Inging driver Tsuboi set a time of 1m26.187s around the 4.673km circuit in Oita Prefecture with just a few seconds left to go in Q2, finding nearly eight tenths over his previous best effort in Q1.
Despite most of his main rivals leaving it even later to set their best flying laps, Tsuboi was able to hang on to the top spot of the timesheets, earning his first series pole position in 35 attempts by 0.174s.
