Coppa di Koumi, a long-standing event held on a plateau 2,000 metres up.

This year is apparently its thirtieth anniversary.

It was my first time there, and it turned out to be a historic car event with a very particular atmosphere.

I cannot pay the entry fee

I want to drive the rallies I love, and to hand people a smile — but taking part in Japanese events is expensive.
It is not only the entry: there is transporting the car, the fuel, the travel. You cannot simply turn up.

I am giving everything to the year that remains before the great challenge of Peking to Paris.

With every yen going into that and both purse and savings empty, this is a time for gritting my teeth. But it is hard. I want to drive; I want to hand people a smile.

An invitation to co-drive

And then a saviour appeared.
“I haven’t got a co-driver — would you do it?”

Someone able to split the entry fee would have suited better than me. But he was surely making the offer having understood what I was up against.

At times like this, do not overthink it: “I’ll gladly accept.” And so I got to enter Coppa di Koumi 2022, and off I went.

It was my first time paired with someone else — and with a driver who takes the competition seriously, which made me nervous.
Still, I am a co-driver who has driven the world. Up early and fully focused for the practice beforehand.

And then, going to move the car before the start, the transporter blew a tyre with a great bang.

And from there the engine would not start. Breakdowns come with classic cars, but at that moment I found myself shouting “oi, God, help”.

“Hmm? The kill switch is off.” That? And so we started — mood restored — into the historic Coppa di Koumi. My first time, and there were cars I had never seen.

I love a barchetta. So just looking at them had me excited, like a visitor up from the country.

And a photograph with a woman driver who stood out from everyone. Meeting this Renault reminded me of the Renault I drove in Italy, and made me want to go back there again.

The weather was good, and I drove through with my usual smile.

A new pairing, but we had practised from the day before — and we won our class. We missed the overall win, but
I was satisfied, and full of gratitude for the chance to co-drive.

Look at that grin.

If the chance comes again — please do ask.