The JOY TAI, which was first held in 2001, was supposed to celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was cancelled. Therefore, the 2021 JOY TAI will be the commemorative 20th event.

The JOY TAI, revived after two years, introduced the "JOY TAI Challenge" to allow everyone to enjoy it more casually!
It is an event where vehicles with license plates compete in qualifying and a 3-hour endurance race on Saturday. Thirteen cars entered the commemorative first JOY TAI Challenge.

In the qualifying round, #23 ASM JOY TAI ND5 driver Hiroki Ishigaki took pole position with an overwhelming speed, leading by more than 5 seconds. Following were #16 Adrenalin Roadster, #20 Ken Auto Moty's☆ND5, #128 JiN Roadster, and #84 West Hill ND5 Roadster, with Roadsters lining up. From 6th place, #24 LOTAS CLUB Vitz and other Vitz drivers followed.

On Saturday, the blue sky spread from the morning and was hit by the heat of midsummer from the morning. And the qualifying for JOY TAI begins. First, it's the time attack for Class 1, 2, 3, and FIT 1.5 A drivers. The top time was marked by #63 K+UPSEEKERMVFIT's Kunio Haga with a record of 2 minutes 21 seconds 888, the only one to enter the 2 minutes 21 seconds range. Koji Kashiwakura, the top in Class 3, came in second with 2 minutes 22 seconds 111 in #81 Pop G Kuribara Auto EP82DL.

In the sessions for Class 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10 A drivers, #375 TVC Sunako Juku M2CSR's Yuji Takahashi marked a time of 2 minutes and 11.796 seconds. He showed off the speed unique to Class 10. Masato Kanaoka from #20 M-Racing S2000 took second place with a time of 2 minutes and 12.879 seconds, while #84 SEV・ADVAN・2-11's Morio Wakabayashi, who set a course record for Class 4 with a time of 2 minutes and 13.354 seconds, followed in third place.

In the Class 1･2･3･FIT 1.5 B driver session, #63 K+UPSEEKERMVFIT's Ryohei Yasui updated the team's best time to 2 minutes 21.637 seconds. He was undoubtedly the top in FIT 1.5. In second place was #60 G/M☆SSR Snoco WMFIT's Takumi Kuroiwa with a time of 2 minutes 23.536 seconds, followed by Class 3's #81 Pop G Kuribara Auto EP82DL's Shigeo Takenoya with a time of 2 minutes 23.640 seconds.

And in the sessions for Class 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10 B drivers, Class 9's [#82 PUTOmanzR☆Rider☆DC5] rider Kyosuke Inomata took the top spot on the leaderboard with a time of 2:14.162. [#375 TVC Sunako Juku M2CSR] rider Tamotsu Kondo came in second with a time of 2:15.152, but with the combined time, [#375 TVC Sunako Juku M2CSR] secured the pole position.

"I was able to achieve my personal best in the qualifying round and things have been going smoothly so far. Since it's a long 7-hour race, I just want to escape from the start," said A driver Hiroshi Takahashi. "Thanks to Takahashi, I was able to secure the pole position. It's been 2 years since the last race, but it's fun to race with everyone," said B driver Yasushi Kondo.

[#82 PUTOman's R☆LIA☆DC5] starts from 2nd grid. [#20 M-Racing S2000] had a drive system trouble with driver Tsuyoshi Funano, but managed to secure 3rd grid with the time recorded before stopping the car on the home straight. 4th grid goes to [#80 PUTOgi's Uncle and Daughters and LUMILUMI], followed by 5th grid [#84 SEV・ADVAN・2-11] as the top of the class in qualifying results.

The top of FIT 1.5 is #63 K+UPSEEKERMVFIT in 19th place. #6 versus racing Urawa Kogyo FIT, which won the 2019 JOY TAI, will start from 21st on the grid.

And in the afternoon, the first-ever Mote tai (Mote endurance) Challenge final was held at Mobility Resort Motegi!
At 1:55 p.m., the formation lap started as scheduled, and at 1:59:44 p.m., the race began with a rolling start as all cars set off aiming for the finish 3 hours later.

After showing speed from the qualifying round, [#23 ASM JOY ND5] quickly established a dominant position at the top. Behind them, [#16 Adrenalin Roadster], [#20 Ken Auto Moty's☆ND5], and [#128 JiN Roadster #128] battled it out for the top spot in the Roadster class.

Refueling is only once for most teams due to the length of 3 hours. Many teams refueled around the halfway point at 1 hour and 30 minutes. Even the top team, #23 ASM JOY ND5, headed to the refueling area after 1 hour and 29 minutes.

Even entering the final stages of the race, the solo lead of [#23 ASM JOY ND5] remained unchanged.
In second place was [#16 Adrenalin Roadster], the leader of the Roadster class.

Behind them, as [#6 KYC Wako's Hiro Vitz] from the Vitz class entered the pit, [#628 Inafoto & Team Ravitz] rose to the top with 20 minutes remaining. [#6 KYC Wako's Hiro Vitz] aimed to catch up again but received a 30-second penalty stop for off-track driving.

And at the 10-minute mark, [#16 Adrenalin Roadster] makes its second pit stop. It returns to the course while still in first place. [#20 Ken Auto Moty's☆ND5], which was running in second place in the Roadster class, unfortunately runs out of gas with only 2 minutes left until the finish line, resulting in a disappointing retirement.

The leading #23 ASM JOY ND5 set the fastest lap with 2 laps remaining. Maintaining a steady pace, it completed the 3-hour race and finished first. It claimed victory in the All Other class.
"I obtained an A license to participate in the JOY TAI Challenge and made my race debut. Although we were in the lead, we had built a sufficient gap, so I was relaxed. I just did exactly what I was told," said B driver Sato.

Next to finish was [#16 Adrenalin Roadster], which completed 67 laps. It claimed victory in the Roadster class.
"Although we were overtaken early on, we kept our distance and observed while driving. We had carefully calculated fuel consumption, so there were no worries, and we were able to complete 67 laps as planned. Our math worked out well," it seems that having a solid grasp of fuel efficiency was a major factor.

Finishing 5th overall was [#628 Inafoto & Team Ravitz], who won the Vitz class.
“We participated with members who were racing in the Vitz series at the invitation of driver Inagaki. Since we know the Vitz inside out, we understood that fuel efficiency wouldn't be an issue with just one refuel. As long as we maintained about a 40-second gap from the car ahead, we knew we would have to pit again, so we believed we could overtake,” they said, securing victory through experience and teamwork.