Idlers 12 Hour Race - The Premier League of Amateur Racing
Japan is no stranger to hosting some of the world's most exciting races, take a look at the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix for example taking place in the legendary Suzuka Circuit, which ranks in the history of F1 as some of the top driver’s favourite circuit to race in.
Under the glamour of professional motorsports in Japan however, lies an incredibly vibrant scene of grassroots racing, despite the lack of polish, these races are filled to the brim with charm and character while still hosting some of the coolest looking cars in the country and all over the world.
One such event is the Idlers 12-Hour race. Taking place in the Twin Ring Motegi [now known as Mobility Resort Motegi] circuit, located in Tochigi prefecture, the Idlers race is an endurance race that takes place for 12 hours just as the name suggests.
The race is organised by the Idlers Club, a loose organisation of car aficionados who consider themselves alongside their events to be outside of the hierarchy and bureaucracy of professional car racing, and who consider having fun above all else on the priority list.
A constant fixture in the races is the Rauh-Welt Begriff [RWB] crew, with owner Nakai-san almost always seen bringing his personal Porsche and a fleet of other RWB-tuned cars owned by his many customers all over the world towards the event, with much of the cars still bearing an ‘idlers’ stencil spray painted on the side of the tyres even after the events has taken place.
