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2013 Japan Rally (JRC) Rd. 4: Touya

JRC Touya Stage Proves Arduous, but Team Cusco Displays Exceptional Speed

The 4th round of the 2013 All Japan Rally Championships (JRC) labeled as "2013 ARK Rally Touya" took place July 5-7th in the Hokkaido prefecture.This full gravel course serves as a significant experience since it is a match just prior to the big APRC Rally Hokaido stage, where the contenders are looking to hone their skills in preparation.
 

Team Cusco consisted of Hiroshi Yanagisawa / Yoshimasa Nakahara (JN4 Class) in the Subaru WRX STi and Hideaki Miyoshi / Takahiro Yasui (JN3 Class) in the Toyota 86. Yanagisawa aims to acquire more points in his favorable gravel stage setting, and Miyoshi looks to regain lost points due to machine trouble experienced in the previous round. The Junior Rally Team (JRT) consisted of teams Shintaro Meiji / Kazuko Matsui and Kousuke Murata / Shinri Hirayama both in the Proton Satria Neo vehicles.
 

　Despite the loose gravel surfaces, this is a high speed and technical course. The rainfall let up just in time for the actual race day, with day 1 consisting of 8SS - 2 loops around a 4SS and day 2 - 2 loops of 3SS for a total of 14SS 80.6km distance.

Yanagisawa who kept his cool throughout the entire season, marking top times in this race unfortunately had to retire the first day due to his fuel pump malfunction at SS6. However day 2 resulted in an entirely new race where Yanagisawa continued to score top times consistantly where he acquired valuable points for the season.

Miyoshi in the JN3 class displayed high speed runs in this gravel stage to become the top time holder in the SS2. However, the vehicle ran off course at the SS4 due to lack of sufficient tire grip and ineffectual vehicle setting. Miyoshi resulted in retirement at the SS10 but managed to gain the much needed experience to carry out the rest of the season in full confidence.

For this time around, the Satria Neo machines did not make it to the top place finishes. Meiji suffered suspension damage in the SS1 and resulted in a 10th place finish while Murata with his new gear ratio equipped transmission was plagued with mechanical issues and ended up 7th.

Photo: (left) Meiji / Matsui Proton Satria Neo  (right) Murata / Hirayama Proton Satria Neo
 

All photos by Mitsuru Kotake