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| It started to rain in the morning on day three because of Typhoon No. 14. The rally entered the second half, when both the participants and the cars started to get tired. The party set off from the hotel at 8:15 a.m. and headed to Nikko Kirifuri Ice Arena. In the rain, they competed the first PC competition of the day and left Nikko. They received stamps at four stamp points in Tochigi Prefecture, Michi-No-Eki Yusuino Sato Shioya, Yaita-Shi-Jougesuidou Office, Michi-No-Eki Kitsuregawa, and Michi-No-Eki Motegi, before heading to Ibaraki Prefecture. At the next stamp point, in front of Otorii Gate in Kasama Inari Shrine, Many local people were waiting for the entrants in the rain. The entrants received a stamp and a purification ritual one by one, then left the shrine to Oarai, seen off by rhythmical music played by Ohayashitai. The afternoon program started in Oarai Marina, which was also lunch venue. After competing a PC at the marina, the entrants headed to the next destination, Koedo Sawara. Classic cars match well with the scenery of Sawara, which still has an old water town atmosphere. Despite the rain, many local people welcomed the entrants in Sawara as well. The rain was getting harder and harder, exhausting the entrants physically. The entrants left Sawara to the last point of the day, Nihon Automobile College NATS in Narita. After finishing a PC competition at NATS, they arrived at ANA Crowne Plaza Hotel Narita while it was still light outside. It was a tough day today for both the participants and the cars. It had been raining since this morning so the entrants were struggling just to drive today's route. Thanks to local people who welcomed the entrants at each point in the rain, they could keep going. Since it was Sunday, many children also cheered for the entrants with their eyes shining, waving small flags lively, and that touched my heart. I'll be very happy if the children think that they would like to drive the cars they met today someday. In the second half of the rally, some of the cars can be forced to retire due to vehicle trouble. Even though the entrants are considered as a retire, some of them continue the rally with their another car. Of course, the results of the competitions are important, but looking at those entrants, I realized again how hard and important it is to complete the whole distance. On day four, the final day of the event, the entrants are driving approximately 255 km in Chiba Prefecture to the finish line at Makuhari Bay Town. I hope that as many of the cars as possible can complete the whole distance safely. I'm sure the mechanics, who are maintaining the cars every day from early morning until late at night, are hoping the same. （text & photo：Mika Iwamoto） |
 TOYOTA 2000GT driving through Town of Sawara  BANDINI 1100 SPORT competing PC competition at Nikko Kirifuri Ice Arena  BUGATTI T35B receives purification ritual at stamp point Kasama Inari Shrine  PORSCHE 356 SPEEDSTER receives stamp at Kasama Inari Shrine and seen off by Ohayashitai  BUGATTI T35 receives stamp from Katori City Mayor Tomonori Ito and commemorative gift from Miss Ayame |
