Motegi, Japan was the site of the 2000 Motegi International Championship as well as the final round of the 2000 Hot Air Balloon World HONDA Grand Prix and the final round of the 2000 Japan Grand Prix. Monroe, Wisconsin had hosted the first round of the World HONDA Grand Prix and Borscheid, Luxembourg was host for the second round. Competition was expected to be tight during the five days of competition.

Participants began arriving in Japan during the weekend. We had a smooth arrival in Japan and a good trip to Motegi. Some of the other participants had much more interesting stories, like Garry Lockyer, who came in from Canada. His flight was diverted from Tokyo Narita Airport to Osaka! Turns out a flight landing ahead of his had a tire blow out which closed the Nartia runways for a several hours. But Garry did make it into Narita later that evening. But his adventure wasn't over yet. It took the taxi driver 2-1/2 hours to find his hotel, which is about ½ mile from the airport!

We had been concerned about the weather as the weekend weather alternated between rain one day and sun the next. But we could only hope to have good weather during the event. Mother Nature did decide to shine on us as it turned out we had good flying opportunities for all scheduled days.

 

Everyone arrived safely and we settled into the competition. Participants represented ballooning communities from several hemispheres. Pilots, Observers and Officials hailed from Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Japan, Latvia, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and USA. A United Nations of Ballooning!

The event site is actually the Twin Ring Motegi, which is a racing complex located 90 kilometers, but 3 hours drive, north of Tokyo. The "Twin Ring" name refers to the fact they have a NASCAR banked oval and a European road course. But they also have "Amusement Runs" with Circuit Kart go-karts on the big road course along with a Honda Collection/Museum and a "Fun Lab" with interactive displays. It is good to arrive a little early to check out the fun here before the ballooning fun begins!

Event Director, Masashi Kakuda, got things off to a quick start with a three part task on Wednesday morning (PDG, Hesitation Waltz and FON) and another task for Wednesday evening (FIN). After the full day of flights, the Motegi Township and HONDA hosted a welcome party for all participants. Local delicacies were served including ice cream that was lemon flavored.

Thursday was a two-task morning (Minimum distance and JDG) with the launch at a riverside park. It was a beautiful crisp morning and the balloons put on a great show for the spectators who stopped to watch. The event organizers were well prepared for hosting tasks outside the main launch field. One of the event staff has a car with a loudspeaker and she quickly sets up at the remote launch site. And the public are given a running commentary of the competition and the competitors as they launch from the site or cross the field to drop markers at the targets.

Thursday evening was a FIN task and Friday morning's task sheet showed three tasks, PDG, JDG and FON. But Friday morning became more of an adventure for some of the teams when three balloons were becalmed over the forest in the hills surrounding Motegi. They were able to land safely but it required many hours of carefully removing the envelope from the tree branches and/or tree cutting to get the equipment out. When the evening was too calm for competition, those pilots were happy to have more daylight to retrieve their equipment, and stay in the competition.

Saturday we were able to fly five tasks. Sunday morning was the last scheduled competition flight. Masashi called a JDG with two Fly-on tasks. This flight was VERY important to the standings as only 1 point separated the top teams. With ¥5Million (approx. US$42,000) being awarded to first place, this was very significant!

World Grand Prix points were calculated by computer, then hand checked multiple times to ensure 100% accuracy. When all the calculations were complete, Mr. Masahiko Fujita (Japan) was the winner. In fact, it was fair to say he was the BIG winner as he actually took home three titles at the awards presentation. Masahiko won the Japan Grand Prix, the World Grand Prix and the Motegi Championship title giving him a total purse of ¥8Million.

The traditional Sunday afternoon key grab saw just one of the keys taken. Owen Keown was the lucky key holder. The other Motegi tradition is to invite the local people for an evening Balloon Illusion followed by the most spectacular fireworks. No one was disappointed this year as the weather still cooperated and it was a great show.

The Sunday evening Farewell party was held in the courtyard outside the control tower. Local Bar-B-Q specialties were served. Door prizes, donated by the organizers and the participating pilots, were raffled off for all the crews, observers and officials. This was a great way to create a fun farewell. Then Mr. Fujita offered to share his good fortune. He donated a new GPS to the winner of a Scissors-Rock hand game. The winner was a crew member from Britain.

The Awards presentation was held on Monday morning. Along with the cash awards, top winners also received Honda parkas, awards trophies and local Motegi artwork prizes. Amid promises to meet again in 2001, participants left Motegi with great memories of a successful event.