The 2009 Motegi Enjoy Endurance Race "Joy Tai" opened its doors for the 9th time since its first event in 2001. The first day was blessed with clear skies and perfect conditions, as the A drivers from each class began their time attack.

The pole position was a battle between the B5 class drivers showing their speed. In the Group 2 A driver session, #83 HONDA NSX driver Masago Kobayashi marked 2 minutes 12.390 seconds to take the top spot, but #25 Zero 1000V Sport Turbo Civic driver Kunitoshi Aoki broke it with 2 minutes 12.267 seconds to claim the pole position.

"Equipped with a bolt-on turbo, it's an extreme machine, but it's a very easy car to handle. Anyone who drives it will have the same comment, so the car is well-tuned. It also has plenty of power, so there's room to spare and it's just a matter of running calmly," said Aoki, who marked the pole time.

"In terms of time, I thought I could go a little further, but the conditions were surprisingly tough on the brakes and tires. This will be our 6th participation in the "JOY TAI" race, but we haven't been able to have a good race yet. In 2009, we increased our power to easily achieve good times. Since we have a turbo, fuel efficiency is still tough, but I think we can see the top if we can reduce one more refueling," said Director Morimoto.

The #15 Shim's BS Blaze Impreza in A5 class was in 3rd place, the #4 Wako's DL Uetake IDI Trueno in B3 class was in 4th place, and the #18 Bambino Tsunetoyo Civic in B4 class followed in 5th place.

After the official qualifying and free practice for C and D drivers, the "JOY TAI" 3-hour endurance race will start at 14:30. In 2009, it was contested by six entries in the 3-hour endurance race.

From the rolling start, the pole position [#30 Nishikawada Automobile & Mib Auto EK9] led the race. [#78 Cars Hitachi Minami Car Tech Civic] followed, with [#10 Team ☆ Star Chi Roadster] and [#17 WITH ME Civic EG6] battling behind, followed by [#80 Maeda Kogyo Roadster] and [#120 Michelin ☆☆☆ Nagata Levin].

After that, the #10 Team ☆ Star Chi Roadster, featuring the Kurihara brothers, made a comeback and took the lead by mid-race. They then established a solo lead and it seemed they would receive the checkered flag in first place. However, entering the final stages of the race, the #30 Nishikawada Automobile & Mib Auto EK9 running in second place received a penalty, and the gap between them only widened.
However, the leading [#10 Team ☆ Star Chi Roadster] was also penalized for speeding in the pit lane.
Unaware of this penalty, [#10 Team ☆ Star Chi Roadster] continued racing and only entered the pit with less than 15 minutes remaining, but by then the black flag had already been shown. With [#10 Team ☆ Star Chi Roadster] dropping out, [#30 Nishikawada Automobile & Mib Auto EK9] rose to the top. They completed 62 laps and claimed victory.
[#80 Maeda Kogyo REAL Roadster] finished in 2nd place, and [#17 WITH ME Civic EG6] took 3rd place, both making it to the podium.
[#10 Team ☆ Star Chi Roadster] restarted with 1 minute remaining but finished 5th due to a 10-lap penalty deduction.