RtG Japan Daily Dispatch - day00 - Flipbook - Page 52
Day 27: Beppu to Aso, 15 October 2025
Photos: gerardbrown.co.uk
and push the car just that little bit further. It was thirsty work,
so cold drinks were the order of the day at the Ipponkunugi
Out Time control. Conveniently situated next to the stop box,
it allowed the earlier crews to cheer on the latecomers.
The A-maze-ingly Simple Regularity was next and lived up
to its obviously ironic name, by taking the rally through a
network of minor roads and tracks with a heady mix of maps
and tulip diagrams for guidance. When they finally emerged
from this labyrinth, the lunch Time Control in the Road
Station Sugou served up a delicious burger and a big plate of
fries. There was a side order of could’ve, would’ve, should’ve,
as the crews digested and discussed the morning’s events
and prepared for the afternoon’s reprise; the A-maze-ingly
Complex Regularity. This, once again, placed the lion’s share
of responsibility squarely on the shoulders of the navigator.
The first part of this section ran over a surface that
was neither gravel nor asphalt; it was a mulch of bark
Michael Lutolf and Patt Henderson, 1947 Citroen 11B
Tricia Field and Susan Godfrey, 1950 Bentley Special
Nigel and Sally Woof, 1971 Datsun 240Z
and timber. This area of commercial woodland was being
‘processed’ in front of our very eyes. With typical Japanese
efficiency, trees were felled, stripped and loaded at an
impressive rate as the rally cars did their best to keep
out of the way, stay on the right track and make it back
onto the tarmac, leading them to the all-important timing
points. Eventually, everyone made it out of the woods and,
with some relief, they handed in their time cards at the
MTC in the Namino Kaguraen Roadside Station.
With the day’s competition over, a sightseeing trip to the
1200m summit of Mount Aso was the perfect way to finish
the day. Aso-san last erupted in 2021, but all we had to
deal with today was some bubbling and sulphurous gases
emanating from Naka-Date, the only active cone of five
making up the crater in the Aso-Kuju National Park.
The night halt in the Kamenoi Hotel, Aso Park, was an
easy run back down the sunny side of the volcano, where we
settled in to what was probably our last buffet of the rally!
Otakar and Otakar Jr Chládek, 1971 Mercedes-Benz 350 SL
www.rallytheglobe.com
