RtG Japan Daily Dispatch - day00 - Flipbook - Page 13
18 September to
16 October 2025
Day 6
Obihiro to Lake Toya (374km)
We enjoyed a full schedule today with two Tests,
three Regularities, a wagyu steak lunch and, most
importantly of all, no cancellations.
Hermann Frye-Hammelmann and Gisela Hammelmann, 1975 Ford Escort
indulged in fine cuts of meat in a DIY Yakiniku experience
before enjoying a coffee and stroll through the riverside
gardens as the embers in the grill died away.
With a nod to our Japanese hosts, the day’s second Test
was a long drift course set out around the cones of the New
Chitose Motor Land circuit. It announced the beginning of
the afternoon’s session with a raucous fanfare comprising
the roar of engines, the squeal of tyres and the screeching
of brakes, as the cars slithered their way through the Test
diagram before the all important “stop astride”.
The short Osaru River Regularity, which took us through
the apple orchard lined backroads, was the last timed section
of the day, before we pulled into the night halt at the wellappointed Toyako Manseikaku Lakeside Hotel on the shore
of Lake Toya, Japan’s third-largest caldera lake. Luckily
for us our visit coincided with the Fireworks Festival,
which certainly made the evening go with a bang.
There was some pre-dinner action in the car park, with
Michael Lutolf and Patt Henderson’s 1947 Citroen. It had
shaken its exhaust loose as it left the first Test this
morning. Andy Inskip and Charlie Neale had lashed it
back together so the crew could continue with the day
but, tonight they were looking to make the repair more
permanent and address a leaking manifold.
Photos: gerardbrown.co.uk
Ringed by the Hidaka mountains, a Test at the Tokachi
Speedway got the day off to a flying start with today’s
round of the run-what-you-brung series. It gave the crews
a dizzying, if complex, ride through some well-placed
hairpins and chicanes before they left the track and pulled
into the Time Control in the nearby Pipopa Restaurant.
A long, but scenic, road section was up next and, as
well as some impressive tunnels and some beautiful
countryside, there was a different sort of horsepower on
display in this noted horse breeding region. Countless
thoroughbreds busied themselves grazing in the patchwork
of paddocks and meadows which lined the roads.
With the bit firmly between their teeth, and at a steady
canter, the rally soon arrived at a Time Control on the beach,
in the Mitsuishi Seaside Park. After a quick coffee break two
back-to-back Regularities were tackled along “The 1025” and
past the “Shizunai Onsen”, on gravel, tarmac, stretches of
broken hardcore, and everything in between.
These sections brought the crews into lunch at the well
regarded Log House Wagyu Bibi Restaurant, where the crews
24 September 2025
Mike and Lorna Harrison, 1959 Volvo PV544
www.rallytheglobe.com
