The 11th year of JOY TAI. The 26 classes from last year have been reorganized into 10 classes, maintaining the same concept with simpler regulations.

The official qualifying event took place on July 9 (Sat), which was just announced by the Meteorological Agency as the end of the rainy season. The temperature reached 35 degrees, and the road surface temperature rose to nearly 60 degrees, resulting in severe heat. This year, the official qualifying started at 13:00, making it a time attack during the peak of the heat.

First, sessions for Class 1 to 4, 8, and 9 A drivers were held, and Taketaka Asano, the driver of the only entry in Class 9, [#3 Asano Automobile Prelude], recorded the top time of 2 minutes 16.931 seconds.
<br/> Next, in the session for Class 5 to 7, Hiroki Kato, the driver of [#2 Shiden Team's Lotus 2-11], who showed an extraordinary speed from sports driving, marked 2 minutes 13.903 seconds, securing pole position for the second consecutive year.

"I chose to load weight to reduce the time spent in the pit, but that makes fuel efficiency difficult. My times were not as good as last year either. However, since this is my second year, I understand both the car and the flow of the race, so I want to enjoy it. Pole position is nice, but it would be great to get on the podium in the final," said Kato.

Class 7 top #96 Dijon Racing REV DC5 recorded 2 minutes 16 seconds 930, Class 9 top #3 Asano Automobile Prelude recorded 2 minutes 16 seconds 931, and Class 7 #87 Sunspot Endless Civic followed with 2 minutes 17 seconds 580.

The Honda CR-Z team in Class 1, which has a large number of SUPER GT drivers participating, marked the fastest time with driver Yoshihiro Kanasugi in the #16 Enjoy Honda MUGEN CR-Z."I drove the CR-Z for the first time on Friday, but since I also drive the Civic, I didn't feel any discomfort. It's a very easy car to drive. I managed to put together a good qualifying run, but I think the race will come down to fuel efficiency, so I will focus on fuel-efficient driving and enjoy it," said Kanasugi.

The final of the 2011 Motegi Enjoy endurance race "JOY TAI" will start on July 10 (Sun) at 10:30!