The 15th milestone event was the 2015 JOY TAI. On July 18 (Sat), a special sports driving session was held in the morning, followed by a pre-qualifying briefing in the afternoon, and at 13:10, the official qualifying session began with Group A drivers (Class-2, 3, 4, FIT1.5). Occasionally, it rained, but it did not wet the track significantly, resulting in a time attack under almost dry conditions. However, for the drivers on the track, the visual presence of rain likely did not provide any advantages.

In such conditions, during the A Driver A Group session, Koji Uchiyama of #188 KRac Man Shop WM Levin marked a top time of 2 minutes 20.463 seconds. Ikuyo Ota, driving #25 BRIDE ADVAN FIT, updated the FIT1.5 course record with a time of 2 minutes 23.115 seconds, securing the class top position and placing 6th in the A Driver A Group.

In the A Driver B Group (Class-5, 6, 7, 8, 9), machines with larger displacement were indeed fast, with several teams recording lap times under 2 minutes and 20 seconds. Notably, the top time was marked by player Hitoshi Goto of the #9 Fukuda Solar NS Potenza WM, who set a significant gap of 4 seconds and 641 milliseconds to the second place, recording a time of 2 minutes and 12 seconds and 081 milliseconds, thus updating the Course Records for Class-8. In second place was player Takeo Asano of the #18 Asano Automobile Prelude with a time of 2 minutes and 16 seconds and 722 milliseconds, followed by player Masamasa Kato of the #51 Brile Battery Mars Civic in third place with a time of 2 minutes and 17 seconds and 128 milliseconds.

The rain continues to fall and stop, but the session goes on. In Group A of Class B, driver Yoshio Tsunoda of #188 KRac Man Shop WM Levin is in the lead with a time of 2 minutes 20.613 seconds, firmly securing the top position in Class-4. Following in second place is driver Yuichi Sato of #42 Shiooka SP Acre AS Yanagimoto Levin, and in third place is driver Shinya Nakamura of #28 Sunspot Dock Marine MR2, making Class-4 occupy the top three positions.

On this day, in the final qualifying session for Group B of the B drivers, Yoshinori Nakajima of the #9 Fukuda Solar NS Potenza WM marked a time of 2 minutes 11.715, further updating the course record set earlier by A driver Gotou! He secured the pole position without question in the JOY TAI, where the grid is determined by the combined times of A and B drivers.
"This year, so far, things have been going as smoothly as possible. Last year, I couldn't run due to fuel system troubles in qualifying and started from the back, so this year is the exact opposite result. The fuel efficiency data is also looking good, and I believe that if I can run as planned, we will achieve good results," he commented. First of all, he would want to pull away from the second place and below right from the start.

In the qualifiers, Class-9's #18 Asano Automobile Prelude is in 2nd place, followed by Class-6's #51 Braille Battery Mars Civic in 3rd place, but speed alone cannot win at JOY TAI. In FIT 1.5, #25 BRIDE ADVAN FIT had the highest position at 35th, but it seems they will move up in positions during the race using fuel efficiency as their weapon. Which team from which class will win the 15th JOY TAI tournament!?

On this day, a briefing for the final was held, and the chief referee, Katsumi Takaya, announced that the official qualifying had no penalties. This is evidence that manners have improved, and let's make the final race on Sunday a 7-hour JOY TAI that all teams can enjoy!