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 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 oval track (that is currently being demolished) and a 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 March 1, 2022, the name of the track was changed to Mobility Resort Motegi, coinciding with the 25th anniversary of the facility. On May 13, 2026, demolition began of the speedway's oval.

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 was counted differently by different series that run at Mobility Resort Motegi. The NASCAR timing and scoring use a length of . This length was used by CART in their races between 1998 and 2002. The IRL measured in 2003 a length of . This length was also used in the following races until 2010.

NASCAR history

Mike Skinner won the only NASCAR Winston 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 hosted the NASCAR Winston West Series finale in 1999, with Kevin Richards getting the win.

Demolition

On May 13, 2026, news broke that Twin Ring Motegi's oval would be demolished and repurposed for spectator seating and camping areas for future events.

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 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

thumb|left|Gran Turismo cafe

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 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, thus 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 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 or more from the plant. Motegi is more than from Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. In the end, all the teams showed up for the race.

Layout configurations

Events

; Current

  • March: Super Taikyu
  • April: Super Formula Championship, MFJ Superbikes
  • May: Ferrari Challenge Japan
  • June: Asia Road Racing Championship, Formula Regional Japanese Championship
  • August: MFJ Superbikes
  • September: Super Formula Lights
  • October: Grand Prix motorcycle racing Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix, Moto4 Asia Cup
  • November: Super GT, F4 Japanese Championship

; Former

  • Champ Car
  • Bridgestone Potenza 500 (1998–2002)
  • Coca-Cola 500 (1998)
  • Ferrari Challenge Asia-Pacific (2019)
  • Formula Toyota (2002–2007)
  • GC-21 (2004)
  • Grand Prix motorcycle racing
  • Pacific motorcycle Grand Prix (2000–2003)
  • GT World Challenge Asia (2023)
  • IndyCar Series
  • Indy Japan 300 (2003–2011)
  • Japan Cup Series (2023)
  • Japan Le Mans Challenge (2006–2007)
  • Japanese Formula 3 Championship (1997–2019)
  • Japanese Touring Car Championship (1998)
  • NASCAR Winston West Series (1999)
  • Porsche Carrera Cup Asia (2025)
  • Porsche Carrera Cup Japan (2004, 2006–2007, 2010–2012, 2020)
  • TCR Japan Touring Car Series (2020–2024)
  • World Touring Car Championship
  • FIA WTCC Race of Japan (2015–2017)

Lap records

The unofficial all-time track record is 1:29.757, set by Tomoki Nojiri during the qualifying session of 2021 2nd Motegi Super Formula round. As of May 2026, the fastest official race lap records at the Mobility Resort Motegi are listed as:

{| class=wikitable style="font-size:90%",

! Category !! Time !! Driver !! Vehicle !! Event

|-

! colspan=5 | Grand Prix Circuit (1997–present):

|-

| Super Formula || 1:31.379 || Sena Sakaguchi || Dallara SF23 || 2026 Motegi Super Formula round

|-

| Formula Nippon || 1:34.853 || Masami Kageyama || Reynard 97D || 1997 Motegi Formula Nippon round

|-

| Super GT (GT500) || 1:38.350 || Tadasuke Makino || Honda NSX-GT || 2022 Motegi GT 300 km Race

|-

| IndyCar || 1:40.2453 || Giorgio Pantano || Dallara IR-05 || 2011 Indy Japan: The Final

|-

| Super Formula Lights || 1:43.537 || Yuto Nomura || Dallara 324 || 2025 Motegi Super Formula Lights round

|-

| LMP900 || 1:43.686 || Hiroki Katoh || Zytek 04S || 2006 Motegi JLMC round

|-

| Formula Three || 1:44.373 || Sho Tsuboi || Dallara F317 || 2018 Motegi Japanese F3 round

|-

| MotoGP || 1:44.412 || Francesco Bagnaia || Ducati Desmosedici GP25 || 2025 Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix

|-

| LMP1 || 1:44.508 || Shinji Nakano || Courage LC70 || 2007 Motegi JLMC round

|-

| Superbike || 1:47.324 || Katsuyuki Nakasuga || Yamaha YZF-R1 || 2024 1st Motegi All Japan Road Race Championship round

|-

| Super GT (GT300) || 1:47.734 || Iori Kimura || Honda NSX GT3 || 2022 Motegi GT 300 km Race

|-

| Formula Regional || 1:47.881 || Sena Sakaguchi || Dome F111/3 || 2020 Motegi FRJC round

|-

| Moto2 || 1:48.739 || Daniel Holgado || Kalex Moto2 || 2025 Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix

|-

| Ferrari Challenge || 1:50.274 || Yamatatsu || Ferrari 296 Challenge || 2026 Motegi Ferrari Challenge Japan round

|-

| 500cc || 1:50.591 || James Yu || Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II || 2023 Motegi GT World Challenge Asia round

|-

| Supersport || 1:52.900 || Keito Abe || Yamaha YZF-R6 || 2024 1st Motegi All Japan Road Race Championship round

|-

| LMP2 || 1:53.558 || Ryo Ogawa || Porsche 911 (991 II) GT3 Cup || 2020 Motegi Porsche Carrera Cup Japan round

|-

| GT1 (GTS) || 1:54.200 || Hideto Yasuoka || Tom's FT30 || 2004 Motegi Formula Toyota round

|-

| Moto3 || 1:55.675 || Tomonobu Fujii || Ferrari F430 GTC || 2009 250 km of Motegi

|-

| TC1 || 1:57.136 || Gabriele Tarquini || Honda Civic WTCC || 2015 FIA WTCC Race of Japan

|-

| Formula 4 || 1:57.305 || Ritomo Miyata || Dome F110 || 2016 Motegi Japanese F4 round

|-

| 125cc || 1:57.666 || Atsushi Yogou || Porsche 911 (996) GT3-R || 2000 Motegi JGTC round

|-

| TCR Touring Car || 1:59.720 || Choi Jeong Weon || Hyundai Elantra N TCR || 2024 3rd 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

|-

| Asia Productions 250 || 2:07.132 || Candra H || Yamaha YZF-R3 || 2025 Motegi ARRC round

|-

| Super 2000 || 2:07.456 || Eric Kwong || SEAT León 2.0T || 2016 Motegi Touring Car Series in Asia round

|-

| Asia Underbone 150 || 2:15.928 || Murobbil Vittoni || Yamaha MX King 150 || 2024 Motegi ARRC round

|-

! colspan=5 | East Road Course (1997–present):

|-

| LMP2 || 1:31.012 || Hiromi Sagami || Dallara GC21 || 2004 1st Motegi GC-21 round

|-

! colspan=5 | West Road Course (1997–present):

|-

| Super Touring || 0:38.325 || Hironori Takeuchi || Toyota Chaser || 1998 Motegi JTCC round

|-

! colspan=5 | Speedway (1997–2026):

|-

| 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

|-

! colspan=5 | Speedway with 2 Chicanes (1997):

|-

| JGTC (GT500) || 0:47.685 || Aguri Suzuki || Nissan Skyline GT-R (BCNR33) || 1997 Nicos Cup GT Allstar Race

|-

|}

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 Formula One car is driven into the bridge was filmed at the circuit.
  • During the opening sequence of Kamen Rider Agito, 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, 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 took 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 3, Forza Motorsport 4, Gran Turismo 4, Gran Turismo (PSP), Gran Turismo 5, Gran Turismo 6, iRacing.com, and RaceRoom Racing Experience.
  • During the first tankery battle in Girls und Panzer Das Finale Part 1, Ooarai Girls Academy against BC Freedom High School, members of Leopon Team, the VK 4501 (P) reference the track, saying they wished they re-opened the oval layout.

See also

  • Suzuka International Racing Course, another Honda-owned track operated by Honda Mobilityland, which was built in 1962 and hosts the FIA Formula One Japanese Grand Prix.
  • Fuji Speedway, a road track originally conceived as a high speed oval, and former host to the Japanese Grand Prix, current host of the FIA World Endurance Championship 6 Hours of Fuji.

Access

Bus routes

  • JR Bus Kanto
  • For Utsunomiya Station via Motegi Station
  • Ibaraki Kotsu
  • For Mito Station (Ibaraki)

Notes

References

  • Mobility Resort Motegi - in Japanese
  • Mobility Resort Motegi - in English
  • Map and circuit history at RacingCircuits.info
  • Street View imagery in Google Maps
  • Satellite picture by Google Maps