35 K's Toshi just by a point difference. Next year, these three riders will be in moto1 pro class races automatically.
This year's races have ended but I would say this is just the beginning. I expect them to show us fantastic battles in the pinnacle class next year.

No.51 ISOZUMI Yosuke made his first entry and victory. This time he seemed to be relaxed all the time. Was it because he just attended the race as 450cc machine test? Well, the riding style may still have room for sophistication; I would say that's really great as he won the race.
No.31 AKAMINE Ryota came in 2nd also became the Series Champion. It was his first entry for the All Stars Series and got Champion. Next year, we will be promoted to pro class. Wish him a good fight and stood as KTM man.
No.4 AMANO Ken came in 3rd and received 2nd in the series ranking points in the hot open class. He will be joining pro class with AKAMINE Ryota next year. These two riders are interest to see from the point of view of Hasqvarna vs. KTM.
No.3 KAWASAKI Takahiro came in 5th. He could not stick to those two riders this time. Let's see how he battles next year.

moto1 open class result

1/ No.51 ISOZUMI Yosuke / Honda CRF250R / C.G.PHANTOM
2/ No.31 AKAMINE Ryota / KTM 450SMR / KTM Uzushio Racing Fukuyama
3/ No.4 AMANO Ken / Husqvarna TC449 / Amanoya Husqvrna Racing with Moto West Omega
4/ No.12 FURUKAWA Kazuyoshi / Honda CRF450R / KAZU CRAFT★B&C AMSOIL
5/ No.3 KAWASAKI Taka / Yamaha YZ450F / Kawasaki Shoten ＋MS Goro RACING
6/ No.300 TAKAYAMA Naoto / Honda CRF / Club Moto Roman

No.51 ISOZUMI is always a happy man. He will join All Stars from next year. He had 2 victories in moto2 class with the series points ranking in 2nd. To the right is Mr. Mizoguchi, President of PHANTOM Racing. Mr. Mizoguchi fosters many wonderful riders.
No.31 AKAMINE Ryota sometimes shows young fresh look. He is from Okinawa. In Okinawa he was a never loosing genius rider. The myth was proven this year. Congratulation to you! You are the Champion of the year.

Ikki and his mechanic man Mr. Endy hugging. Will this be his last race? He wrotes on his blog "Next year's plan is a blank sheet"
Ikki is one of the starting up member of motard from scratch. There were no course to run, no proper machines to ride, no riding method was established. With passion and try and error and try, motard sports brought up to current status. Ikki was always a gentleman, straight hearted in the scene. Ikki evolved his riding style this year. I hope to see his ride next year too!