The "On-Road Sports Day," a welfare event for Webike employees, was held at the Tsukuba Circuit Course 1000 in the pleasant early summer weather. A van with a strange aura entered the venue where the circuit-loving staff were enjoying themselves in a friendly atmosphere. What? It was marked "79," but I didn't expect it to be....
River Crane Corporation, which operates Webike, holds various events as a benefit for its employees. On Saturday, May 23rd, a driving event called "Circuit Sports Day" was held at Tsukuba Circuit Course 1000.Mitsuo Abe, the director of Team Norick, visited the event and held a school for Webike staff members. JSB1000 champion in 2024, and former team member Hiroo Okamoto, who is currently competing in Moto3. Also summoned was Ryusei Yamanaka, who is currently competing in Moto3.Of course, the current riders were there to practice, but the Webike staff, who also love racing, were excited to have the opportunity to see the top riders and not only asked for autographs and photos, but weresoinspired by the top ridersthat some of them even fell over during their own time slots... (No one was injured .) No one was injured. (No one was injured. We even called a nurse just in case).Well, this alone is somethingyoucan 't experience in a normal company (?). But this time, however, there was an even bigger surprise in store. Director Abe even summoned "Ai Ogla," the only Japanese rider in MotoGP and the third place podium finisher at the recent French GP!
Team Noric's director, Mitsuo Abe (left), and Natsu Moriyama, who competes in the JP-SPORT class.
Hiroo Okamoto is the 2024 All-Japan JSB1000 champion. He currently rides a YZF-R9 in the World Supersport Championship (WSS).
Shinano is the president of River Crane, which competes in Taste of Tsukuba and other events. Of course, he runs.
Saya is a bike girl influencer and active nurse. She came to the event as well as to provide first aid in case of any problems.
And.... Oi oi oi, it's real!!!
Even in the far corner, you can clearly see the entry slide...
Ai Ogura, dressed in his usual blue Arai helmet and a different black Kushitani jersey, enters the course on his SDG-colored CBR600RR, causing a stir among those around him. Okamoto and the other riders also followed.Ogura's performance was... I couldn't find any other word to describe it other than "spectacular. It was super smooth, and I felt as if I was watching the race alone in fast forward. The distance between him and the following racers opened up in the blink of an eye.The most amazing part was the entry of the hairpin. There is a straight line of about 100 meters between the second corner and the hairpin, but for about 50 meters just before the hairpin, the CBR was facing sideways all the way. The CBR was facing sideways for about 50 meters just before the hairpin, far from the hairpin, at a sliding angle that was clearly visible even to those of us watching from the home straight.
Ogura takes to the track on his CBR600RR, wearing a familiar-colored Arai helmet and an all-black pupa that differs from the one he wore in MotoGP, although it bears the track house's markings.
Since it was a surprise, we didn't get too many pictures, but you can get a sense of the awesomeness from this form and the angle of the front wheels, which were cut slightly outward...
The area we were observing was circled in red, and Ogura's strong (but smooth) entry slide was shown at the end of the arrow. If you are familiar with Tsukuba 1000, you will understand how amazing it is to see the slide from this distance. Sorry for the lack of photos!
As if he had slowed down a bit, the following riders swapped the lead and chased after Ogura. I'm so thankful that he's pulling me along like that. I'm grateful for that," said Abe. However, the distance between them never closed. There were scenes of rear tires losing grip, sliding violently, and going off the course, perhaps testing something. Ogura continued to drive silently without making a pit stop, probably for about 30 minutes straight.
Yamanaka, Okamoto, and Moriyama chase Ogura.
But the gap is not closing...
The happiness of being able to watch the world's best riding right in front of you...
.
Maybe even a hint of what's to come in a production car!
We finally made a pit stop and spoke to Ogura, who was taking a break. Ogura, who has been spotted at various circuits, has been practicing every two days, and on this day, he drove Tsukuba Course 2000 in the morning and came to Course 1000 just in time for our lunch break. This is a lot of practice for a MotoGP rider who has 22 races a year and sprints twice in one race. It is no exaggeration to say that the fastest man in Japan is the most experienced rider on the circuit in Japan.When we asked him if the MotoGP machine and the production CBR600RR are very different, he said yes, they are. To a MotoGP rider, a production CBR600RR would be like a toy, but this is the kind of greed he has. His earnestness won me over, and I swallowed down the question, "Is it true that you're going to Yamaha? I swallowed my question, "Is it true that you are going to Yamaha?Ogura and Abe are training together, and they invite each other to join Team Noric.We were very happy to have the opportunity to see aMotoGP ridertrain with him in person. We are not going to get into a lot of details here, but at any rate, it was a great experience for us. Thank you, Ogura!
Ogura finally pits and takes a break after running for 30 minutes straight.
Ogura crouches down waiting for a group photo with the Webike staff.
While waiting, Ogura was asked by a Webike staff member to take a commemorative photo.
Ogura watches a stunt show by stunt rider OGA (= River Crane employee) held during the lunch break of the driving event, plastic bottle in hand.
Ogura poses for a commemorative photo with the Circuit Sports Day management staff, Director Abe, River Crane President Shinano, and current riders who participated in the event.
Webike "Circuit Sports Day
The "Circuit Sports Day" is an in-house event held twice a year, and about 50 staff members participated in the Tsukuba 1000 on May 23, 2026, enjoying circuit riding on a variety of bikes. Webike has a Taste of Tsukuba winner and a Tsukuba Championship series champion, but on the day of the event, the bikes are divided into classes according to skill, and rental bikes and loaner tsunagi are also available. For those who have never ridden on a circuit before, there will be a trial run with no need to wear a pair of sandals. This is a benefit event that is typical of River Cranes, where both work and hobby are motorcycles.
A wide variety of motorcycles run at the event, from supersports to old cars to tourers. There will be semi-professional level staff, but there will also be a trial run class for beginners to enjoy.
The day of the event was perfect temperature, neither hot nor cold. I enjoyed it!
On the day of the event, the cooking team...
OGA's stunt show was a "first for me!" even among employees. I've never seen anything like it before! Saya, who was sent out on a two-person wheelie, said, "It was super scary! I was super scared! I guess so...
Group photo with all the participants. Of course we work hard, but when we play, we play thoroughly, River Crane style...we hope you remember that.
5
0
Share 
Copy link
X
Facebook
Save
![Looking for a motorcycle different from others! HONDA SquareX 125 with cuteness as its charm [Webike My Bike Pickup]](https://news.webike.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/square-X2.jpg)
![Looking for a motorcycle different from others! HONDA SquareX 125 with cuteness as its charm [Webike My Bike Pickup]](https://img.webike-cdn.net/@news/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/square-X-top.jpg)
