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| The event entered its second half. The perfect spring blue sky stretched out on the morning of day three. It's hard to believe it rained that much yesterday. Both the cars and the entrants seemed to be in a good mood on a morning like today. The party set off from Hotel & Resorts WAKAYAMA-MINABE at 7:30 am and drove along the coast to EE Park in Gobo City. They received a stamp first, then PC competitions started in the park. After that, they received two more stamps at Dojoji Temple and Michi-no-Eki Shirasaki Ocean Park, then left Wakayama Prefecture. The entrants traveled from Wakayama Prefecture to Nara Prefecture, heading to Kashiharajingu Shrine to take a break. They looked around the shrine and prayed there, then checked the condition of their car. It's already day three of the event so fatigue started to tell on both the entrants and the cars. Unfortunately, there were some cars that were forced to retire during the rally. Whether or not they can get to Kyoto safely will be the key in the second half of the rally. The entrants left Kashiharajingu Shrine and passed through Tanzan Jinja Shrine and Kasa Soba, heading to today's last PC competition venue, MEIHAN SPORTS LAND. When they arrived in Yamazoe Village, where MEIHAN SPORTS LAND was located, the sunny weather changed completely. The dark clouds were hanging low and heavy rain started to fall. In the cold rain, consecutive PC competitions were held on the kart course of the sport land. The entrants were struggling with the challenging course setting but still, managed to match the timing one by one and drove through the course. By the time all the competitions ended, the rain was letting up and the sun was peeking out from behind the clouds. After leaving MEIHAN SPORTS LAND, the entrants went through Osaka and drove to the finish line of day three, NESTA RESORT KOBE in Miki City in Hyogo Prefecture, without stopping. It stopped raining and the warm sunshine in the afternoon was gently lighting up the wet road. On day three, We drove as much as approximately 360km and local people were waiting for us everywhere we went. This year's event was held in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic so I thought it would be difficult to be welcomed as usual, but seeing the locals warmly welcoming us, I was so moved. Everyone from little children to the elderly was waving their arm with a mask on, keeping a distance along the road. They seemed to be enjoying the reunion for the first time in two years. There is someone who is waiting for us and welcomes us. They mean a lot to us. We realized that again today and will never forget the reunion. On day four, the final day of the event, the entrants will set off from Miki City, Hyogo Prefecture and head to the finish line, Kayabuki-no-Sato Miyama in Nantan City, Kyoto Prefecture. I hope as many of the cars as possible will complete the whole distance of approximately 340km without any trouble. （text & photo／Mika Iwamoto） |
 ALFA ROMEO GIULIETTA SPIDER leaves Shirasaki Ocean Park after receiving stamp  BUGATTI T40GS sets off from Hotel & Resorts WAKAYAMA-MINABE  LANCIA AURELIA B20GT Pre-Series receives stamp at Shirasaki Ocean Park  BRISTOL 400 leaves Kashiharajingu Shrine on time  FIAT 1100S competing PC competition in MEIHAN SPORTS LAND in rain |
