This year, many teams will gather at Twin Ring Motegi! The "JOY TAI" endurance race, which allows participants to enjoy the race with their own machines, will celebrate its 17th edition in 2017, and the official qualifying round will be held on July 1 (Sat).

It started to rain in the morning, resulting in wet conditions for the special sports driving in the morning. By the time the first session of the official qualifying for Group A Drivers (Class 1, 2, 3, 4, FIT 1.5) began, the rain had intensified, starting in quite heavy wet conditions. The top time was marked by Shigeyuki Morikawa of the #19 Shiooka SP Sunoco ACRE Levin, with a time of 2 minutes 29.150 seconds, which was 3.380 seconds ahead of the second place.

The continuing A Driver B Group (Class 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) has fast lap times, as expected for classes with larger engine displacements. The rain was gradually weakening over time, but the changing track conditions made it challenging. In this session, the top was Hitoshi Goto in the #9 FSNS Potenza SPMWMFK with a time of 2:22.269. In second place was Yuya Nakajima in the #246 GARAGEPIERCEDC5 with a time of 2:23.336, followed by Yasuhiro Yoshida in the #27 Chich Roadster with a time of 2:25.015, and in fourth place was the #18 Asano Automobile Prelude with a time of 2:25.091.

By the time the B drivers' session began, the rain had weakened, and the track conditions had improved compared to the A drivers' session.

The top time in Group A for B drivers was marked by Yosuke Morishita of #6 Brain EXPRESS, with a time of 2 minutes 29.718 seconds. In second place was Keiichi Inoue of #1 Dijon Wako's BRP Nils with a time of 2 minutes 30.497 seconds. In third place was Masatoshi Shiooka of #19 Shiooka SP Sunoco ACR Levin with a time of 2 minutes 31.134 seconds, followed by Yuuya Ohta of #62 Sunoco SSRwmG/M FIT in fourth place with a time of 2 minutes 31.596 seconds.

And the B Driver Group B's session begins. Here, Nakajima Yasunori from #9 FSNS Potenza SPMWMFK marked a time of 2 minutes 20.174 seconds, placing him at the top of the leaderboard, but in the latter part of the session, Inoue Masaki from #18 Asano Automobile Prelude marked a time of 2 minutes 19.986 seconds, taking the top position, and the official qualifying session is now complete.

The grid is determined by the combined time of drivers A and B, resulting in a time of 4 minutes 42.443 seconds, which allowed #9 FSNS Potenza SPMWMFK to secure pole position for the first time in two years.
"In terms of the car, it has the potential to take pole position as long as there are no troubles, but wet conditions are difficult for FR. Despite that, it cleared the expected time and managed to run well in the rapidly changing conditions. I believe that if we can proceed as planned in the final, we will achieve good results," said Hideo Fukuda, the C driver and team representative.

The second fastest time was marked by #18 Asano Automobile Prelude at 4 minutes 45.077 seconds, followed by #260 Honda Challenge FK2 in third place at 4 minutes 50.169 seconds, #75 ACELINES137EG6 in fourth place at 4 minutes 50.938 seconds, #58 Kobayashi Automobile W Max Wako's in fifth place at 4 minutes 51.730 seconds, #8 LUMIX Tarmac EDFD2 in sixth place at 4 minutes 52.415 seconds, and #27 Chichi Roadster in seventh place at 4 minutes 53.828 seconds, all closely contested.

The weather forecast for Sunday is cloudy with occasional rain. There is a rain icon around noon. The qualifying rounds were a competition of speed, but in the final, balancing fuel efficiency and speed is an absolute element in "JOY TAI." The 17th JOY TAI will start at 10 AM on July 2nd (Sun). Which team will be the first to receive the checkered flag!? Who will win the 20th anniversary commemorative prize, which is equal to the championship prize (overall 20th place)?